The Politics of Rhetoric: The 1561 Antwerp Landjuweel

The Politics of Rhetoric: The 1561 Antwerp Landjuweel John Cartwright In 1561, the leading chamber of rhetoric of Antwerp, De Violieren, hosted a Landjuweel, or regional festival of drama, processions, tableaux, and poetry, for thirteen other larger chambers of Brabant, followed immediately by a Haechspel, a similar but less elaborate festival for four smaller chambers.1 These events were both festivals and competitions, and there had been a series of six of them in various towns of the region at seven-year intervals between 1515 and 1541. De Violieren had been the winning chamber on the last occasion—that is to say, they had won the prize in the most prestigious category, the Spel van Sinne, or allegorical play on a set theme—and it was therefore by convention their responsibility to organize the next such event. The unsettled circumstances in the country had caused a gap of twenty years rather than seven, but this Landjuweel when it eventually took place was on a scale that had not been seen before and was not to be seen again. In this paper I examine the introductory and closing material provided by the host chamber, De Violieren, which attempts to set the tone for the occasion and to provide the presentations with a moral, political, literary, and even economic context, in which Rhetoric is the key figure. Two of these framing pieces are explicitly associated in the printed volume of texts with the name of Willem Van Haecht, the factor or designated writer of De Violieren (in theory, all the members of a chamber were expected to write in one genre or another, and preferably in several, but in practice by this time, at least, the public productions of most chambers tended to be scripted by one or more recognized specialists); it is very probable that the rest of De Violieren's introductory and concluding material on this occasion was also written by Van Haecht, who edited the commemorative 1562 volume of texts.2 54 John Cartwright55 The first piece of writing in connection with the Landjuweel that went out, in April 1561, was the Caerte, or formal invitation , a carefully crafted poem of thirteen eleven-line stanzas (rhyming aabaabbcbcc), beginning and ending with a reference to the motto of De Violieren, "Wt ionsten versaemt" ("gathered together in a spirit of goodwill"), a sentiment—and a specific phrase—that would echo through many of the contributions of the other chambers, and which was particularly apposite on this occasion of gathering together after a long period of wars and uncertainty. After mentioning the Apostles as a model for friendly meeting and loving parting, the Caerte provides detailed information such as the date of the formal entry into Antwerp (3 August), the minimum number of delegates from each chamber, and guidelines and definitions concerning the ten different categories for which prizes (also described in detail) were to be offered. Over the verses was printed a figure showing Rhetoric on a throne, flanked by Prudentia and Inventio, and, on her right (in the light) Peace, Love, and Reason, while on her left (fleeing toward a pit of smoke and darkness) Anger, Envy, and Discord. Clearly, Rhetoric is much more than a matter of fine words. Following the granting by the authorities (Brabant at this stage being under Spanish or Imperial rule) of the necessary permissions for the holding of the festival, four messengers delivered the Caerte to the various towns. The next piece of introductory material to be circulated was a pamphlet, the contents of which are printed in the 1562 volume of texts. This pamphlet consisted of a "device" and a poem, and copies of it were "met groóte menichte ghestroyt ... in dincomste der Cameren/ ende mede telcken male als men speelde duerende die gheheele feeste" ("strewn about/ distributed in large numbers at the Entry of the chambers and also frequently during performances throughout the festival"). The device is that of De Violieren: their scutcheon is in the center, supported by the ox of St. Luke (a reference to this chamber's close relationship with the leading guild of the town), flanked by the scutcheons of the Empire and Brabant, with that of...