De Gulden Passer. Jaargang 82

[p. 89]

Wim François^*
The alleged Bible translator Pieter Schuddematte, beheaded in Antwerp (1547)

In the initial phase of the Reformation, religious dissenters drew on several sources to strengthen their claims.¹ They appealed to Martin Luther's theology and to Erasmus's Humanism. Further, they were undoubtedly influenced by late medieval anticlerical tendencies. Still more important however was their claim that their new religious insights and practices were based on the Bible. Printers (especially in Antwerp) introduced the works of Luther, Erasmus et al. to the market just as they also published Bible translations in the vernacular with ever-increasing speed. Both the dissident literature and the vernacular Bibles were read and commented on during secret religious gatherings or ‘conventicles’ which took place in private homes, taverns or even out in the open fields. These conventicles were led by both reform-minded clerics and, not infrequently, by dedicated laymen. In Flanders, Brabant and Holland, the rhetoricians' meetings often came to resemble conventicles. During these meetings the rhetoricians would read the Bible, discuss certain passages and then present ‘their’ interpretations to their audience on stage and in the form of simple plays. For example, we know of plays in which biblical leaders and priests were portrayed in such a way that the audience could clearly see that it was their own and very real authorities who were being criticised.² Schoolmasters, who often possessed critical and independent minds, were very receptive to the new ideas and became conduits of them to their pupils.

It goes without saying that the imperial proclamations became increasingly obsessed with interrupting these means of communication openly-reformist. Dissident literature and Bibles that were too ‘Reformation-minded’ had to be withdrawn from circulation and new books were censored preventatively. Religious discussion during conventicles was also forbidden. As early as the late 1520's, the rhetorician chambers in Holland were being urged not to put on plays without the approval of the authorities. After the famous Ghent rhetoricians' competition in 1539, the governments of the Low Countries began keeping a more watchful eye on the content of the rhetoricians' plays. As early as the mid-twenties imperial placards warn-

* I want to thank Hanne Brasseur for the esteemed assistance in translating this text.

1 For an introduction to the religious climate of the Low Countries in this period, see: A. Duke, Reformation and Revolt in the Low Countries (London - Ronceverte, wv, 1990).

2 G.K. Waite, ‘Reformers on Stage: Rhetorician Drama and Reformation Propaganda in the Netherlands of Charles v, 1519-1556’, Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, 83 (1992), 209-239, a.o. pp. 237-238. Waite has calculated that of the 54 religious rhetoricians plays from the years 1519 to 1555 that have been preserved, 28 or 52% can be catalogued as Lutheran, Calvinist or as in some sense reform-minded. Nine plays can be described as Spiritualistic or, at least, as independent from both the mainstream-reformation and the traditional catholic faith. Only sixteen plays (30%) put forward a traditional catholic point of view. Ten of these were produced by Cornelis Everaert. Even these often contain a certain anticlerical point of view. See also: J. Decavele, De dageraad van de reformatie in Vlaanderen. Part 1: tekst (Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België: Klasse der Letteren, 76) (Brussels, 1975), 196-220 and Duke, Reformation and Revolt in the Low Countries, 90-91; 106-107.

[p. 90]

ing schoolmasters to refrain from questionable digressions during their lessons were in circulation. During the forties, the repression of religious dissenters in the Low Countries hardened still further.

As a schoolmaster-rhetorician, Pieter Schuddematte, from Oudenaarde, was thoroughly at home among the cultural vanguard that was so receptive to new ideas.³ J. Decavele has shown that as early as 1530 in the county of Flanders little groups of Bible readers were active in the area near the Scheldt between Ghent and Oudenaarde and also in Oudenaarde itself. ‘Initially the magistrate gave little attention to this phenomenon, yet in 1532 he discovered that also in his own jurisdiction, a small group that owned several forbidden books, had arisen. One of them, Arendt de Man, who's epithet “the Light of God” may refer to his role as a Bible interpreter, was beheaded the year after that. Jeroen de Mueleneere was silenced forever by piercing his tongue.’⁴ Decavele assumes that Schuddematte also belonged to this first group of Bible readers⁵ since he had been condemned for heresy and banished from Oudenaarde in 1532.

