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De Gulden Passer. Jaargang 74 (1996)

De Gulden Passer. Jaargang 74

(1996)– [tijdschrift] Gulden Passer, De–rechtenstatus Auteursrechtelijk beschermd

Vorige Volgende

Balthasar Moretus' Conamina poetica (1588-1592)
Dirk Sacré

Sed o felicem hanc quoque nostram Antverpiam duobus praecipue civibus, Rubenio Moretoque. Utriusque aedes spectabunt exteri, admirabuntur advenae. (Johannes Woverius to Balthasar Moretus, 1-X-1620)1

Balthasar Moretus (1574-1641) is one of the better known descendants of Plantin. There are several reasons why he has caught the attention of scholars. As a printer, Balthasar produced a fair number of beautiful baroque books; he was a fellow student and a lifelong friend of Peter Paul Rubens, whose collaboration he sollicited for the title pages of a number of his books.2 He was responsible for rebuilding the Officina Plantiniana in its actual form. Moreover, Balthasar Moretus was a student, and later a friend and an eulogist of Justus Lipsius. Traditionally, he is described as the best scholar the Plantin-Moretus family ever had. He was well acquainted with Latin versification, and has often been labelled as an excellent Latin poet: Jacobus Henricus Hoeufft was neither the first, nor the last connoisseur of Neo-Latin poetry to praise Moretus' Latin verse:

 
Dum Stephanus Gallis Italisque Manutius oris
 
gloria, Belgarum fama Moretus erit.
 
 
 
Non tantum eruditos inter typographos, sed et inter feli-
 
cissimae venae poetas numerari meretur Balthasar More-
 
tus (...) licet sparsim fere edita sint eius carmina.3

In this article, I want to have a closer look at Balthasar Moretus' first experiments in Latin verse, and, more than seventy years after Maurits Sabbe,4 to reexamine the main source of our knowledge of young Balthasar's verse, viz. manuscript 202 of the Plantin archives. This codex has 45 folia and contains both letters and (above all) verses by Balthasar Moretus, his brother Melchior, and some other members and friends of the family. It is entirely in the hand of young Balthasar Moretus, which is sometimes very difficult to read: Balthasar was partly paralysed on the right side;5 beneath one of his poems, written with the left hand, he noted somewhat euphemistically: ‘scribebat Balthasar Moretus XVI annos natus manu ambidextra XXV maij MD.XCI’.6

The manuscript pieces give us information on Balthasar's school life, his friends and relatives, and his first contacts with Justus Lipsius. A full conspectus of the contents is given in ap-

pendix 1. I must observe that not all Balthasar's juvenile poems are to be found in our codex; ms. 1150a of the archives has some other Latin verses and moreover contains a number of poems that are present in ms. 202 as well; they sometimes offer different readings which seem to be posterior to the text of ms. 202.

1. Balthasar Moretus and school life

From a letter from Joannes Moretus, Balthasar's father, to Arias Montanus we know that Balthasar was in the last class of grammar school in 1590-1591.7 That year he won the second prize and was given a copy of Verepaeus' grammar by his teachers. Furthermore, the accounts in the Plantin-Moretus archives inform us that Balthasar went to school from the end of April 1586 at the latest.8 This would mean that Balthasar entered the college at the age of eleven and that his first complete school year was 1586-1587, when he was in the quinta classis.

About the school Balthasar attended no doubt is possible: it was definitely not the Jesuit College (founded in 1575), nor the Augustinian School, as L. Voet wrote9 (that school did not exist until 1608), but the so-called ‘Papenschool van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw’, i.e. the chapter school of Our Lady near Antwerp Cathedral, as both the accounts and Balthasar's juvenile verse prove. In that school he must have seen Peter Paul Rubens quite regularly for at least two years (1587/8 - August 1590):10 ‘Fratrem tuum jam a puero cognovi in scholis et amavi lectissimi ac suavissimi ingenii juvenem’, he wrote later to Peter Paul's brother Philippus Rubenius.11

Our manuscript contains pieces from 1588 to 1592,12 the first dating from about 4 September, 1588, the last from 1 October, 1592. In the autumn of 1588, Balthasar moved up from the classis quarta to the tertia or syntaxis, traditionally the class in which pupils started to study prosody and metrics, and to write Latin verse. Our codex does not have Balthasar's very first exercises13 in verse - since he no doubt had to restore verses, the word order of which had been disturbed, to make verse paraphrases of adagia or to rewrite little poems in other metres.14 Balthasar used a new copy book for his first original little poems, and it is only that book that came to us.15

Balthasar's experiments dating from his syntaxis are all written in hexameters or in elegiac couplets. There is only one poem in distichs consisting of dactylic hexameters and iambic dimeters.16 A fair number of poems concern Balthasar's elder brother Melchior Moretus, born in 1573, who in 1588 left his Antwerp school (probably the already mentioned Papenschool) to continue his studies in Douai at the Collegium Aquicinctinum, the Collège d' An-

chin, run by the Jesuits.17 Around September 4, Balthasar wrote about Melchior's departure, hoping that he would arrive safe and sound in Douai. It would be vain to search after inspired poetry in this, probably his first original composition (and I am afraid this verdict applies to most of the ‘poems’ the manuscript contains):

 
Cum se quarta dies Septembris prompserat orbi,
 
dulci discessit patria carumque reliquit
 
frater avum ac aviam, patrem matremque, propinquos
 
deseruitque suos fratres omnesque sorores,
 
ut studiis almis incumberet ipse Duaci.
 
Maerore afficior, si sit via plena periclis:
 
forsan nam casus varios mortemque subiret.
 
Sed confido Deum, qui dextra cuncta gubernat,
 
custoditurum tanto a discrimine fratrem.18

A few weeks later, he expressed his joy on hearing that Melchior had reached Douai without problems, as the latter had written to his father Johannes Moretus:

 
Si bene tu valeas, laetor, carissime frater;
 
fruor salute prospera,
 
gratia sit Christo genito per tempora cuncta.
 
Valet pater, parens tua,
 
atque tui fratres omnes caraeque sorores,
 
patrisque tota familia;
 
sed soror ex papulis nunc maxima nostra laborat;19
 
avus valet, simul avia.
 
Devenere patris tua, frater, scripta peralmi,
 
care, ad manus, sensi ex quibus
 
te salvum (laus sit Domino!) venisse Duacum:
 
occupat ob id me gaudium.
 
Faxit cunctipotens Christus possis ut habere
 
habitaculum felix ibi.20
 
Haec capias, frater, nunc a me carmina quaedam
 
atque valeas, carissime.21

But let us return to the Antwerp Latin school, and see if Balthasar's verses give us any information about his teachers, his study material or other aspects of school life. The headmaster of the chapter school was Rumoldus Verdonck (Eersel, ca. 1541 - Antwerp, 1620),22 who had come from a school in Lier and who had been teaching in Antwerp since 1579, and was headmaster of the Papenschool of Our Lady since 1585. Balthasar wrote a little poem

to him, asking a day off for himself and his friends.23 The same request occurs in a poem ad praecep<t>orem,24 written on November 12, 1588, in which Balthasar, on behalf of his fellow class members, implores a day off on Saint Levinus' day, his master's patron saint. These verses too are quite poor, and Balthasar was aware of that:

 
Adsunt nunc divi sollemnia festa Levini,
 
cuius, praeceptor, nomen, amande, geris.
 
Nos te discipuli nunc supplice voce rogamus
 
eius ut in laudem ludere nos cupias.
 
At postquam est animus lusu recreatus honesto,
 
fervidior studium rursus adire queat.
 
Scribere plura lubet, sed sunt in carmina vires
 
exiguae nobis ingeniique parum.
 
Hoc unum oramus, reverende Levine magister,
 
exorare velis omnibus ut veniam.

This is of course a typical school argument; it reminds us of Erasmus' colloquium De lusu: there Cocles ‘orat ludendi veniam’ on behalf of his friends.25 Be that as it may, the teacher Moretus addressed his verses to must be Levinus Basius (Baes),26 whose name occurs a few times in our manuscript. Basius was not from Antwerp; the Antwerp parish registers tell us that on 23 October 1588 he married Catharina Verdonck, a cousin of Balthasar's headmaster. On 25 January 1589 Catharina gave birth to a son called Paulus.27 A few months later Basius and his wife left Antwerp for Dunkirk, where Basius was appointed as a teacher:

 
Laevinus Basius, noster praeceptor, abivit,
 
coniux post paucos estque secuta dies.
 
Sustinet ille scholam Dunkerki rite sacerdos
 
quam magis haud potuit sustinuisse senex.
 
Apte praedoctus docuit nos hactenus ille,
 
eloquio clarus, sedulitate valens.28

Later on, Balthasar Moretus kept in touch with his former teacher, as is proved by two epigrams from Basius: they suggest that Basius was given some financial support by Balthasar, and show that he was still alive in 1619.29

 

In Antwerp, a certain Johannes took the place of Basius:

 
Nos vero nunc praeceptor docet ille Joannes,
 
omnibus orbatus qui fuit ante bonis
 
quam gressum infelix nostram tetulisset ad urbem,
 
istius instantis nescius ille mali.
 
