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Cornelis Columbanus Vrancx

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Cornelis Columbanus Vrancx

O.S.B.
Abbot of St Peter's Abbey, Ghent
ChurchCatholic
Installed1597
Orders
Ordination1560
Personal details
Borncirca 1530
Died15 August 1615
Ghent, County of Flanders, Habsburg Netherlands
Alma materUniversity of Leuven

Cornelis (Cornelius) Columbanus Vrancx (Dendermonde, circa 1529/1530 – Ghent, 15 August 1615)[1][2] was a Flemish writer of prose, poetic refrains and spotlighted against the Reformed. He was the 60th abbot of St Peter's Abbey in Ghent[3] from 1597 and wrote thirty-seven concise works. Cornelis Columbanus Vrancx is seen as the forerunner of the Flemish poet Adriaan Poirters.[4]

Life

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Originally from Dendermonde in the County of Flanders, Vrancx studied theology at Leuven University, graduating in 1560, and in 1569 was appointed to a canonry of St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent.[5] After the Calvinist takeover of the city in 1578, Vrancx remained in Ghent despite the clergy of the cathedral being declared banished. He was caught and expelled in 1579, and his books and devotional objects were burnt on the market square.[6] Vrancx travelled to Tournai, where he met refugee Benedictines from Ghent and in 1583 he was clothed as a member of their community.[7] The community returned to Ghent in 1584, and Vrancx was professed as a monk in the abbey of St Peter. He was appointed prior in 1590, and elected abbot in 1597. He died in Ghent on 15 August 1615.

Vrancx was a renowned preacher and a prolific author of devotional and satirical verse and prose, with over 30 titles to his name.[8] Most of these were printed by Gauthier Manilius. His most popular work, Den Troost der Sielen, includes five folk tales about spirits returned from purgatory.[9]

Works

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References

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  1. ^ Jan te Winkel - De ontwikkelingsgang der Nederlandsche Letterkunde II. Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche letterkunde van Middeleeuwen en Rederijkerstijd, De erven F. Bohn, Haarlem (1922, second edition)
  2. ^ Strietman, Elsa; Bloemendal, Jan; Eversmann, Peter, eds. (2013). Drama, Performance and Debate Theatre and Public Opinion in the Early Modern Period. p. 240. ISBN 9789004236998. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  3. ^ Ursmer Berlière, Monasticon belge, vol. 7 (1988), p. 92.
  4. ^ G.P.M. Knuvelder - Handboek tot de geschiedenis der Nederlandse letterkunde. Deel 2., Malmberg, Den Bosch (1971)
  5. ^ Philip Marie Blommaert, De Nederduitsche schryvers van Gent (Ghent, 1861), pp. 186-190.
  6. ^ J. Winnepenninckx, "Vrancx, Cornelius Columbanus", Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek, vol. 1 (Brussels, 1964), 960-966.
  7. ^ Monniken en monialen in de Nederlanden: 25 oktober 1980-4 januari 1981, exhibition catalogue (1980), pp. 221-222.
  8. ^ Vrancx, Dr. Cornelius Columbanus, in K. ter Laan, Letterkundig woordenboek voor Noord en Zuid (The Hague, 1952), p. 585.
  9. ^ Frans Wetzels, De vagevuur-sprookjes van C.C. Vrancx en Jacob Campo Weyerman, Mededelingen van de Stichting Jacob Campo Weyerman 17 (1994), pp. 71-76.
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