Like so many others, Pieter Schuddematte went to Antwerp, where he obtained his burghership on 24 October 1532. Here he found work as a schoolmaster. Once again he became active in rhetorician circles and, according to the Antwerpsch Chronykje, turned out to be an ‘excellent rhetorician’ (‘fray Rethoriseer’).⁶ It was also in Antwerp that Schuddematte was accused of heresy. On 15 January 1545, he was arrested by the sheriff. This date marked the beginning of his trial. It was a true marathon: it lasted for more than two years and met on no less than fifty-six occasions.⁷ As early as May 1546 the Antwerp local tribunal (‘vierschaar’) had decided that the accused should be put through a ‘more severe examination’ (‘scerper examinatie’) i.e. the rack. Apparently this was in response to the request of the attorney-general of the Council of Brabant, Pieter du Fief, who was intent on getting a confession out of Schuddematte.⁸ However, according to the ‘Customs’ (Costuymen) of the city this required that Schuddematte's burghership be revoked by the Broad Council of Antwerp. An alderman's verdict in the local tribunal (‘vierschaar’) would then have to certify this decision. In addition to the request for torture, the attorney-general formally demanded that Schuddematte be handed over to the Court of Brabant. Apparently the attorney-general considered the case important enough to be tried in the provincial court; possibly he was also motivated by distrust of

3 Published sources concerning Pieter Schuddematte include: [de Wesenbeke, Jacques], De beschryvinge van den Gheschiedenissen inder Religien saken toeghedragen inden Nederlanden... /- [Cologne], Ghedruckt in Augusto 1559 [=1569], [16], 347 [=400] p.; in 8^o, 22; J. de Wesenbeke, Mémoires de Jacques de Wesenbeke. Avec une introduction et des notes par C. Rahlenbeck (Collection de mémoires relatifs à l'histoire de Belgique, 5) (Brussels, 1859), 68; Antwerpsch Archievenblad. Published by P. Génard, 8 (Antwerp, s.d. [1872]), 330-338; 346-348; 364-375. For a study on the basis of this material, see: F. Prims, Geschiedenis van Antwerpen, 7 Onder de eerste Habsburgers (1477-1555). 1st book: De politische orde (Antwerp, 1938), 128-129; Decavele, De dageraad van de reformatie, 206-207; 267-268. Further also: J.F. Willems, Belgisch Museum voor de Nederduitsche tael- en letterkunde en de geschiedenis des Vaderlands, 1 (Ghent, 1837), 158; 10 (Ghent, 1846), 420, n. 1; Schattemate (Pieter), in A.J. Van der Aa et al., Nieuw biographisch, anthologisch en critisch woordenboek van Nederlandsche dichters, 3 (Amsterdam, 1846), 119; Schuddematte (Peter), in J.G. Frederiks and F.J. Van den Branden, Biographisch Woordenboek der Noord- en Zuidnederlandsche Letterkunde (Amsterdam, 1891²), 705; J. Vercoullie, Schattematte (Pierre), in bn 21, 600-601 [bn = Biographie Nationale, 28 vols (Brussels, 1866-1944); suppl., 16 vols, 1957-1986]. Also: H.L.V. De Groote, De zestiende-eeuwse Antwerpse schoolmeesters, Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis inzonderheid van het oud hertogdom Brabant, 51 (1968), 30.

4 Decavele, De dageraad van de reformatie, 267-268 (translation ours).

5 Decavele, De dageraad van de reformatie, 268 n. 169.

6 [Gaspar Verstock,] Antwerpsch Chronykje, in het welk zeer veele en elders te vergeefsch gezogte geschiedenissen, sedert ... 1500 tot... 1574, zoo in die toen zoo zeer vermaarde koopstad, als de andere steden van Nederland... omstandig zyn beschreeven/-, (Leiden, 1743), [12], 260, [4bl] p.; in 8^o, 47.

