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Kamper kronieken Bakker, P.

2020

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citation for published version (APA) Bakker, P. (2020). Kamper kronieken: Stedelijke geschiedschrijving in de Noordelijke Nederlanden (ca. 1450- 1550).

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Download date: 26. Sep. 2021 Summary

Summary

The city archives of the Hanseatic city of Kampen contains two late medieval chronicles by its fifteenth and sixteenth-century town secretaries. These chronicles give us a glimpse into the function of urban historiography in the late . In addition, they provide an insight into the political development of the modern-day from the perspective of a city that existed at a vulnerable spot on the border between Oversticht and the of . In the fifteenth century, the city of Kampen, situated at the mouth of the river IJssel, was a prosperous city with approximately 8,000 inhabitants. The city's cog ships sail to all parts of the world: from the Baltic Sea to Portugal. The sixteenth century, however, saw the city deteriorating economically. One cause for this decline may have been the silting up of the IJssel and the many armed conflicts that took place in the prince-bishopric of Utrecht at the end of the fifteenth century and the first half of the sixteenth century. This economically, politically and militarily unstable period also left its mark on historiography. The authors of both chronicles, as this study has found, were all town secretaries. They were men of stature and often had family ties with the town's patriciate. As other studies have shown, the town secretaries of Kampen also belonged to the urban elite. They were wealthy and, as far as could be determined, had all enjoyed an education. The tasks of the town secretaries were diverse; they held such positions as writer, lawyer, archivist and city diplomat. Many of them were also notaries. Since until the sixteenth century most aldermen had not completed a study, the town secretaries will likely have been regarded as authorities on urban law, administration and diplomacy. The chronicles studied were examined for their function and the purpose the authors had in mind with the text. Urban chronicles could fulfil multiple functions: they were, among other things, a medium of knowledge transfer and identity formation, they gave meaning to historical events, and they provided examples from which future readers could learn. For the town secretaries, they were an important aide-mémoire and a source of historical precedents. Finally, historiography proved itself an aid in supporting a current agenda with historical arguments. It was assumed until now that there was only one chronicle; this study has shown that there are in fact two separate chronicles. These are the chronicles De annalibus quaedam and Annalia ende andere copien. The texts are currently housed in two different registers. The idea that the two chronicles form one whole was based on the fact that the chronicles seemed to complement each other. De annalibus quaedam describes the history from the time of Adam until 1517, subsequently skipping a period of about thirty years, before continuing with the period from 1542 to 1545. At first sight, the younger chronicle, Annalia

347 Summary ende andere copien, seems to complement these time periods, by covering the years (1045) 1505-1560. However, the fact that the chronicles overlap in content and have been divided into two separate volumes is an indication that the texts had autonomous functions. De annalibus quaedam is included in a composite manuscript containing a variety of documents that guides the user through the tasks of a fifteenth-century town secretary. Annalia ende andere copien, on the other hand, is bound in its entirety in a single volume without any other original codices. The codicological and palaeographical characteristics of the Kampen chronicles have been extensively studied in order to reconstruct their creation, physical history and use. Both chronicles contain copies of archival records or originals. Here, too, the archival records had a different function within the individual chronicles. In the oldest chronicle they were included to ensure the content of the text of the privilege was handed down. In the younger chronicle, the copies form part of the argument. De annalibus quaedam was compiled between 1 November 1467 and 16 October 1470 by town secretary Jacob Bijndop (town secretary 1466-1482). This is then followed by subsequent writing phases of him and his successors. Bijndop was the first author to go back to narrative sources in order to record the period up to the first half of the fifteenth century, for which he very likely used the Cronijck van Gelre or a common predecessor. He also made use of eyewitness accounts of older residents of Kampen for his accounts, as well as archival records of the city. Reinier Bogherman van Dokkum (town secretary ca. 1497-1515 and 1541-1553) included copies of privileges in the chronicle after they were damaged by a fire in the town hall in 1543. It was his way of trying to preserve the contents of the privileges for eternity. Bijndop and his successors often refer to documents in the city archives. The authors have added keywords in the margin so that passages can be found quickly. The chronicle is arranged chronologically; only Henric Claessen (town secretary 1481-1518) deviates from this method. By mapping the most important themes of the chronicle, it was furthermore possible to determine what each individual author was focused on. For example, Bijndop writes more about lawsuits, disputes and imprisonment than the other authors in De annalibus quaedam. Regional and other wars are an important topic for all the authors in this chronicle. This is in line with Ebels-Hoving's findings that late medieval historiography has a predilection for war (among other topics) and is locally and regionally oriented. The latter is evident from the distribution of the reports in the chronicle. Until Kampen came under imperial rule in 1528, the city identified itself with the prince-bishopric of Utrecht. Nowhere is there mention of identifying with the , but the reports in the chronicle do concern the geographical scope of the city's rights and privileges, as well as its trade and other contacts. In the chronicle this is reflected in the reports from the French coast, and from the North Sea area up to the Baltic Sea region.

