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Mytho-poetics at Work
A Study of the Figure of Egmont, the Dutch Revolt and its Influence in Europe
Series: - Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, Volume: 266
Author:
In Mytho-poetics at Work Rengenier Rittersma offers an account of the posthumous fame of the Count of Egmont (1522-1568), whose public decapitation triggered the Dutch revolt. Drawing from numerous European sources â pamphlets, chronicles, and literature â this monograph tries to unravel why and how the alleged freedom fighter became an icon in European thought. It demonstrates that Egmont unfurled an evocative power over several centuries and cultural regions, as his name could be deliberately instrumentalized by different groups of people in order to corroborate their own confessional and political programs.
In addition, this book offers the very first systematic study of the phenomenon of mytho-genesis and provides a conceptual model that can be applied to analogous historical myths.
In addition, this book offers the very first systematic study of the phenomenon of mytho-genesis and provides a conceptual model that can be applied to analogous historical myths.
Rengenier Rittersma studied History and German Philology (cum laude) in Amsterdam and Heidelberg and obtained his Ph.D. in History from the European University Institute, Florence. His current project is Tartufomania: Truffle Obsessions in Europe since the Renaissance.
âThis book is a splendid achievement: the research is prodigious, the work is clearly organized, and the writing is elegant and even witty. I certainly learned much that I did not know about a classic work of German literature.â
Theodore Ziolkowski, Princeton University
âRittersma's book can be perceived as a cornerstone in a cultural history of Europe, since it is one of the very first studies that systematically tackles the transformation, during a period of more than two centuries, of a historical figure.â
Peter Burschel, Director Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel
âRittersmaâs meditations on myths are thoughtful and illuminating [â¦]. This rich study deserves to be read by historians and literature specialists alike.â
Jan Machielsen, Cardiff University. In: The English Historical Review, Vol. 134, Issue 568 (June 2019), pp. 701â703.
âmeticulously researched [â¦] This book provides an often witty and engaging account of the history, influence, and transformation of a historical figure.â
Dannielle Shaw, University of Groningen. In: European History Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 2 (April 2019), pp. 346â347.
âhighly informative and engrossing [â¦] a paradigm for the mythmaking of historical figures.â
Cornelia Niekus Moore, University of Hawaii, Emeritus. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 49, No. 4 (2018), pp. 1277â1279.
âa fascinating analysis of the work process of Goethe and Schiller, which Rittersma describes with great attention to detail and great joy.â
Liesbeth Geevers, Lund University. In: Cuadernos de Historia Moderna, Vol. 44, No. 2 (2019), pp. 661â663.
âFor scholars of Goethe and Schiller, Rittersma performs an invaluable service.â
Simon Richter, University of Pennsylvania. In: Goethe Yearbook, Vol. 28 (2021), pp. 387â389.
â[Rittersma] legt die komplexe Beziehung von Mythos und Realität offen.â
Olaf Mörke, Universität Kiel. In: H-Soz-Kult, 16.03.2020.
âCet ouvrage, par l'ampleur et l'exhaustivité du corpus analysé, constitue un bel exemple d'une manière nouvelle d'incorporer l'étude de sources à l'analyse des textes: elle ne se limite pas aux sources dont l'utilisation est attestée, ni à peser la signification des choix des détails retenus dans l'économie de l'Åuvre, mais elle retrace sur un mode archéologique toute une présence diffuse et souterraine en amont, comparée à des rhizomes, et replacée elle-même dans les enjeux idéologiques du moment de leur rédaction et saisie dans ses mutations, pour aboutir à l'acmè des années 1780.â
Gérard Laudin, Sorbonne Université (émérite). In: Ãtudes germaniques, 2022.
Theodore Ziolkowski, Princeton University
âRittersma's book can be perceived as a cornerstone in a cultural history of Europe, since it is one of the very first studies that systematically tackles the transformation, during a period of more than two centuries, of a historical figure.â
Peter Burschel, Director Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel
âRittersmaâs meditations on myths are thoughtful and illuminating [â¦]. This rich study deserves to be read by historians and literature specialists alike.â
Jan Machielsen, Cardiff University. In: The English Historical Review, Vol. 134, Issue 568 (June 2019), pp. 701â703.