7 For a reconstruction of the trial, see: Prims, Geschiedenis van Antwerpen, 7, 1, 125-127.

8 Antwerpsch Archievenblad, ed. Génard, 8, 347-348.

[p. 91]

the lenient attitude he knew to exist in the Antwerp local tribunal. The consideration of the attorney-general's request drag on for six months. The representatives of the people of Antwerp, assembled in the Broad Council, compelled their burgomasters and aldermen to attach several conditions to the withdrawing of Schuddematte's burghership as well as for his handing over to the Court of Brabant. These conditions were listed in a Memoire which the burgomasters and aldermen of Antwerp presented to the attorney-general of Brabant on 7 November 1545.⁹

This Memoire also gives a clear picture of the accusations that had been made against Pieter Schuddematte. First, it was alleged that the young people who attended Schuddematte's school were being taught how to write by being made to copy out texts that were more than a little heterodox in character. The students took these ‘notes or refrains’ (‘cladden oft refereynen’) home; often the parents would then read the texts the children had copied. This way, and often without noticing, ‘honourable citizens’ (‘goeden borgeren’) were being exposed to the heterodox literature. Furthermore, the fact that parents had regular contact with the schoolmaster in order to stay informed about their children's progress, was also considered as problematic. In this period, a schoolmaster was usually a respected man in the community and was often invited into people's homes for dinner. The course of one of these dinners was often a time in which questionable ideas were exchanged. Interestingly, the Memoire made it an explicit condition for the withdrawal of Schuddematte's burghership that his students, their parents, and other citizens the schoolmaster might name during his torture, were to be considered immune from prosecution unless ‘sufficient information’ (‘volcomen informatie’) was collecting. In short, it was only after a thorough preliminary investigation that the attorney-general was able to prosecute people with whom Schuddematte had had close contact. Apparently the burgomasters and aldermen of Antwerp obtained an agreement to this effect from the attorney-general.¹⁰

The problem was not confined to Schuddematte's tenure as a schoolmaster: also problematic was his being a rhetorician, and a guild brother of the rhetoricians chamber De Violieren. According to the Memoire, Schuddematte was alleged to have introduced heterodox ideas in some ‘refrains, plays, moral stories or ballads’ (‘refereynen, spelen, battementen oft balladen’). Prior to their performance, manuscripts of these pieces seem to have been kept by other members of the society, perhaps without their having been aware of the pieces' heterodox nature. The burgomasters and the aldermen of Antwerp also obtained the attorney-general's promise that he would not immediately prosecute these people if their names were mentioned by Schuddematte under duress. Again, if they were going to be prosecuted, it would be necessary to gather ‘sufficient information’ (‘volcomen informatie’) against them in advance.¹¹ What were the questionable pieces penned by Schuddematte? In the trial records of 20 February 1545, the sheriff-prosecutor declared that he would bring forward only a (nonspecified) play that had been kept by the deacons of the rhetoricians' chamber De Olijftak.¹² On both 13 August and 31 December 1546, a piece of writing entitled Den Babel van Vilvoorden was introduced.¹³ According to the Beschryvinge of Jaak van Wesenbeke, then one of Antwerp's town secretaries and later a convert to Protestantism, the rhetorician had disre-

9 Antwerpsch Archievenblad, ed. Génard, 8, 373-375.

10 Antwerpsch Archievenblad, ed. Génard, 8, 373-374.

11 Antwerpsch Archievenblad, ed. Génard, 8, 375.

12 Antwerpsch Archievenblad, ed. Génard, 8, 332.

13 Antwerpsch Archievenblad, ed. Génard, 8, 364; 368.

[p. 92]

spectfully lampooned the Friars Minor in one of his ballads.¹⁴ While it seems that the literature mentions two questionable pieces, Den Babel van Vilvoorden and the play criticizing the Friars Minor, it remains a question whether these were indeed two different pieces or whether they refer to a single play.