Ipse est versatus, bene sedulus atque peritus,
 
orator praestans atque poeta bonus.30

Who this Joannes was we do not know. Was Balthasar unable to insert his family name in a dactylic verse? Or did he presume that, thanks to the allusion to his ‘being robbed of everything before he came to Antwerp’, his brother would know who was meant? The Papenschool was a flourishing school, the masters of which came and went. In our period, several persons called Johannes taught there: Johannes Grameyen, Johannes Monsieur,...31 It is not impossible that we have to consider Johannes Gheesdalius, who was a Latin poet and prose writer known to Plantin, who had been suspected of heresy and had therefore been forbidden to teach (1579-1580): in 1585 or 1586 he came to the Papenschool; in 1591, Balthasar Moretus addressed a poem to Gheesdalius, ex-

pressing his gratitude for the poetry he had received from him.32 Another possibility would be to think of Johannes Peltanus († September 1606), a Norbertine monk who was said to have a good knowledge of Greek and Latin, and to write Latin poetry,33 or of Johannes Scalcus (Godschalck), who taught Latin at the Papenschool from 1585 until his death in 1601.34

‘Singulis annis semel, ut minimum, aut bis comoedia vel tragoedia honesta nullaque obscenitatis labe contaminata, bene Latina, pura et emendata publice exhibebitur: quae scilicet actoris formet linguam, spectantium capiat oculos, aures oblectet audientium et simul mores erudiat.’35

These and other considerations pushed most teachers to attach great importance to the performance of Latin plays. In Balthasar's juvenile poems we have the account of such a performance.36 The verses tell us that on the feast of St. Catherine, 25 November 1588, Balthasar assisted at the staging of a play De sancta Cathari-

na, written by Lambertus Thomas Schenckelius. For the benefit of his brother, Balthasar gave a summary of the play, mentioned that Schenckelius himself (who had left Mechlin for Antwerp a few months before) had publicly drawn attention to the paradoxical nature of the action on stage, stressing how strange it was that the emperor Maxentius' wife complained about the tortures Catharina was put to, that she blamed her husband for killing an innocent woman, and that she confessed that she had been converted to the Christian faith by the young woman herself:

 
Praeceptor protinus ipse
 
Schenchelius clara tunc voce ‘Stupescite!’ clamat:
 
‘Hic regem obiurgat coniux regina maritum,
 
immeritam cupiat quod dira morte perire
 
virginem, et ingenue se Christi<c>olam esse fatetur.’37

Making use of Balthasar's summary,38 it should be possible to determine whether or not the anonymous play Tragedia Catharinae, which exists as a manuscript in the archives of Mechlin, is the work of Schenckelius - whom we know to have been the headmaster there from 1574 to 1580 and from 1585 to 1588.39

 

Balthasar's poems inform us as well about the books he had to use. In the middle of February 1589, he wrote that he needed

Ovid and Virgil (two authors who, indeed, were quite often read in the syntaxis),40 and Johannes Ravisius Textor's Epitheta, of which he asked his father to provide the edition in quarto:

 
Sed, multum reverende parens, te hoc carmine quaeso
 
ut placeat donare mihi pro frugibus illis
 
Epitheta in quarto docti Textoris et aptos
 
nasonis versus et carmina docta Maronis.
 
quos libros prodesse mihi multum arbitror, alme,
 
posse, parens: ideo precor haud donare recuses.41

Textor's work, which was often reissued in the Officina Plantiniana,42 was one of the most popular school books: as a forerunner of the Gradus ad Parnassum, it provided the students with all possible epithets and adjectives, enabling them to complete or to embellish their verses.43 It is the same book Boileau jeered at in one of his Latin poems (ca. 1657): such books were an aid, Boileau wrote, to the use of borrowed phrases in futile student poems:

 
Quid numeris iterum me balbutire Latinis,
 
Longe Alpes citra natum de patre Sicambro,
 
Musa jubes? Istuc puero mihi profuit olim,
 
Verba mihi saevo nuper dictata Magistro
 
Cùm pedibus certis conclusa referre docebas.
 
Utile tunc Smetius manibus sordescere nostris;
 
Et mihi saepe udo volvendus pollice Textor
 
Praebuit adsutis contexere carmina pannis.
 
Sic Maro, sic Flaccus, sic nostro saepe Tibullus
 
Carmine disjecti, vano pueriliter ore
 
Bullatas nugas sese stupuere loquentes...
 
 
 
Que je bégaye encor sur des rythmes latins?
 
Muse, qu' exiges-tu de moi, que les destins
 
Loin des Alpes ont fait Sicambre de naissance?
 
Tes leçons m' ont servi dans ma lointaine enfance,
 
Quand je tournais en vers, d' un métier diligent,
 
La prose que dictait un bourreau de régent,
 
Et qu' aux règles des pieds je contraignais mon style.
 
Alors j' ai pu friper d' un maniement utile
 
Smetius et j' ai dû, poissant du doigt Textor,
 
En lambeaux recousus dépecer son Trésor.
 
Combien de fois Horace et Virgile et Tibulle,
 
Mis en pièces par un poète ridicule,
 
Virent avec stupeur leurs débris empruntés
 
Gonfler de vains discours des puerilités!44

A few days later, Balthasar must have received the books in question from his grandfather, Plantin himself. He thanked him with a poem on Christ's cross:

 
Pro paucis tibi quae exscripsi, carissime multum
 
o ave, praeclaros donas mihi corde lubenti
 
libros, unde tibi dignas persolvere grates,
 
debita vel recte non praemia reddere possum.
 
Hinc mea Musa monet me carmina pauca sonare,
 
prorsus ut indignus merito non esse precarer,
 
egregiis libris his cum non ulla vicissim
 
munera donarem (quae inculta proferat arte
 
ingenium: mihi enim non extant aurea dona).
 
De cruce sancta igitur decrevi scribere paucos
 
versus, quae Dominum portavit cuncta regentem.
 
Ergo, ave care, precor cupias mea carmina parva
 
consuluisse boni, veluti tua munera grata
 
sunt mihi. Perbelle valeas, ave, tempore cuncto.45

A couple of months later, in May 1589, Plantin must have given more books to his grandson. Balthasar thanked him again with a poem, this time on the Trinity feast.46

 

From f. 17 on, we have the exercises of Balthasar in the classis secunda. Balthasar went on writing to his brother in Douai, who now wrote answers to his fratres, i.e. Balthasar and Johannes II Moretus. So, in 1589-90, Johannes II Moretus, who was two years younger than Balthasar,47 was able to read Latin; he too must have frequented the Papenschool, and it even seems that he was in the same class as Balthasar.48

 

Balthasar needed new books. As a New Year's present, he would welcome an edition of Cicero:

 
Ciceronis opuscula docti
 
(hoc auctore nihil cum sit praestantius atque
 
nullus ita, ut nosti, nostris queat utilis esse
 
auctorum studiis) pro dicto munere strena
 
te rogo, care pater, mihi non donare recuses.49

Thus he wrote to his father in the very first days of 1590. The same year he asked for a manual by Georgius Fabricius,50 Valla's Elegantiae,51 Erasmus' Adagia52 and De duplici copia, and a work of Martinus Rulandus:53

 
mihi non donare recuses
 
Fabricii Flores teneris ex vatibus apto
 
ordine collectos, Duplici de copia Erasmum,
 
Vallam, Martinum Rulandum et Adagia Erasmi;
 
quod faciendo, pater, poteris quandoque benigne
 
nosse feret [sic] studium mihi commoda quanta. Valeto.54

Finally, a letter from Balthasar, written to Melchior in November or December 1590 - Balthasar was then in the classis prima -, informs us that Johannes II and Balthasar were still working with Cornelius Valerius' popular Rhetorica.55 For his Greek lessons he asked his father to provide him with copies of Homer, Isocrates and Lucian's Dialogues.56

In the summer of 1591, Balthasar Moretus won the second prize in the Rhetorica and was given a copy of S. Verepaeus' widely known Institutiones scholasticae in the Antwerp edition of 1573, the preliminary matter of which contains a laudatory poem by Rumoldus Verdonck. Probably it was the same Verdonck who as Balthasar's headmaster wrote the following distich in the prize copy:

 
Corpore compensent vitium quod cernitur amplae
 
eximii dotes, Baltasar, ingenii.57

2. Balthasar Moretus and the Plantin-Moretus household

Although a large part of Balthasar's poems and letters were directed to his relatives, these documents do not offer us much inside information on the Plantin family or the Officina Plantiniana. In his exercises, young Balthasar was seldom personal. Private matters were dealt with viva voce, whereas Balthasar's copy book mirrors the ethical, rhetorical and religious principles the boy received at school; conscientiously, he learned, by trial and error, to express them, mostly in general terms, in prosodically sound verses or satisfactory periods. Somehow, the person to whom he directed his experiments or about whom he wrote disappeared from his Latin. I would even venture to say that the poet-to-be sometimes put on a mask. The discrepancy between verse and actual beliefs struck me especially in the case of Melchior Moretus: it was only after I had read his verses, commending industry, devoutness and the study of poetry, that I became acquainted with some letters Johannes Sr. had written in the same period: from these, it becomes clear that, during his first year in Douai, Melchior was not fond of poetry at all, but preferred to study rhetoric,58 that he

was averse to a religious society of which he had to become a member, and that his laziness caused anxiety to his father.59

 

The aim of Latin training was to enable students to write and to speak Latin; daily practice was necessary, even outside the school. Therefore, the young were encouraged to correspond in Latin with relatives and friends. Father Moretus followed the general rule when he summoned Balthasar to write in Latin to Melchior:

 
nuper tua carmina cara
 
accepi, quibus acceptis rescribere quosdam
 
versus est visum mihi; sic quoque iussa ferebant
 
percari patris, canerem ut tibi carmina.60

No wonder that a stock theme in the brothers' verse was the praise of each other's poetical merits:

 
-Te laudo multum, frater, quia pulchra repente
 
carmina misisti, mihi quae pergrata fuere.61
 
 
 
-Carmina accepi tua, care, nuper,
 
frater, omnino mihi quae fuere
 
grata; tu vero mea quae recanto
 
spernere noli.62
 
 
 
-Obsecro opinari, mi dilectissime frater,
 
ne cupias non esse mihi tua carmina grata,
 
tempore tam longo tibi quod rescribere cessem
 
versus nonnullos: nam sane gratior ulla
 
res nequit esse mihi quam possis tradere, frater.
 