âmeticulously researched [â¦] This book provides an often witty and engaging account of the history, influence, and transformation of a historical figure.â
Dannielle Shaw, University of Groningen. In: European History Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 2 (April 2019), pp. 346â347.
âhighly informative and engrossing [â¦] a paradigm for the mythmaking of historical figures.â
Cornelia Niekus Moore, University of Hawaii, Emeritus. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 49, No. 4 (2018), pp. 1277â1279.
âa fascinating analysis of the work process of Goethe and Schiller, which Rittersma describes with great attention to detail and great joy.â
Liesbeth Geevers, Lund University. In: Cuadernos de Historia Moderna, Vol. 44, No. 2 (2019), pp. 661â663.
âFor scholars of Goethe and Schiller, Rittersma performs an invaluable service.â
Simon Richter, University of Pennsylvania. In: Goethe Yearbook, Vol. 28 (2021), pp. 387â389.
â[Rittersma] legt die komplexe Beziehung von Mythos und Realität offen.â
Olaf Mörke, Universität Kiel. In: H-Soz-Kult, 16.03.2020.
âCet ouvrage, par l'ampleur et l'exhaustivité du corpus analysé, constitue un bel exemple d'une manière nouvelle d'incorporer l'étude de sources à l'analyse des textes: elle ne se limite pas aux sources dont l'utilisation est attestée, ni à peser la signification des choix des détails retenus dans l'économie de l'Åuvre, mais elle retrace sur un mode archéologique toute une présence diffuse et souterraine en amont, comparée à des rhizomes, et replacée elle-même dans les enjeux idéologiques du moment de leur rédaction et saisie dans ses mutations, pour aboutir à l'acmè des années 1780.â
Gérard Laudin, Sorbonne Université (émérite). In: Ãtudes germaniques, 2022.
Preface to the German Edition
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Part 1
Section 1
1 Preliminary Remarks on the Source Corpus
2 Biographical Information on the Eyewitnesses and Authors
Section 2
3 The Atavistic Layer
4 The Particularistic Layer
5 The Theocratic Redemptive-Historical Layer
6 The Religious-Confessional Layer
7 The Person-Centered Layer
âIntermezzo: The Sacred Layer
âContinuation of the Person-Centered Layer
8 The Anti-Spanish Layer
9 The Anti-Spanish Layer in the Early Foreign Egmont Reception
Concluding Remarks: On Dealing with the Quirks of History
Part 2
10 Preliminary Remarks on the Source Corpus
11 A Historiographical Subgenus: Herography
12 The Struggle for Preponderance: Historiography in the Wake of Sectarian Wrangling
13 The Target: The Supremacy of Northern Dutch Historiography
14 In the Wake of Politics: Grotiusâ Historiography as âCertificationâ of the Republicâs Birth
15 In the Name of the Search for Truth: De Thouâs Historiography as an Irenic Manifesto
16 Under the Spell of prudentia: Stradaâs and Bentivoglioâs Historiography as a Political Lesson
â1 The Baroque: More than a Transitional Stage Between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment
â2 âQuellâAiace e questo Ulisse.â Egmont and Orange in Strada and Bentivoglio
17 In the Spirit of the Enlightenment: Wagenaarâs Historiography as an Empirical Analysis of the Past
Concluding Remarks: On Dealing with the Historyâs Late-Comers
Part 3
Section 1
Section 2
18 Defining the Problem, Delineating the Theme
19 The Development of the Chosen One: On Goetheâs Sources for His Egmont Tragedy
20 The Development of the Chosen One: On Schillerâs Sources for His Egmont Treatment
21 âUnder Similar Constellationsâ: A Star Over Brussels, Rome, Weimar
22 Egmont, or: The Excess of Noble-Mindedness
23 Egmont, the Man of Integrity, or: Praise for an Honest and Undisguised Man
24 Synopsis: The Afterlife of Count Lamoral of Egmont Since 1800
Concluding Remarks: Dealing with the Patterns of History
Afterword: On the Writhing Carcas and the homo amplificator
Appendix 1: The Element of Chess in Goetheâs Egmont
Appendix 2: Illustrations of the Process of Mycorrhiza
