Frits van Oostrom lectures in Pre-Romantic Dutch Literature at the University of Leiden. Het woord van eer. Literatuur aan het Hollandse hof omstreeks 1400 (Court and Culture. Dutch Literature 1350-1450), was unanimously praised in the press and was awarded the 1988 Wijnaendts Francken Prize for the best cultural and historical study of the previous years. Maerlants wereld was awarded the important AKO Literature Prize in 1996 and became a great commercial success.
(Prometheus, 1996, 487 pages)
Almost nothing has been known about Jacob van Maerlant’s life, despite his being called the ‘father of Dutch poetry’ and being considered the most important medieval Dutch author. What sets Frits van Oostrom’s study apart is the unexpected way that he fills the blanks in Maerlant’s life, by looking at the world around him. This has one great advantage for the reader: with Van Oostrom as his expert guide, he is given an astute perspective on the medieval world.
(Prometheus, 2017)
Jan van Brederode was born into most fortuitous circumstances around 1372. He died ingloriously not quite forty years later in the famous Battle of Agincourt, a soldier of fortune.