Immo nec argentum nitidum nec gratius aurum
 
esse mihi debet; nam, si modo vera fatemur,
 
est donum ingenii longe pretiosius auro,
 
namque potest non divitiis acquirier ullis,
 
officio vero vigilique labore paratur.
 
His paucis valeas, frater, per tempora cuncta.63

In fact, this argument remained popular as long as an active knowledge of Latin had to be acquired. In the 17th century, young Constantijn Huygens challenged his brother Maurits to write Latin verse,64 and Jean Racine wrote in the same way to his second cousin Vitart,65 in the 19th century Sainte-Beuve praised his friend Jules Oudot's Latin verse,66 the three of them, however, wrote with more elegance. This practice of writing to aequales held in it an element of aemulatio, of competition, as Melchior admitted in his first poem to Balthasar:

 
Labora,
 
fervescas magis atque magis componere versus,
 
sicque poeta bonus fies. Iterumque labora,
 
ut fratres antecellas sociosque studendo:
 
gloria perpetuum lucens mansura per aevum
 
hinc tibi, frater, erit.67

Balthasar also practised his Latin with some of his nephews. Our manuscript contains one letter from Justus Raphelengius to Balthasar, and two from Balthasar to his nephew.68 The Justus in question, born in February 1573, was to become, together with

his brothers Christophorus and Franciscus Raphelengius the Younger,69 a manager of the Plantin-Raphelengius press in Leiden.70 The first letter, written on 17 January 1589 - Justus was then in Antwerp- is a mere composition exercise, in which Justus puts into grandiloquent words his admiration for Balthasar's virtue, his (generally acknowledged) modesty and his Latin style, and invites his nephew to send more Latin letters. No doubt, Balthasar did not refuse this request, but his answer is lost. Our copybook contains only two letters to Justus Raphelengius, dating from 1591 and 1592. Now Justus Raphelengius lived in Leiden, where, on the advice of his father and of Justus Lipsius,71 he had gone to study medicine. In the first half of 1591 a brother of

Justus (probably Franciscus) was in Antwerp, and Balthasar seized the chance to send a message to Leiden with him; it informs us that Melchior Moretus hoped to round off his secondary education (and even to fulfill the requirements to become an M.A.) in Douai in early October 1591:

Frater Melchior, de cuius statu quaesivisti, in Academia Duacensi adhuc versatur, circa festum Bavonis promovendus. Et ob id iam multo magis bonarum artium studio insudandum est, ut honestum aliquem in promotione locum obtineat; atque eam silentii eius causam putato: ubi plus otii nactus fuerit, ipsum ad te scripturum satis scio.72

In his other letter to Justus (October 8, 1592), Balthasar praised the latinity of his nephew's letters and of his poem about Franciscus Nansius' Latin translation of the fifth-century Greek poet

Nonnus;73 he wondered how Justus was able to combine the study of medicine (for he was told that Justus would soon obtain his M.D. degree) and that of bonae litterae.74

 

Feasts were appropriate occasions to convey one's greetings and wishes to friends and relatives, or to express one's thanks for a gift. Thus Balthasar wished to his brother Melchior a happy St. Martin's feast in in 1588.75 In such poems, the utile and the dulce were combined so as to offer samples of the progress one had made in Latin. We know, for instance, that Plantin was eager to see Melchior's Latin, as Christian Huygens was curious about the first little poems of his son Constantinus.76 In this spirit, Balthasar Moretus wrote a poem on John the Baptist on the occasion of the feast of his father's patron saint.77 He thanked his grandfather for the books he had received, and chose a suitable theme to develop in verse: In laudem Festi Sacrosanctae Trinitatis.78 The same Plantin got a poem from his grandson, written on New Year's Eve: Balthasar wished him a happy 1589 and many more years, and dwelled on the tradition of New Year presents;79 a year later, he composed a poem on the same theme for his father.80 A poem about the feast of the Epiphany must have been very agreeable to his fa-

ther, who had named his three eldest sons after the three wise men.81 In December 1590, the student of the classis prima judged that his father had the right to measure his progress in Latin prose too:

Cum iam meum qualecumque carmen, reverende pater, absolvissem absolutumque emendatiori charactere conscripsissem, coepi mecum animo cogitare num inconsultum foret si versibus aliquod, quo tibi eos dedicarem, epistolium annecterem, ut meus non modo in vinctae sed et solutae orationis structura progressus tibi innotescat; non enim minus in oratoria, immo magis quam in poetica facultate nos exerceri convenit, quod haec recreet et delectet, illa utilissima maximeque necessaria censeri debeat.82

On special occasions, the family and a number of friends gathered in Moretus' house. Now and then, Balthasar and Johannes II had to make their appearance there and to recite by heart a Latin dialogue they had written themselves. We have two such unpretentious dialogues, performed on the feast of the Epiphany, 1590, and on Mardi Gras of the same year. The subject of the first composition was -again- the meaning of the Epiphany; the other one discussed the indispensability of feasts and diversion. In both cases, some dramatic action was aimed for - both are entitled actiunculae -:83 one of the two brothers started a monologue; then, ‘by chance’, the other one came on, which gave rise to a lengthy dialogue.84

 

A couple of letters inform us about household matters. The most interesting sample is a diverting account of the difficulties

Plantin experienced in 1589 with his maids: one of them married and left the house; her successor, a French woman, could not cope with all the work and with the teasing on the part of some of Plantin's servants; the maid who took her place was lazy. In short, Plantin was now counting on a new maid, who would come soon:

 

Si bene, mi frater, valeas, equidem85 gaudeo; ego (laus superis!) belle adhuc valeo. Cum non ignorem, care frater, quam nimium te occupet desiderium sciendi quae hac in patria agantur, quaedam nuper hic acta hoc meo epistolio declarare visum est. Scias igitur, mi frater, abhinc quattuor mensibus ancillam avi indissolubili matrimonii vinculo cum marito viduo et textore copulatam esse eodem die, quo hypodidascalus86 noster Levinus Basius uxorem nomine Catharinam, magistri Rumoldi Verdonck affinem, duxit, quae ipso festo Conversionis Divi Pauli infantem peperit cui nomen etiam Paulo est. Huic igitur avi ancillae nuper successit alia nationis (ni fallor) Gallicae, quae sane magnis laboribus et molestiis non apta apparuit; imbecillis enim et delicata parum erat; hanc autem festo Puerorum Innocentium avi famuli virgis ceciderunt iterum atque iterum; nam semel caesa non vestem induit, sed in lectum rursus irrepsit; et sic denuo eam excitarunt e lecto. Tandem illa avum deseruit et alia ancilla domum avi venit; quae quidem suarum rerum vixdum studiosa erat et vix magnum poterat (ni fallor) sufferre laborem, sed fere omnia ad nutum facere volebat. Nescio quo tandem casu avus ei dixerit: ‘Hic numquam aliqua famula mihi tam incommode inservivit ac tu mihi inservis.’ Illa respondit dicens: ‘Si tibi male inserviam, discedam’. Et sic subito congregatis omnibus bonis discessit, nec apud [eum] prandium sumere tunc dignata est. Avus iam aliam famulam conduxit, quae necdum venit sed paucis post diebus venturam esse arbitror. Vale, mi frater.87

In the household, Plantin was the paterfamilias; after his death, his successors considered him as their spiritual father and model. Carolus Scribanius was also thinking of Balthasar Moretus when he wrote in his Origines Antverpiensium:

Hoc addam, Plantinum quidquid hic est auctorem venerari; et patrissant in artificio filii et nepotes.88

I have already observed that Balthasar remembered his grandfather with a New Year's poem and thanked him for the books he received. In a poem from June 1589, he prayed to John the Baptist that he might free Plantin from his serious fever:

