Reyer Anslo (1622 or 1626 – 16 May 1669) was a Dutch poet.

Reyer Anslo
Born1626
Died10 May 1669
CitizenshipNetherlands
Occupation(s)poet, dramaturgy

Life

edit

Anslo was born at Amsterdam and brought up a Mennonite.His family originated from Christiania, now Oslo (Norway). His mother remarried in 1631. He was baptized in 1646. Early civic fame as a poet came to him in Amsterdam, when he was rewarded by his with a laurel crown and a silver dish for a poem in honour of the foundation stone of the new town hall in 1648.[1] In 1649 he travelled to Rome with Arnout Hellemans Hooft (1629-1680), the son of P.C. Hooft; they arrived in November 1651.[2]

In December 1651 he was received into the Catholic Church, together with forty-three others, as is shown by manuscript records of the Society of Jesus.[3] He proceeded to Rome, where he became secretary to Cardinal Luigi Capponi, and received from Pope Innocent X a gold medal for his poetical labours. In 1655 he was presented to Queen Christina of Sweden, to whom he dedicated new poems. A poem entitled De Zweedsche Pallas ("The Swedish Pallas"), brought him a golden chain. He died at Perugia.

Works

edit

Anslo's collected works were published in 1713. They include a tragedy, "The Parisian Blood-Bridal" (De parysche bloed-bruiloff, 1649), dealing with the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. He wrote an epic on The Plague at Naples (1656).[4]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ "K. ter Laan, Letterkundig woordenboek voor Noord en Zuid · dbnl". DBNL. Retrieved Sep 4, 2020.
  2. ^ "Een naekt beeldt op een marmore matras seer schoon - Boeken - Verloren". Uitgeverij Verloren. Retrieved Sep 4, 2020.
  3. ^ (Lit. annuae Soc. Jes., in the Burgundian Library at Brussels, VI, No. 21818b fo 300, ao 1651)
  4. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dutch Literature" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

References

edit
Attribution
edit