348 Summary The urban identity and bourgeois mentality as observed by Heinrich Schmidt in German urban chronicles from this period is also reflected in the Kampen chronicles. The city council is keen to protect its autonomy and privileges; the honour of the city is an extension of this. The city is Christian and it is there on earth to serve Christ. An attack on the city is therefore seen as an attack on Christ. In the eyes of the authors, peace and stability are the most important pillars for the prosperity of the city, making these the foremost goals the city should strive for. Loving one's neighbour is also a recurring subject in De annalibus quaedam. Given the depiction of Charity over the hearth in the town hall (ca. 1545), the city council considered it an important civic value in the late Middle Ages. In order to answer the question what purpose the chronicle served and what it was used for, examining the context of De annalibus quaedam proved essential; both the context in which it was created - the environment in which and by whom it was created - and the handing down of the manuscript. The chronicle is contained within a composite manuscript consisting of several original codices. Among other things, they provide an insight into what the city archives looked like in the fifteenth century, what the tasks of the city council were, what obligations the city had, how the city accounts were drawn up, which offices were funded by the city and how legal and other documents were drawn up. This register provided the town secretary with a practical example and script for his duties as a notary, town clerk, ambassador, diplomat and archivist. The chronicle was incorporated into a composite manuscript by Bijndop's successors. The function of the chronicle was to place and interpret within a certain context the city's archival records. From the fourteenth century onwards, the city's archives and collection of privileges had grown dramatically. It must have become increasingly difficult for town secretaries to understand the rights of the city and important decisions made in the past and thus make them usable. This was nevertheless essential for them in carrying out their duties as ambassadors and diplomats of the city. They had to be able to plead a case with other powers and substantiate it with historical documents. With the addition of the chronicle in this register, the town secretary had a practical instrument within a single volume to help him carry out his tasks. Annalia ende andere copien is much more extensive than the older chronicle. It contains a total of 167 folios as opposed to the 32 folios in De annalibus quaedam. A large part of the chronicle consists of copied and added letters and treaties. This chronicle is both similar to and different from the older chronicle. The most important difference is that Annalia ende andere copien is more focused on current politics than its predecessor. The main author, Johan van (town secretary 1508-1540), does not bridge the period before his employment by using narrative sources, but by relying on charters. He starts by adding to the chronicle a charter dating from 1040 of the donation of the of , including the town of . This charter was added deliberately in order to present a historical

349 Summary argument for a request. The chronicle was compiled between 1517 and 1519, as shown by the codicological and palaeographical findings. The chronicle sporadically refers to a location in the archive. The originals or copies are often included in the chronicle to support the argument. Until the acceptance of Charles V as ruler in 1528, the chronicle focuses mainly on the city and the region as part of the prince-bishopric of Utrecht. The authors subsequently identify themselves with the empire, which is also reflected in the geographical scope of the reporting. The subjects, such as wars and conflicts, increasingly coincide with the borders of the empire. This chronicle, too, has as its main purport that wars and conflicts should be avoided. One must strive for stability both inside and outside the city, so that the community can flourish. Both chronicles share a secular appearance in the sense that an eschatological narrative is lacking. Nor do they try to explain events as God standing firmly at the helm of history. Conversely, the authors do relate positive developments for the city to divine providence. As indicated, Annalia ende andere copien is strongly political. This is no coincidence: the function of the chronicle is linked to a political issue that takes place in 1517. In that year, the city of Kampen is called to account by the prince-bishop of Utrecht and the of for alleged Guelder-mindedness. The prince-bishop and Stadtholder base the latter on the rejection of the so-called Saxon League (1513) and the pronounced negative attitude towards the appointment of the of Saxony as lord of the city of Groningen. The political developments at the beginning of the sixteenth century explain why a chronicle is being compiled and why charters dating back to the year 1040 form its basis. The author, Johan van Breda, has to refute the accusation and with the collected evidence has powerful means to convince the prince-bishop and Stadtholder. This partly explains the pro- Burgundian attitude in the chronicle. But there is another reason for the town secretaries to adopt a positive attitude towards the Burgundians, and later the Habsburgs. The fact that Kampen is part of the prince-bishopric of Utrecht is initially not disputed in the chronicle; however, with someone from the Burgundian camp as prince-bishop, the prince-bishopric would have a strong ally against the Duke of Guelders. This offers a way to create stability in Oversticht. The chronicle thus has value even after the 1517 accusation. It provides sufficient arguments to advocate the Kampen point of view, either at that particular moment or sometime in the future. After many conflicts in Oversticht with the Duke of Guelders in the first quarter of the sixteenth century, the prince-bishops were unable to provide the desired peace and quiet, which made imperial rule an attractive option. The chronicle explicitly places the hope for stability and peace on Charles V. In the last chapter, the two chronicles of Kampen were compared with four chronicles from Den Bosch, Groningen, Rotterdam and Zwolle, which also originated in the vicinity of the city council. This elucidates whether the Kampen chronicles stand on their own or whether there

350 Summary are parallels to be drawn. In the studied chronicles, similar conceptions of peace, tranquillity and stability can be found. It is noteworthy that the chronicles from Groningen and Den Bosch contain origin stories (of the Frisian countries and the , respectively), but neither trace the origin of the city back to a classical or other ancestor. The chronicles have also been examined in order to further clarify humanistic historiography. The chronicles show the influence of humanism in style, but cannot be described as 'humanistic historiography', as subjects that are considered humanistic, such as archaeological finds and geographical descriptions, are lacking. Looking at the functions that the chronicles have had, one of the following two functions always dominates: either the chronicles are an instrument for providing a context for the documentation in the city archives, or they are aimed at forming opinions on the basis of 'historical' arguments in order to achieve certain ambitions. Sometimes a single chronicle has multiple functions, such as the chronicle of Peter van Os. This particular chronicle was intended to put the rights of the city in context and to gather arguments to present a positive image of the city to the still young Charles V or the States of Brabant. The two established functions of the Kampen chronicles appear to be in line with the other chronicles studied in the Northern Netherlands. What makes the Kampen chronicles stand out is that these functions appear so clearly separated in two individual chronicles produced in the same period. .

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