 
Te, Baptista, ergo quaeso pro patre benigno
 
intercede meo, valeatque per saecula multa,
 
atque pro avo, corpus febris horrida deserat eius.89

The death of Plantin, which occurred in the early morning of July 1, 1589 was a shocking and important event, not only for the family. Shortly afterwards some of Plantin's relatives began to write funeral elegies. By August, Johannes Moretus put forward a plan to honour the deceased with a volume of Lacrymae.90 In the meantime (and before the end of November), Balthasar copied in his notebook the poem Franciscus Raphelengius, a grandson of Plantin and a nephew of Balthasar, had written on his grandfather's death.91 He then started to work on an epicedium of his

own, which he handed over to his father in January 1590.92 A few weeks later, he copied other poems on Plantin's death, written by Christophorus, Petrus and Johannes Vladeraccus.93 After Easter 1590, he rewrote and considerably enlarged his epicedium, and even thereafter made more corrections. This is the only poem copied twice in his notebook. We may safely guess that Balthasar put in such great efforts because he had the prospect of it being published in the Epigrammata funebria ad Christophori Plantini architypographi regii Manes. Eventually, however, Johannes Bochius (1555-1609), the secretary of the city of Antwerp and a Neo-Latin poet, who was in charge of the publication of that volume, decided to insert Franciscus Raphelengius' poem, but to leave out Balthasar's funeral verses.94

 

In his epicedium, Balthasar develops the idea that time and life flee, and that everybody has to die; even a man as great as Plantin could not escape death. Balthasar wants to celebrate the man's virtues, though his poetical talent is very modest. The excellent works issued by the Plantin press will be useful forever and con-

tinue to travel around the world. The typographer's motto was Labore et Constantia. He was industrious, not for profit, but to serve, to promote the arts, to spread piety and to defend the true faith against heretics. Therefore, his name will last forever, even if he is the object of envy and calumny.

 

To a certain degree, Balthasar was inspired by his nephew's poems: the title, Gratitudinis ergo, recalls Raphelengius' Bonae memoriae; both poems conclude with a chronodistich, and some ideas and words derive from Raphelengius' verse. The last section, dealing with envy, was added after Easter 1590; it is quite possible that it alludes to the violent family quarrels over Plantin's will - quarrels that were not completely over after the compromise of February-March 1590; Aegidius Beys was a troublesome heir.95 In this first edition of the epicedium, I mention Balthasar's subsequent additions, corrections and variant readings, which may give an idea of the genesis of the mediocre poem.96

Gratitudinis ergo
 
Quam tenui pendent hominum res undique filo!
 
Quam cito dispereunt modo quae florere putantur!
 
Non vana siquidem ratione Terentius ille
 
inter Romulidas Varro doctissimus omnes
5
bullae97 hominem confert; quae sicut protinus imbre
 
nata repentino tenues discedit in auras,
 
sic quoque vitae hominum breve et irreparabile tempus
 
est: fugit hora levis, currit mortalibus aevum.
 
Sic qui navigio fertur, sive ambulet ille,
10
seu tenera in dulcem declinet lumina somnum,
 
seu vigilet, sedeat, seu grato debile corpus98
 
potu sive cibo recreet99, tamen usque movetur
 
dum teneat felix optati litora portus:
 
vitae ita continuo procedunt tempora cursu
15
humanae, donec mors aspera finiat illam.
 
Quae iuvenes aufert, primi quîs temporis aetas
 
floret adhuc solidaeque suo stant robore vires,
 
et iuvenile decus quîs coepit pingere malas;
 
nec non saeva viros exstinguunt spicula mortis
20
atque senes summo decorandos semper honore;
 
denique100 fata manent (complectar ut omnia paucis)
 
omnes et metam miseri properamus ad unam
 
serius aut citius, fragilis quîs tempora vitae
 
provida concessit rerum natura creatrix.
25
Mixta senum et iuvenum densari nonne videmus
 
funera quotidie? Siquidem sat nobile fama
 
Plantinus celebri caeli super aethera notus
 
exemplar, rapuit quem terris improba nuper
 
mors, qui clarus erat variis101 virtutibus atque
30
dotibus ingenii, quem toto laudet in orbe102
 
nemo satis digne; quin doctus Naso celebris
 
nec Maro nec Flaccus lyricus, nec maximus aptae103
 
conditor Iliados vates, qui praemicat inter
 
omnes, pura ignes velut inter luna minores,
35
concelebrare satis queat illum divite versu.
 
 
 
Attamen (haud biberim quamvis ego flumina fontis
 
Castalii nullas habeamque in carmina vires)104
 
et, Plantine, nepos, ave dilectissime, parte
 
ex aliqua gratus videar tibi, versibus ardet
40
mens mea te paucis fama celebrare perennem.
 
Gloria Romanae linguae clarissima, pulchri
 
et pater eloquii doctissimus ille nepotum
 
Martigenae regis, Cicero, non esse minorem
 
dicit ei curam, sanctae virtutis amore
45
qui dulci rapitur, qualis respublica letum105
 
sit106 post triste suum funusque futura supremum,
 
quam qualis sit adhuc vitam dum ducit in orbe.
 
Est talis siquidem Plantinus. Profuit ille
 
non mundo tantum107 vitali munere vescens,
50
ast etiam, aequorei dum pisces aequor amabunt
 
et volucres puro gaudebunt aere pictae,
 
abstulerint quamquam108 terris illum improba fata
 
(fata bonis magnisque viris adversa), per aevum
 
attamen omne suis plantis erit utilis orbi.109
55
Namque110 typographicae summum decus addidit arti.
 
Illius est dives librorum Belgica tellus
 
nec non111 armipotens regio Germania lata,
 
gaudet et eiusdem112 populosa Hispania plantis;
 
tandem omnis regio, latum dispersa per orbem,
60
(praesertim quam Christicolae, gens nomine summi
 
dicta sui regis, sacrata virgine nati,
 
incolit) est expers nulla ratione librorum
 
Plantini, ante alios dignus qui laude perenni.
 
Namque illi similis non ullo tempore visus
65
est nec iam vasto reperiri possit in orbe,
 
saecula nec talem cernent ventura nepotum.
 
Tempore gratus ei vitae labor exstitit omni
 
grataque summa fuit virtus, constantia, nemo
 
quam laudare satis posset. Virtutibus hisce
70
excultus rerum fugit discrimina nulla:
 
frigora, non aestus saevos, non mille dolores
 
ferre recusavit terris iactatus et alto.
 
Qua causa? An repleat multis ut scrinia nummis,
 
an sua marmoreis bene adornet tecta lapillis
75
atque pererratis terra pelagoque fruatur
 
divitiis, lauta mensa mollique quiete?
 
Haec animo ipsius minime sententia sedit!
 
Cur igitur tantos casus tantosque dolores
 
pertulit? Ut libris studiis iuvenilibus usque
80
prosit et ingenuis antiquum reddat honorem
 
artibus, ipse puer quibus impallescere suevit,
 
ut non indigeat libris gens docta petitis,
 
ut sacra iura suae leges per commoda plantae
 
et consulta patrum vetera ornamenta resurgant,
85
postremum ut pietas, homini tutissima virtus,
 
alma fides vigeat materque Ecclesia sancta,
 
quae premitur taetris bellis grassantibus atque
 
haereticûm telis heu oppugnatur iniquis,
 
floreat et Patrum monumentis ipsa iuvetur
90
sanctorum, ipse suo quae prelo sedulus omni
 
tempore mandavit nullum fugiendo laborem.113
 
Proinde, brevis114 quamvis orbatus munere vitae
 
ad caelum, patriam, migraverit, attamen ingens,
 
in freta dum fluvii pro consuetudine current
95
et polus aethereus dum lucida sidera pascet,
 
semper honos nomenque eius laudesque manebunt
 
atque idem in toto semper cantabitur orbe.
 
Immo, mille licet pravus convicia Momus
 
et trucibus blattis tineisque nocentior ater
100
Zoilus, ingenium qui magni obtrectat Homeri,
 
iactent et totis reprehendere viribus acta115
 
Plantini studeant, cuius super aethera virtus
 
nota, nihil facient: ipsius gloria durae
 
quin magis atque magis crescet per spicula linguae
105
Nam, sicuti comici testantur verba, maligno
 
si maledicatur, maledictum debet haberi,
 
ast doctis summaque viris pietate probatis
 
si maledicatur, benedictum et maxima laus est.
 
Livida turba igitur, cum nil convicia prosint
110
et nil116 efficiant maledicta nec aspera verba
 
vestra, precor tandem desistite carpere facta
 
Plantini; ast potius mutata mente maligna
 
ad caelum eximiis attollite laudibus ipsum;
 
et quicumque viros doctos virtuteque claros
115
diligitis, tales haud voces edite raro:
 
Magna suis mundo peperit qui commoda plantis
 
compostus placida Plantinus pace quiescat.’117
Carmen chronicum
 
PLantInVs, qVanDo tenebras aVrora fVgaret,
 
heI QUInCtILIs obIt118 ChrIsto CVpIente CaLenDIs.
 
 
 
Christophoro Plantino Architypographo regio Balthasar More-
 
tus avo optimo pos.