Returning to the Memoire of 7 November 1545, there was yet another condition that needed to be satisfied before Schuddematte could be handed over. After his cross-examination by the attorney-general, he would again be handed over to the local Antwerp judges to be sentenced without ‘any violation of the city's rights and privileges’ (‘eenighe infractie van deser stadtrechten ende privilegien’).¹⁵

According to J.G. Frederiks and F.J. Van den Branden (and others), Pieter Schuddematte was also accused of having assisted with a Dutch Bible translation. Against the background of the renewed interest in Bible translations and Bible printing in the Low Countries, this statement is certainly intriguing.¹⁶ Still, it must be admitted that there is no Bible edition known upon which Schuddematte could have worked. It is also unclear upon which sources the authors who have followed Frederiks and Van den Branden based themselves. Of course, it is possible that they had documents at their disposal which have now been lost. On the other hand, it seems more likely that this information was based on an apparent confusion of the Schuddematte case with the case of the Bible printer Jacob van Liesvelt. Both occurred during the same period and under the same circumstances. Frederiks and Van den Branden did not yet have access to the publication of the trial pieces in the Antwerpsch Archievenblad. It is even possible that their interpretation is based on a wrong reading of the notation in the Mémoires de Jacques de Wesenbeke, the 1859 edition of Wesenbeke's French Description de l'estat, succès et occurences advenues au Pais Bas au faict de la religion, a work originally compiled in 1569. Because of the edition's rather unclear punctuation, the notation concerning Jacob van Liesvelt could have been (mistakenly) assigned to Pieter Schuddematte.¹⁷ For it is striking that Schuddematte's alleged cooperation on a Dutch Bible translation is only reported in biographies published after C. Rahlenbeck's edition: it is never mentioned in the brief biographies which date prior to the edition. Clearly, extreme caution is called for before any final judgment is issued regarding Schuddematte's work as a Bible translator.

Worth mentioning is also the claim Schuddematte made during the trial (i.e., late 1546-early 1547), that there were two persons from Oudenaarde who could testify on his behalf. Evidently, an attestation from Oudenaarde was necessary in order to guarantee the credibility of these witnesses. This attestation also mentioned Schuddematte's exile from

14 ‘M. Peeter Schudemate oock tAntwerpen om te hebben ghemaect teghen de Monicken Refereynkens van sekere stucken eeniger der selver’ ([De Wesenbeke], De beschryvinge van den Gheschiedenissen inder Religien saken, 22); ‘Pierre Schuddemat audit Anvers, pour avoir composé quelque balade, touchant quelques cas commis par aucuns cordeliers’ (De Wesenbeke, Mémoires de Jacques de Wesenbeke, ed. Rahlenbeck, 68).

15 Antwerpsch Archievenblad, ed. Génard, 8, 375.

16 ‘[...] onder beschuldiging van ketterij, die eigenlijk bestond in het schrijven eener ballade tegen monniken, de medewerking aan een bijbel en het dichten van een spel van Sinne...’ (Schuddematte (Peter), in Frederiks en Van den Branden, Biographisch Woordenboek der Noord- en Zuidnederlandsche Letterkunde, 705); ‘Il fut accusé d'hérésie à cause d'une ballade sur quelques méfaits commis par les Frères Mineurs, à cause de sa collaboration à une traduction de la Bible et à cause d'un drame allègorique (Spel van Sinne)...’ (Vercoullie, Schattematte (Pierre), in Biographie Nationale, 21, c. 600-601); ‘Volgens de akte van beschuldiging had hij een ballade geschreven op de hypocrisie bij de minderbroeders, had hij meegewerkt aan een Nederlandse bijbelvertaling, en het - tot nu onbekend gebleven - zinnespel Den Babel van Vilvoorden geschreven voor de rederijkerskamer De Olijftak’ (Decavele, De dageraad van de reformatie, 207).

17 [De Wesenbeke], De beschryvinge van den Gheschiedenissen inder Religien saken, 22; De Wesenbeke, Mémoires de Jacques de Wesenbeke, ed. Rahlenbeck, 68.

[p. 93]

Oudenaarde. The fact that it took a very long time for these documents to reach the court has further delayed the course of the trial.¹⁸

As noted above, it took more than two years for the final verdict to be reached. Even the proclamation of the verdict was postponed several times, not least because burgomaster Hendrik van Berchem, who was responsible for enforcing it, more than once asked to be excused. Apparently Schuddematte's Antwerp judges were put into an awkward position the closer the case came to involving a death sentence. The city rulers clearly recognized that the execution of a religious dissenter would further damage the cosmopolitan port's open and tolerant image. During the 1540's it seems that it became more and more difficult for the city to maintain its commitment to tolerance. Canon F. Prims thinks it is possible that it was only at the urging of the Court of Brabant in Brussels that the case was continued. He refers to the fact that the Antwerpsch Chronykje, which usually gives a detailed report of any executions, offers only brief comments regarding the Schuddematte case and, in doing so, manages to get the date wrong.

