The I598-I6I7 Accessions of the Royal Library in Brussels This Article
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MARGIT TH∅FNER Princely Pieties: the I598-I6I7 accessions of the Royal Library in Brussels This article explores one aspect of the history of the ancient Royal Library in Brussels - originally located in the Coudenberg Palace, the main princely resi- dence of the Habsburg Netherlands. My aim is to investigate how this library developed during the first two decades of the reign of the Archduke Albert and the Infanta Isabella; an investigation permitted by the existence of an inventory compiled between 16l4 and 16l7. A substantial part of the present text consists of an annotated transcript of the relevant parts of this inventory (see appendices i and 2). On the basis of this transcript, I hope to demonstrate that the Royal Library went through a significant transformation between 1598 and 1617. Earlier accessions to the library ranged widely in subject matter, from tracts on archi- tecture and lycanthropy to mathematics, philosophy and theology.' However, as will be shown, this range narrowed considerably during the first decades of the seventeenth century and the Royal Library became a resource of mainly reli- gious texts. Of course, this tallies with the enthusiastic support for the Catholic Counter-Reformation so characteristic of the reign of Albert and Isabella.2 Yet it would appear that this change in accession policy cannot be attributed to the Archdukes themselves or even to the Brussels Court, but rather to the sup- pliers of the library, the chief printing houses and authors of the Southern Netherlands. It seems that, in the period in question, these printers had a very particular perception of the type of reading matter wanted by the Brussels Court: predominantly devotional and theological texts. Thus, whilst the 16l4-17 inven- tory is of historical interest in itself, it also offers important evidence of how a certain social group perceived the Court of Albert and Isabella and its devo- tional practices. On a general level, a great deal of work has already been done on the Brussels Royal Library. Most recently, in igg4 Willy Vanderpijpen published an overview of its history followed by extensive bibliographical and archival notices.3 More i See MS francais 5675 (Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris). 2 Most recently, this theme has been explored by P. Arblaster, 'The Archdukes and the Northern Counter-Reformation', in: Albertand Isabella:1598-162I -Essays, ed. L. Duerloo & W. Thomas (exh. cat. Royal Museum for Art and History, Brussels 1998),pp. 87-92; by L. Duerloo, 'Archducal Piety and Habsburg Power', in: Duerloo & Thomas, op. cit. (n. 2), pp. 267-83; and by E. Put, 'Les Archiducs et la reforme catholique: champs d'action et limites politiques', in: Duerloo & Thomas, op. cit. (n. 2), pp. 255-65. 3 W. Vanderpijpen, 'Koninklijke Bibliotheek (1559-1794)',in: De CentraleOverheidsinstellingen van de HabsburgseNederlanden (1482-1795), ed. E. Aerts et al. (Brussels1994), vol. 2, pp. 921-30. For a more extensive, though still general, history of the library, see C. Lemaire & M. Debae, 'Esquisse Historique 1559-1837',in: BibliothequeRoyale, Memorial i559-ig6g (Brussels ig6g), pp. 3-83. 131 specialised work has also been undertaken, such as, for example, on the first librarian Viglius van Aytta.4 However, the history of the library during the reign of Albert and Isabella has not been investigated in detail. This is a little curi- ous, since one version of the i6i4-y inventory has been available on microfilm for some time.5 It is my modest hope that this article will somewhat extend our knowledge of the Brussels Royal Library in this period. Also, with the recent growth in the study of the Court of Albert and Isabella, it is surely useful to 6 establish what sort of reading matter was available in the library of that Court.? I For the purposes of the present argument, it is necessary to provide a brief introduction to the history of the Royal Library before discussing the 1614-17 inventory in detail. The library was founded in 1559 by Philip II of Spain. From his predecessors Philip had inherited a fine set of manuscripts and incunabula, but these were distributed across the many Habsburg residences in the Low Countries. Philip ordered that this valuable patrimony should be gathered together in Brussels. He also appointed a librarian, Viglius, to care for these books and manuscripts and to ensure that the library was expanded further. In his own words, in the Coudenberg Palace Philip wanted 'une belle librairie ou bibliothecque ... pour nous et noz successeurs y povoir prendre passetamps a lire...'7 Thus the Royal Library was to be a recreational resource for the busy Habsburg rulers of the Netherlands. The library expanded rapidly under the care of Viglius but then went into stagnation during the religious and political upheavals of the late sixteenth century. Indicative of this stagnation is the fact that, at the death of Viglius in 1577, the specialist position of court librarian became assimilated to that of the 'garde-joyaux' (the court official in charge of all precious objects kept in the Coudenberg Palace). And it even seems that some books and manuscripts were lost during the Dutch Revolt.' 4 J. Lambert, 'La Bibliotheque royale de 1559et son conservateur Viglius van Aytta', in: Archives,, BibliothèqueJet Musies de Belgique.Revue semestrielle de l'associationdes conseroateursd'archives, de bibliothèques et de m-ies, 30 (1959),pp. 236-56. 5 This is MS 168 (Archives du Nord, Lille). The microfilm is available through the Nationaal Fondsvoor Wetenschap?el?k0nderzoek. Interuniversitaire Kommissie voor Mikrofilm. 6 The recent Albertet IsabellelAlbrechten Isabellaexhibition at the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels has given a highly welcome impetus to the study of the Court of Albert and Isabella. 7 This was the wording of the founding ordnance, issued 12 May 1559, here quoted after Lambert, art. cit. (n. 4), p. 254. 8 Vanderpijpen, art. cit. (n. 3), p. 922. Nevertheless,it should be noted that the damage to the Royal Library in this period was relatively limited. For on 3o April 1585, after his conquest of the city of Brussels,Alexander Famese reported to Philip II that the Royal Library and the Coudenberg Palace as a whole were 'tout en meilleur ordre que je ne pensois'. Here quoted after M. Soenen, 'Les Collections', in: A. Smolar Meynart et al., Le Palais de Bruxelles.Huit sièclesd'art et d'histoire (Brusselsiggi), pp. 173-266,p. 211. .