Mention must be made of another epicedium, written by Balthasar on the death of his paternal grandmother, Adriana Gras, who, according to Balthasar, died on 28 May 1592, at the age of seven-

ty-nine.119 In his verse, the poet stresses her devoutness and the fact that she had the joy of seeing her grandchildren. Like the epicedium on Plantin, this poem concludes with a chronodistich. This composition falls outside Balthasar's school years and was written shortly before its author went to Leuven. It stands out in stark contrast to his previous work; the distichs and periods run properly; the poem attracts attention because of the felicity of expression, of a classical, often suggestive order of the words and a satisfactory structure. Only the chronodistich is odd.120 Many years later, Balthasar ordered a painting of his grandmother from Peter Paul Rubens.121

3. First contacts with Justus Lipsius

‘Mi Morete, quem quasi filium amavi atque amo...’
(Lipsius to Balthasar Moretus, 30-V-1593)122
‘Vale, alter mihi parens...’
(Balthasar Moretus to Lipsius, IX/X-1598)123

Finally, some of the documents in our manuscript concern Justus Lipsius. The later friendship between the humanist and the Antwerp printer and editor is well-known; likewise, the great veneration in which Balthasar held his preceptor, and the different ways in which it was shown after Lipsius's death, are general knowledge. Our manuscript, however, refers to the period imme-

diately before Balthasar went to Leuven to become a commensalis of Lipsius. It includes an unpublished letter to Lipsius that, strangely enough, escaped notice and did not find its way into the Inventaire de la correspondance de Juste Lipse.124 In my opinion, it is the first letter from Balthasar to Lipsius we have.125 The largest part of the undated letter deals with laudes Lipsii. The wording suggests that, at the time, Balthasar had not established firm contact with Lipsius yet. Balthasar asks the scholar not to look down on the son of his good friend Johannes Moretus:

Obsecro itaque et humillime obtestor, ut siquem amicitiae erga me fomitem accenderis, eum ne exstinguas, nec filium quantumlibet minus sapientem despicias, cuius parentem maximo amore complecteris.126

There is but one element in the letter that enables us to date it approximately: Balthasar brings up a ‘libellus supplex’, which Lipsius is going to hand over to the emperor and which he wants Balthasar to copy. The ‘libellus supplex’ in question must refer to Lipsius' efforts to obtain an imperial privilege from Rudolf II; such a privilege would put an end to unwanted (re)editions of works of Lipsius. This is a major topic in Lipsius' correspondence in the years 1591-1593. With the help of relations (Ortelius, Monavius, Barvitius and others), Lipsius obtained the privilege on August 1, 1592. Now, two letters in which these things are discussed, are important with respect to our letter. On August 5, 1591, Lipsius wrote to Ortelius and to their common friend Monavius about the privilege he wanted. He added a draft of a petition (using the word ‘libellus’) addressed to Rudolf II and containing the important items the privilege should mention. No doubt, it was that ‘libellus’ Lipsius wanted to be copied by Balthasar Moretus, in August or early September, 1591. Besides, this period would conform to the place Balthasar's letter occupies in

the chronologically arranged manuscript; the following document dates from around the end of May, 1592; the last preceding poem bearing a date was written on 25 May 1591.

 

It is now possible to reconstruct the earliest contacts between Balthasar Moretus and Justus Lipsius.127 In the summer of 1591, Balthasar had rounded off his secondary education. He was going to work in his father's business. A deepening of his knowledge of Latin and Greek would be profitable for his editing activities, and Balthasar was a good student. Lipsius, on the other hand, had left Leiden and wanted to return to Leuven. He would continue to dedicate himself to Plantin's grandchildren. The plan arose to send Balthasar to Leuven, to carry on his studies under the direction of Lipsius; in return, Balthasar would be an amanuensis of Lipsius - besides, Balthasar's Latin would improve while he would transcribe neatly Lipsius' writings. Lipsius had to verify if Balthasar, in spite of his physical handicap, would be able to cope with a job as an amanuensis; in the summer of 1591, he asked Balthasar to copy his petition for a privilege: the item was relevant to Balthasar, as the privilege would be transferred by Lipsius to Johannes Moretus. Afterwards, Lipsius assigned similar tasks to Balthasar even before his moving to Leuven: in February 1592, he asked Balthasar to copy two letters (once again concerning the privilege).128

 

On 9 August 1592 Lipsius arrived in Leuven; a few days later he was appointed a professor of history. Johannes Moretus could send his son Balthasar to Leuven. Melchior, who had obtained his baccalaureate and probably his M.A. in Douai129 would start his first year at the Alma Mater Lovaniensis, studying theology; he got

a room in the College of the theologians on 28 June 1592.130 Balthasar would live in Lipsius' house.

In the meantime, Balthasar and his relatives learned of the negative reactions to Lipsius' reconversion to the Catholic Church and to his transition to Leuven.131 In the second half of 1592 - before October 1 - Balthasar decided to write a poem in defense of Lipsius; it is present in our manuscript. All those rumours, he stated, are signs of envy, which do not go to Lipsius' heart, since he is the champion of that firmness and ‘constancy’ he has so thoroughly studied and brilliantly explained. Eventually, the envy will die out, whereas Lipsius' name will last forever - as he wrote in a Virgilian verse:

Semper honos eius, nomen laudesque canentur.132

In early October 1592, Balthasar was about to travel to Leuven.

This is confirmed by a letter in our manuscript, written to Justus Raphelengius and dated 1 October 1592:

... ad typographicum onus inspiciendum me converti, cui aliquando (si Deo et parentibus visum) destinabor. Plurimum me ad istud sustinendum informatum ac confirmatum iri spero praeceptis institutisque Lipsii, litteratorum huius aetatis doctissimi, quem propediem accedam.133

From the letters he wrote to his father, we know that Balthasar on 8 October 1592 left Antwerp by boat; he spent a bad night on the boat in the neighbourhood of Willebroek, reached Mechelen on 9 October, and from there travelled by carriage to Leuven, where he arrived in the late afternoon of 10 October. There he met his brother Melchior, in whose company he went to Lipsius.134 So the contubernium started on October 10, 1592. Traditionally, Balthasar Moretus is said to have remained in Lipsius' house until 1594.135 In fact he left Leuven in January 1593.136 In my opinion, there is another common fallacy about his sojourn in Leuven: I do not believe that he often caroused and therefore was blamed by his parents. From Balthasar's letters it becomes clear that he worked hard in Leuven. On 16 October 1592 he was copying Lipsius' De cruce; he finished that work before 2 November,137 and was rewarded with the insertion of a commendatory verse of his in the first edition of De cruce.138 After dinner and supper, Balthasar was given daily private lessons on a Greek and a Latin author by Lipsius.139 He disposed of a daily timetable, copied for him by Lipsi-

us.140 He frequented the Leuven bookshops and made lists of the books he thought unfindable in Antwerp. He bought himself (or asked for) copies of the Ilias, of Demosthenes and of Pindar (he had a limited knowledge of Greek; therefore, he preferred bilingual editions). He planned to attend the Greek course on Pindar. He was present at Lipsius' inaugural speech on 25 November and wanted to attend his course on Caesar and Florus. Moreover, he did some work as a corrector for his father. But shortly after 30 November, he fell seriously ill.141 The excitement and the great efforts of Balthasar in the autumn of 1592 must have led to a nervous break-down; Balthasar's nervous system was rather weak, as we know from later events.142 His illness affected his body and mind. At the end of December, it seemed that he was recovering;143 but the problem was that he refused to take the remedies the Leuven physician and professor Adrianus Romanus prescribed.144 Melchior urged his father to pay a visit to his son.145 In the second week of January, Balthasar was able to write to his parents,146 but still refused to take any medicine.147 By the end of January 1593, more precisely on 29 January, Balthasar must have returned home.148 In a letter written a few years later, Romanus remembered the illness of Balthasar, when he came across a similar case of what he called ‘melancholia’; then too, the patient

suffered from severe insanity and refused to take remedies, which he thought would intoxicate him.149

 

After a long period of recovery - in May 1593, Balthasar was in a somewhat better condition150 - he devoted himself, together with his brother Joahnnes II, to working in the business of his father, becoming a chief ‘correcteur’ and an overseer of the press.151

 

The awkward circumstances in which Balthasar had left Leuven did not alter the sympathy and concern Lipsius felt for this vir Plantinianus. Balthasar, for his part, did all he could to be helpful to Lipsius and to propagate his fame. The two men kept in touch with each other and must often have met. Balthasar wrote some more verses in defense of Lipsius. His veneration of the great humanist did not end with Lipsius' death.152 Following the example of the collections of verse edited in the memory of Plantin and of Ortelius,153 he took the initiative to publish a book of verse in the honour of Lipsius: it was the well-known Fama Postuma, to which he contributed a poem of his own.154 Moreover, he helped

Sweertius to collect all Lipsius' poems. In 1636, the emperor Ferdinand II granted him, for a period of ten years, a privilege for printing Lipsius' works.155 In 1637, the famous Lipsii Opera Omnia came out; their front matter was signed by Balthasar Moretus. Let us just add, in rebus poeticis, that Balthasar used to submit his verse to the judgment of his former teacher.156

 

But all this exceeds the limits of the period we are dealing with.