On 25 May 1547, Pieter Schuddematte was executed for heresy in Antwerp. It seems likely that he was beheaded.¹⁹

18 Antwerpsch Archievenblad, ed. Génard, 8, 367; 369-370; Prims, Geschiedenis van Antwerpen, 7, 1, 127.

19 Antwerpsch Archievenblad, ed. Génard, 8, 373; Decavele, De dageraad van de reformatie, 206-207; Prims, Geschiedenis van Antwerpen, 7, 1, 127-128. Cf. [Gaspar Verstock,] Antwerpsch Chronykje, 47. The sheriff's accounts also fail to mention the execution, a fact which further supports the hypothesis that it was a decision taken by the Court of Brabant in Brussels.

[p. 94]

Samenvatting

Pieter Schuddematte (†1547) was lid van een verboden groepje bijbellezers in de buurt van Oudenaarde. Na een veroordeling in 1532 trok hij naar Antwerpen, waar hij zich als onderwijzer vestigde en ook opnieuw actief werd in rederijkerskringen. In 1545 werd hij gearresteerd op verdenking van ketterij. Hij zou zijn leerlingen hebben leren schrijven aan de hand van teksten met een heterodoxe inslag. Ketterse ideeën zou hij ook neergelegd hebben in één of meerdere literaire stukken die hij als rederijker had voortgebracht. Volgens sommige biografieën had hij ook meegewerkt aan een Nederlandse bijbelvertaling. Dergelijke bijbeleditie is ons echter niet bekend. Wellicht gaat deze informatie terug op een verwarring tussen de rechtszaak van Pieter Schuddematte en deze van Jacob van Liesvelt uit dezelfde periode. Mogelijk betreft het een verkeerde lezing: door de verwarrende punctuatie in de Mémoires de Jacques de Wesenbeke kan de notitie i.v.m. Jacob van Liesvelt (ten onrechte) op Pieter Schuddematte zijn betrokken. Het proces tegen Schuddematte sleepte heel lang aan, wellicht omdat de Antwerpse rechters gewrongen zaten met een zaak die onvermijdelijk op een doodvonnis leek af te stevenen. Het was hoogstwaarschijnlijk onder druk van het Hof van Brabant dat de zaak werd doorgezet. Schuddematte werd geëxecuteerd in 1547.

Résumé

Le maître d'école et rhétoricien Pierre Schuddematte (†1547) fréquentait aux environs d'Audenarde des conventicules secrets où l'on lisait et commentait la Bible. Après sa condamnation en 1532 et son bannissement hors de sa ville natale, il était obligé de chercher un nouveau domicile. Il s'établit comme maître d'école à Anvers et s'insérait dans les cercles de rhétoriciens de la ville. En 1545 il fut arrêté, suspect d'hérésie. Il était accusé d'avoir donné des cours d'écriture à l'aide de textes hétérodoxes. Il aurait aussi introduit des idées hérétiques dans diverses pièces littéraires qu'il avait composées. Plusieurs biographies notifient aussi qu'il aurait collaboré à une traduction néerlandaise de la Bible. Nous ne connaissons pourtant aucune édition à laquelle Schuddematte aurait collaboré. Apparemment, cette information est due à une confusion entre le procès de Pierre Schuddematte et celui de Jacques van Liesvelt, qui se déroulait dans la meme période. Peut-être une lecture fautive de la notice sur Schuddematte dans les Mémoires de Jacques de Wesenbeke y est-elle aussi pour quelque chose. Car, par la ponctuation erronée dans l'édition, il est possible que la notice sur Jacques van Liesvelt ait été appliquée à tort à Pierre Schuddematte. Quoi qu'il en soit, le procès contre Schuddematte traînait longtemps, probablement parce que les juges anversois se sentaient mal à l'aise face à une affaire qui aboutirait inévitablement à une sentence de mort. C'était vraisemblablement sous la pression de la Cour de Brabant que l'affaire était poursuivie. Schuddematte fut exécuté en 1547.