Appendix 3: Textual Comparison between the Ypres Eyewitness Account and Pieter Christiaenszoon Borâs Nederlantsche Oorloghen
Appendix 4: Schematic Overview of the Transmission of the Egmont Material between the Proto- and the Historiographical Phases of the Egmont Reception
Appendix 5: Summary of the State of Research on Goetheâs Egmont in German Studies
Appendix 6: Complete Passages on Egmontâs Noble-Mindedness
Appendix 7: Extensive Citation from Fugger-Zeitung
Published Primary Sources
Unpublished Primary Sources: Manuscripts and Pamphlets
Secondary Literature
Register of Names
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Part 1
To Order the Unprecedented: Egmont in Proto-
Historiography
Section 1
Prolegomena
1 Preliminary Remarks on the Source Corpus
2 Biographical Information on the Eyewitnesses and Authors
Section 2
The Various Layers of the Early Egmont Reception
3 The Atavistic Layer
4 The Particularistic Layer
5 The Theocratic Redemptive-Historical Layer
6 The Religious-Confessional Layer
7 The Person-Centered Layer
âIntermezzo: The Sacred Layer
âContinuation of the Person-Centered Layer
8 The Anti-Spanish Layer
9 The Anti-Spanish Layer in the Early Foreign Egmont Reception
Concluding Remarks: On Dealing with the Quirks of History
Part 2
To Exploit the Anachronism: Egmont in Historiography
10 Preliminary Remarks on the Source Corpus
11 A Historiographical Subgenus: Herography
12 The Struggle for Preponderance: Historiography in the Wake of Sectarian Wrangling
13 The Target: The Supremacy of Northern Dutch Historiography
14 In the Wake of Politics: Grotiusâ Historiography as âCertificationâ of the Republicâs Birth
15 In the Name of the Search for Truth: De Thouâs Historiography as an Irenic Manifesto
16 Under the Spell of prudentia: Stradaâs and Bentivoglioâs Historiography as a Political Lesson
â1 The Baroque: More than a Transitional Stage Between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment
â2 âQuellâAiace e questo Ulisse.â Egmont and Orange in Strada and Bentivoglio
17 In the Spirit of the Enlightenment: Wagenaarâs Historiography as an Empirical Analysis of the Past
Concluding Remarks: On Dealing with the Historyâs Late-Comers
Part 3
To Eulogise the Unfeigned: Egmont in the European Age of Revolution
Section 1
The Dead End: On How the German Baroque Left Behind No Trace of Egmont
Section 2
âThe Path to Gloryâ: Egmontâs Finest Hour in the Revolutionary Era
18 Defining the Problem, Delineating the Theme
19 The Development of the Chosen One: On Goetheâs Sources for His Egmont Tragedy
20 The Development of the Chosen One: On Schillerâs Sources for His Egmont Treatment
21 âUnder Similar Constellationsâ: A Star Over Brussels, Rome, Weimar
22 Egmont, or: The Excess of Noble-Mindedness
23 Egmont, the Man of Integrity, or: Praise for an Honest and Undisguised Man
24 Synopsis: The Afterlife of Count Lamoral of Egmont Since 1800
Concluding Remarks: Dealing with the Patterns of History
Afterword: On the Writhing Carcas and the homo amplificator
Appendix 1: The Element of Chess in Goetheâs Egmont
Appendix 2: Illustrations of the Process of Mycorrhiza
Appendix 3: Textual Comparison between the Ypres Eyewitness Account and Pieter Christiaenszoon Borâs Nederlantsche Oorloghen
Appendix 4: Schematic Overview of the Transmission of the Egmont Material between the Proto- and the Historiographical Phases of the Egmont Reception
Appendix 5: Summary of the State of Research on Goetheâs Egmont in German Studies
Appendix 6: Complete Passages on Egmontâs Noble-Mindedness
Appendix 7: Extensive Citation from Fugger-Zeitung
Published Primary Sources
Unpublished Primary Sources: Manuscripts and Pamphlets
Secondary Literature
Register of Names
All interested in myth-making, histoire de l'imaginaire and the socio-political context of (German) literature in general as well as anyone concerned with the Dutch revolt and the Goethezeit in particular.