 

Having thus rounded off our survey of the poems and letters in ms. 202, the thorny question needs to be answered whether or not Moretus' juvenile Latin has much literary merit. Did Balthasar give evidence of an exceptional gift for poetry? Can we quote his early Latin verses to corroborate the flattering judgments that have been expressed since Valerius Andreas (1588-1655)?

From the remarks I have made earlier in this article it will have become clear to the reader that I do not greatly appreciate young Balthasar's verse. Of course one has to make allowance for the student's age. But even then, Moretus's verses can hardly be compared to that of young Constantijn Huygens. It is true that Constantijn was a born poet and a language genius, whose quick progress in Latin poetry amazed his own father. But the average emblems that students of the prima and the secunda in the Jesuit College in Brussels managed to write were much more succesful than Moretus's poems.157 As a matter of fact, it would be difficult

to study the evolution and progress of Balthasar's Latin from the classis tertia to the prima: the characteristics and weaknesses of his Latin verse remained the same until the end of his secondary education. His choice of words was too often unfortunate and prosaic; he constantly repeated the same iuncturae; the roughness of his verse became even greater because of the neglect of regular caesura's, of classical word order and of homodyne and heterodyne feet. He used to spin out too long sentences with a distorted syntax and a notable abuse of enjambment. In short, he was rather unaware of the traditional rules of sound versification and contented himself with counting metrical feet. He was unable to make good these deficiencies by expressing original, personal or poetical feelings or ideas. Apparently, neither the milieu in which he lived, nor the books he read could really inspire him to juvenile outpourings in verse.

 

Balthasar was aware of the gaps in his knowledge of the classics; in 1600 he wrote to Lipsius: ‘De studiis meis conferre adhuc speraram et consilium petere, quorum maxime lectioni, si quae mihi ad eam supersint, horas impenderem. Nam, ut fatear, vagari per libros iam pridem coepi, non legere. Et nescio quin typographiae nostrae usum magis spectavi quam meum, ut quid auctorum veterum plerique contineant leviter semel nossem.’158 When he had written a poem, he used to submit it to Lipsius.159 These later poems are often much better than his primitiae: young Balthasar's verse reveals very few poetical ingenium and almost no progress in ars, but his mature poems are no banal compositions. From these, we may infer that Balthasar, while working in the Officina Plantiniana, continued to spend as much time as he could on the study of ancient poetry. Melchior, who was perfectly able to write Latin verse, asked his brother Balthasar to write a Latin poem for a friend who would receive holy orders.160 A charming specimen of Balthasar's mature art is the epigram he wrote on the death of Philippus Rubens:

Balthasar Moretus in obitum Philippi Rubenii epigramma
 
Quid vanis functum lacrimis oneratis, amici?
 
Mens caelo superest, inclita fama solo.
 
Ingenium scriptis, animus virtute superstes;
 
dextera nec vultum fratris abisse sinit.
 
Tantum lingua silet; quam mox lectissima proles
 
solverit, officium prompta subire patris.161

No doubt, however, Moretus was much more important as a connoisseur and an editor of Neo-Latin poetry than as a Neo-Latin poet. Some of the editions he produced in this field contributed substantially to the spread and fame of poets such as Pope Urban VIII (1634) or the major Jesuit poet of the seventeenth century, Matthias Casimirus Sarbievius (1595-1640), the four-hundredth anniversary of whose birth was celebrated this year (1995). Some time before Moretus issued his Lyrica,162 the Sarmatian Horace (as Sarbievius was often called) must have received a letter from Father Iohannes Bollandus, informing him that Moretus was willing to publish an augmented edition of Sarbievius' poetry. The Lithuanian poet expressed his gratitude in a poem, Ad Balthasarem Moretum Panegyris lyrica.163 In a long series of Alcaic stanzas, he eulogized Moretus as a wise pupil and an editor of Lipsius, and as a famous publisher of Neo-Latin poetry. Thus he called Moretus in an appropriate way

 
Musas amantis gloria Belgii
 
et Lipsianae sidus adoreae.164

(Universiteit Antwerpen (UFSIA-UIA) - Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)

Appendices

Appendix 1: Conspectus of ms. 202 of the Archives of the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerp

1.F. 2r: Balthasar Moretus, Carmen de discessu Fratris
Inc.: Cum se quarta dies
Poem written in hexameters, ca. 4-IX-1588. Published in this article.
2.F. 2v: Balthasar Moretus, Frater Fratri S.D.
Inc.: Si bene tu valeas
Poem to Melchior Moretus, written in couplets of hexameters and iambic dimeters, Sept. 1588
Followed by an elegiac couplet, inc.: Optima sola beat virtus. Published in this article.
3.F. 3r: Melchior Moretus, Frater fratri S.D.P.
Inc.: Te laudo multum
Poem to Balthasar, written in hexameters, Douai, 13-X-1588
4.F. 3r/v: Balthasar Moretus, Frater Fratri S.D.
Inc.: Gaudeo si valeas, valeo, charissime frater,/ gratia sit Domino. Nuper
Poem to Melchior, written in hexameters shortly before 11-XI-1588
5.F. 3v: Balthasar Moretus, Carmen ad praecep<t>orem
Inc.: Adsunt nunc divi
Poem to Levinus Basius, written in elegiac couplets, 11 or 12-XI-1588. Published in this article.
6.Ff. 4r-5r: Balthasar Moretus, Ad fratrem
Inc.: Gaudeo si valeas, valeo, charissime frater,/ gratia sit Domino per tempora
Poem to Melchior, written in hexameters shortly after 25-XI-1588. Published in this article (see Appendix 3).
7.Ff. 5v-6v: Balthasar Moretus, Avo suo charissimo S.D. Plurimam
Inc.: Omnibus in regnis haec
Poem to Ch. Plantinus, written in hexameters, 31-XII-1588
8.F. 7r: Balthasar Moretus, Ad Rectorem
Inc.: Iam Pater omnipotens
Poem to Rumoldus Verdonck, written in hexameters, 2-I-1589
9.F. 7r-v: Balthasar Moretus
Inc.: Festa trium Regum redeunt
Poem written in elegiac couplets, 6-I-1589.
Published in D. Sacré, ‘Balthasaris et Melchioris Moretorum, Plantini nepotum, epistolae et carmina inedita (saec. XVI) (II)’, Melissa 69 (1995), 8-10 (p.8).
10.F. 7v: Balthasar Moretus, Ad patrem
Inc.: Accipias hilari
One elegiac couplet to Johannes Moretus, probably written on 6-I-1589 and accompanying no 9.
11.F. 7v: Balthasar Moretus, Ad Reginam
Inc.: Trudimus exiguum munus
Epigram (2 elegiac couplets), written in January 1589.
12.Ff. 7v-8r: Justus Raphelengius
Inc.: Serius ad suavissimas
Letter in prose to Balthasar, written in Antwerp, 17-I-1589.
13.F. 8r-v: Balthasar Moretus, De partu uxoris Magistri Laevini Basii carmen
Inc.: Lux exorta omnes abigebat
Poem written in hexameters, shortly after 25-I-1589.
Published in D. Sacré, ‘Balthasaris et Melchioris (II)’, o.c., 8.
14.F. 9r: Melchior Moretus, Frater Fratri S.D.P.
Inc.: En novus annus adest
Poem to Balthasar written in hexameters, Douai, 13-I-1589.
15.Ff. 9r-10r: Balthasar Moretus
Inc.: Si bene, mi frater, valeas, equidem
Letter in prose to Melchior, written ca. 15-II-1589.
The letter concludes with a poem to Melchior, written in hexameters, inc.: Obsecro opinari, mi
Published in this article.
16.Ff. 10v- 11r: Balthasar Moretus, Filius Patri S.D.P.
Inc.: O vos mortales homines
Poem to Johannes Moretus, written in hexameters between February and May 1589.
17.Ff. 11v-12r: Balthasar Moretus, Nepos Avo suo carissimo S.D.P.
Inc.: Pro paucis tibi quae exscripsi
Poem to Chr. Plantinus, written in hexameters, between February and May 1589.
Contains another poem: Carmen de cruce Christi, written (in the same period) in hexameters, inc.: O sacra crux, salve
First part published in this article. Entire poem published in D. Sacré, ‘Balthasaris et Melchioris (I)’, o.c., Melissa, 68 (1995), 10-12 (p. 10).
18.Ff. 12v-13r: Balthasar Moretus, Frater Fratri S.D.P.
Inc.: Si valeas, laetor, valeo
Poem to Melchior, written in elegiac couplets between February and May 1589.
19.Ff. 13r-14r: Balthasar Moretus
Inc.: Quis, Ave, persolvam donis
Poem to Chr. Plantinus, written in hexameters, ca. 20-V-1589
Contains another poem: Carmen in laudem Festi Sacrosanctae Trinitatis, written (in the same period) in hexameters, inc.: Currite, mortales, ferventer.
20.Ff. 14r-15r: Balthasar Moretus, Carmen in laudem Natalis S. Ioannis Baptistae
Inc.: Mens mea natalis
Poem written in hexameters ca. 24-VI-1589
The same poem occurs in ms. 1150a, f. 52r.
21.Ff. 15v-16v: Franciscus Raphelengius, Bonae memoriae
Inc.: Quantumvis, Plantine, novum
Poem written in hexameters after Plantinus' death (1-VII-1589); it was copied by Balthasar before the end of November 1589
Contains also some Dutch verse, which is absent from the printed edition.
Printed (with some minor variants) in 1590: Ioannis Bochii, urbi Antverpiensi a secretis, Epigrammata funebria ad Christophori Plantini architypographi regii Manes (Antverpiae 1590), f. B3v.
22.F. 17r: Melchior Moretus, Fratribus meis dilectis S.P.D.
Inc.: Sicne tacebo? Nihil scribam?
Poem to Balthasar and Johannes II, written in hexameters on 13-XI-1589.
23.F. 17v: Balthasar Moretus, Frater Fratri S.D.P.
Inc.: Vera mihi grato describis
Poem to Melchior, written in hexameters on 27-XII-1589.
24.F. 18r: Balthasar Moretus, Filius Patri S.D.P.
Inc.: Ecce biceps anni
Poem to Johannes Moretus, written before 6-I-1590, immediately after no 25
Published in D. Sacré, ‘Balthasaris et Melchioris (II)’, o.c., 8-9.
25.Ff. 18v-19v: Balthasar Moretus, Gratitudinis ergo
Inc.: Quam tenui pendent
Poem in hexameters, completed before 6-I- 1590
Contains also a carmen chronicum (2 hexameters), inc.: Plantinus quando
Published in this article. Cp. also no 35.
26.Ff. 20r-21v: Balthasar Moretus, Actiuncula brevissima
Inc.: Vos o dilecti multum
Poem written in hexameters ca. 6-I-1590. See Appendix 3.
27.Ff. 22r-24r: Melchior Moretus, Psalmus 22. Dominus regit me
a) Ad Lectorem
Inc.: Huc oculos prudens
Poem in elegiac couplets
b) Psalmus 22. Dominus regit me
Inc.: Lanigeras veluti pecudes
Poem, partly in hexameters, partly in elegiac couplets
c) Tetrastichon
Inc.: Ne mire<re> precor
Poem in elegiac couplets
Written in 1590.
28.Ff. 24v-25v Christophorus Vladeraccus, In obitum clarissimi Christophori Plantini, Domini Philippi Catholici Hispaniarum Regis Architypographi, Christophori Vladracci Epicedium
Inc.: Claudite nunc Helicona
Poem written in elegiac couplets, 1590 (copied by Balthasar before 3-III-1590)
Published (with a different title) by M. Verweij, Vladeracci tres, o.c., pp. 65-68.
29.Ff. 25v-26r: Petrus Vladeraccus, Aliud Petri Vladracci Christophori f.
Inc.: Siccine, mi Plantine
Poem written in elegiac couplets, 1590 (copied by Balthasar before 3-III-1590)
Published (with a different title) by M. Verweij, Vladeracci tres, o.c., pp. 75-76.
30.F. 26r: Johannes Vladeraccus, Aliud Joannis Vladracci Christophori f.
Inc.: Quis cubat hic?
Poem written in elegiac couplets, 1590 (copied by Balthasar before 3-III-1590)
Published (with a different title) by M. Verweij, Vladeracci tres, o.c., pp. 73-74.165
31.Ff. 26r-27v: Balthasar Moretus, Dialogus
Inc.: Vos nunc, o cari
Poem in hexameters, written ca. 3-III-1590.
32.Ff. 27v-28r: Melchior Moretus, Fratribus dilectis S.P.
Inc.: Carmina vestra movent
Poem to Balthasar and Johannes II, written in hexameters on 16-II-1590.
33.F. 28r-v: Balthasar Moretus, Frater Fratri S.D.P.
Inc.: Prospere si tu valeas
Poem to Melchior, written in Sapphic stanzas, 25-III-1590
Published by M. Sabbe, o.c., pp. 11-12.166
34.F. 29r-v: Balthasar Moretus
Inc.: Calliope nostris faveas
Poem written in hexameters, ca. Easter Sunday, 1590
Contains at the end a distich, inc.: Divite Christus huic.
35.Ff. 30r-32r: Balthasar Moretus, Gratitudinis ergo
Inc.: Quam tenui pendent.
Poem in hexameters.
Cp. no 25. The poem, completed before 6-I-1590, was rewritten (corrected and enlarged) between Easter Day and mid September 1590. Published in this article.
36.F. 32r-v: Melchior Moretus, Fratribus carissimis S.D.
Inc.: Quantum me vestrae litterae
Letter in prose to Balthasar and Johannes II, written from Douai, 11-IX-1590.
37.Ff. 32v-33r: Balthasar Moretus
Inc.: Amantissimae tuae litterae
Letter in prose to Melchior, written around the end of September 1590; cp. no 40.
38.F. 33r: Melchior Moretus, Fratribus suis S.P.
Inc.: Iam diu cui studio
Letter in prose to Balthasar and Johannes II, written from Douai around the end of November 1590.
39.F. 33v: Balthasar Moretus, Frater Fratri S.
Inc.: Quas a te recepi litteras
Letter in prose to Melchior, written in November or December 1590.
40.F. 34r-v: Balthasar Moretus, Frater Fratri S.
Inc.: Amantissimae tuae litterae
Letter in prose to Melchior, written around the end of September 1590 (cp. no 37) and rewritten before the end of December, 1590.
41.Ff. 34v-36r: Balthasar Moretus, Filius Patri S.
Inc.: Cum iam meum qualecumque carmen
Letter in prose to Johannes Moretus, written at the end of December, 1590.
42.Ff. 36r-37r: Balthasar Moretus, Iusto Raphelengio cognato suavissimo S.D.
Inc.: Periucundae, mi cognate
Letter in prose to Iustus Raphelengius, written between 1-I-1591 and 25-V-1591.
43.F. 37r-v: Balthasar Moretus,
Inc.: Quando tuum, reverende
Poem to Antonius Berbaigne, written in elegiac couplets on 25-V-1591.
44.Ff. 37v-39v: Balthasar Moretus, In laudem D. Martini carmen ad R.D. Martinum - pastorem vigilantissimum
Inc.: Mens mea per varias
Poem to a Father Martinus, written in hexameters after 25-V-1591.
45.F. 39v: Balthasar Moretus, Oratio ad D. Martinum
Inc.: O tandem variis
Poem in hexameters, written after 25-V-1591.
46.Ff. 39v-41r: Balthasar Moretus, De ossium D. Martini concrematione Elegia ad Patrem. Praeponitur querimonia de Hereticorum infestatione
Inc.: Eheu quam variis agit<at>ur
Poem in elegiac couplets, written after 25-V-1591
The same poem occurs in ms. 1150 a, f. 53, where it is followed by a letter (s.d.) from Balthasar to Iohannes Moretus, inc.: Maximas ago, quoad.
47.F. 41r-v: Balthasar Moretus, Ioanni Gheesdalio Balthasar Moretus S.D.
Inc.: Infelix nimium quem iam
Poem to Ioannes Gheesdalius, written in elegiac couplets after 25-V-1591. For Gheesdalius, see L. Voet, PP, 1043, 1247, 1587 and 2210.
Published in D. Sacré, ‘Balthasaris et Melchioris’ (III), Melissa, 70 (1996), 8-10 (p. 8).
48.Ff. 41v-42r: Balthasar Moretus, Clarissimo Doctissimoque viro Iusto Lipsio S.P.D.
Inc.: Libellum tuum supplicem, doctissime
Letter in prose to Iustus Lipsius, written in the second half of 1591.
Cp. D. Sacré, ‘An Overlooked Letter from Balthasar Moretus to Justus Lipsius’, Lias, 22 (1995), 163-173.
49.Ff. 42v-43v: Balthasar Moretus, In obitum Adrianae Gras P.M. coniugis Iacobi Moreti P.M. quae obiit octuagesimo aetatis suae anno
Inc.: O Aganippaeae castissima
Poem, written in elegiac couplets in 1592, shortly after May 28.
Contains at the end a carmen chronicum (one elegiac couplet), inc.: Grassia virtutum
Text also in Arch. ms. 1150 a, f. 62.
Published in D. Sacré, ‘Balthasaris et Melchioris (II)’, o.c., 9-10.
50.F. 44r: Balthasar Moretus, In Famae ac Virtutis Iusti Lipsii invidos Acrostichis. Invidia virtutis comes
Inc.: Invidia humanae pestis
Poem in hexameters, written in 1592
The poem also occurs (with some variants) in ms. 1150 a, f. 16
Published by M. Sabbe, o.c., p. 15; D. Sacré, ‘An Overlooked Letter’, o.c., pp. 171-172.
51.Ff. 44v-45r: Balthasar Moretus, Iusto Raphelengio cognato suavissimo S.P.D.
Inc.: Annus est ut opinor
Letter in prose to Iustus Raphelengius, written on 1 (rather than 8)-X-1592.
Published in D. Sacré, ‘An Overlooked Letter’, o.c., pp. 172-173.

Appendix 2: Two epigrams by Laevinus Basius (Arch. ms. 1150a)

1. F. 4r: Epigramma Domini Laevini Baes - Erudito caroque viro, Domino Balthasari Moreto typographo regio maestus valedico, quondam discipulo, deinceps amico sincero et benigno

 
Hinc iam discedo, Morete o docte, supremus
 
ad id, locat quo me Deus.
 
Quare mnemosynonque tui impertire benigne
 
viaticique paululum.
 
Sic votis divina tuis adsibilet aura,
 
et caelites tarde petas.
 
Candide amice, vale. Sine te complectar et addam
 
amicum et ultimum ‘vale’.

Tui observantisimus Laevinus Baes praeceptor indignus 12. Maii MD.C.XII

 

2. F. 11r: Ad ornatissimum, prudentissimum eruditissimumque virum dominum Balthasarem Moretum architypographiae regiae in urbe Antwerpiensi praesidem vigilantissimum

 
De te quid dicam, nisi quod doctrina polita
 
suavis et medulla misericordiae
 
in tete rutilent? Expertus dico quod aevo
 
nullo futuro oblitterabitur mihi.
 
Ecquid ego potero, Morete, rependere, docte,
 
humillimas nisi ad Deum fundere preces
 
pro te proque tuis, quibus est vel vita peracta
 
vel adhuc superstites rotam vitae orbitant?

Reverentiae tuae observantissimus Laevinus Baes praeceptor immeritissimus X. Iulii M.D.C.XIX

Appendix 3: Two poems by Balthasar Moretus

1. Balthasar Moretus, Actiuncula (Arch. ms. 202, ff. 20r - 21v)

Actiunculae brevissimae Prologus
 
Vos o dilecti multum salvete, parentes
 
et salvus sit quisquis adest. Dum carmina grata
 
lusimus elapso quae anno cognovimus esse
 
vobis, fert animus rursus paucissima noster
 
nunc etiam in medium producere. Proinde rogamus
 
quisquis dignetur praebere silentia nobis,
 
ut mage procedat feliciter actio nostra.
 
 
 
A. - Hic novus unde furor? Cur nunc nova gaudia cuncta
 
opplent? Cur pueri iuvenesque virique senesque
 
exultant laeti, simul exercentque choreas?
 
Quaenam laetitiae tantae datur (obsecro) causa
 
illis? Cessant an signa ferocia Martis167
 
bellaque quae multos nos vexavere per annos?
 
Multane concessit tandem post saecla benignus
 
atque potens Dominus, sacrata virgine natus,
 
qui regit aeternis fulgentia sidera caeli
 
mundumque imperiis, optatae munera pacis
 
civibus? Ast mecum dum plurima corde revolvo
 
sollicito, quendam nostras qui tendit ad oras
 
conspicio. Accedam; namque huius forsitan ille
 
laetitiae causam sciet atque docebit; ab illo
 
nequicquam hanc igitur mens quaerere nostra veretur.
 
B. - Omnipotens Christus, superi regnator Olympi
 
summus, qui terras et signa micantia caeli
 
siderei, undosum mare sacro numine torquet
 
imperioque potens populos dominatur in omnes,
 
concedat nobis regum felicia festa,
 
festa ferant nobis quae summam laeta salutem,
 
qua mage me gratum totus complectitur orbis.
 
 
 
A. - Quaenam verba sonat? Ferme de rebus iisdem
 
sermonem, ni fallor, habet. Quid demoror illum
 
compellare meis verbis? Sis salvus, amice!
 
 
 
B. - Et simul ipse tibi felicem exopto salutem.
 
 
 
A. - Tu mihi quaeso velis causas exponere cur sit
 
laetitia tanta populus perfusus ubique
 
nunc.
 
 
 
B. - Hoc ipse tibi perpaucis dicere verbis,
 
cum tanto desiderio rapiare sciendi,
 
incipiam, ac omnem tibi prima ab origine pandam
 
rem. Faciles igitur mihi non donare recuses
 
aures.
 
En redeunt nobis sollemnia festa
 
illa quibus Bethlem magni dicione profecti
 
reges extremo sunt ex oriente. Coruscam
 
stella facem vero praebens venientibus illis
 
dux erat atque viam monstrabat lumine claro.
 
Cumque pro<p>inquarent intacta virgine nati
 
Christi humili tecto, supra aedes substitit astrum,
 
lumine complebat quod tota mapalia largo.
 
Ingressi vero reges demittere sese
 
illustres auro fulgente ostroque decori
 
non dedignantur genibusque advolvere Christi,
 
qui iacet in duro praesepi prorsus egenus,
 
astra licet caeli, mundi quoque machina subsit
 
illi, cunctipotens et cuncta creaverit idem.
 
Deinde suo reges exornant munere regem:
 
thure colunt Christum, sacrum quo numen inesse
 
illi significant, auro fulgente, potentem
 
quo regem illorum, vasti qui regia mundi
 
sceptra petunt populisque suis dominantur ovantes,
 
designant; tradunt illi tum denique myrrham,
 
munere quo indutum moribundi corporis artus
 
esse docent. Primi vero hi sunt dogmata sanctae
 
amplexi fidei vanis ex gentibus, hi sunt
 
Christicolûm patres. Hinc omnes gaudia summa
 
ostendunt, memores quod sit miseratus acerbam
 
hisce paganorum sortem fabricator Olympi
 
festis, et gentes convertere coeperit ad se
 
ignaras recti, quae vana idola colebant.
 
Summa haec laetitiae ratio nec vana videtur.
Conclusio
 
Gloria sit Patri, sit nato gloria Christo
 
et quoque spiritui sancto, qui numine replet
 
corda sacro fidei quae vera fatentur.
 
 
 
Patri meo maxime colendo faustum ac salutarem novum hunc annum precor.

2. Ad fratrem (Arch. ms. 202, ff. 4r-5r)

 
Gaudeo si valeas; valeo, carissime frater
 
(Gratia sit Domino per tempora cuncta potenti!).
 
Dulcis, abhinc longo misisti tempore, frater,
 
(quare te multum laudo) mihi carmina grata;
 
arbitror esse meum quosdam rescribere versus.
 
 
 
Schenchelii a pueris acta est comoedia nuper
 
de sancta Catharina168 festo illius ipso,
 
supplicium quantum fuerit pro nomine Christi
 
ostendens. Quae autem sunt acta intellege quaedam.
 
 
 
Cum prologus sua dixisset, procedit ineptus
 
Jupiter ex scaena, quoque magna caterva deorum,
 
Jupiter et queritur quod Catharina peralma
 
seipsum contemnat, flammato cordeque mandat
 
Mercurio Furiam infernalem ut mittat ad illam.
 
 
 
Accedit virgo regem, dein arguit illum
 
idolatriae,169 caderet cum victima vanis
 
divis. Iratus rex hanc ad carceris antrum
 
adduci iubet. Insequitur tunc nata puella
 
illam, quae nutrix erat huius virginis almae;
 
illa autem melius quam alii sua paene cavebat.
 
Doctores quaerit Caesar Maxentius atrox
 
quae possint illam ad falsos pervertere divos.
 
Nonnullos reperit; sed convertuntur ab ipsa
 
ad Dominum Christum. Tum rex Maxentius illos
 
comburi iubet. In scaena tunc cernitur ignis
 
fumus. Virgo flagellatur tortoribus alma;
 
horrida sed simulant non se donare flagella
 
tortores, sed carnem attrectant molliter eius.
 
Christus eam visum vadit factus qui erat ater
 
cum Petro Pauloque esset cum in carcere virgo.
 
An sese vellet pervertere virgo rogatur;
 
crudeli regi frustra mortemque minanti
 
illa negat constans Christumque relinquere nolit.
 
Adfertur rota qua ipsam deiurare studerent,
 
virginis at precibus sacris venit angelus ecce,
 
qui rumpit gladio.
 
 
 
Praeceptor protinus ipse
 
Schenchelius clara tunc voce ‘Stupescite!’ clamat;
 
‘hic regem obiurgat coniux regina maritum
 
immeritam cupiat quod dira morte perire
 
virginem et ingenue se Christi<c>olam esse fatetur.’
 
Imperat uxoris caput a cervice recidi
 
tunc Caesar; sed quo pacto sit percipe factum.
 
Imponunt caulem capiti; circum ordine quodam
 
stant pueri. Tortor caulem tunc deicit ense;
 
hoc facto pueri super illam pallia iactant.
 
Nobilis hic summus dux regem obiurgat eandem
 
ob causam audacter se Christigenamque fatetur.
 
Imperio regis tunc decollatur et ipse -
 
hos ambos autem virgo converterat ante
 
ad Salvatorem, veramque fidemque sacratam.
 
 
 
Tunc atrox blanditur ei rex virgini amice,
 
ut si non duris, verbis moneatur amicis.
 
Nullius sed blanditiis ea virgo movetur
 
nec sese cupit ad vanos pervertere divos.
 
Imperat hic decollari Maxentius illam.
 
Angelus et quidam puer adsunt protinus ecce,
 
qui cupiunt auferre illam; sed corporis illis
 
non vis talis erat; quare illos adiuvat unus
 
tortor, virginis et facies tunc cernitur almae.
 
 
 
Finis hic est. Valeas divino munere, frater,
 
et tibi succedat felix hic proximus annus.

Balthasar Moretus

tuus ex animo frater


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