Antwerp & the World: Richard Verstegan and the International Culture of Catholic ReformationRichard Verstegan is the usual English name of a man who went through early life as Richard Rowlands, before reverting to his ancestral Dutch surname in exile. Born in Mid-Tudor London around 1550 and dying in the Baroque Antwerp of 1640, his ninety-odd years of life saw numerous religious, political and military conflicts, in some of which he was a minor player and on almost all of which he commented in his writings. After studying at Oxford without taking a degree, training as a goldsmith and illegally printing a Catholic book, he fled to France, where he worked as a propagandist for the faction of the Duke of Guise. Imprisoned in France for these activities, he fled to Rome, and eventually settled in Antwerp, where he worked for almost fifty years as, variously, a newswriter, engraver, publisher, editor, translator, polemicist, antiquarian, cloth merchant, poet and satirist. He is one of the earliest identifiable European newspaper journalists, having worked on Abraham Verhoeven's Nieuwe Tijdinghen (Antwerp, 1620-1629). |
Common terms and phrases
ancient Anthony Antiquiteyten Antwerp apostolic Archdukes Arminians atheists Bemindt Brussels Buitendijk Calvinism Calvinists Catholicism Chamber of Rhetoric Characteren Christian Church Cobergher concerning contemporary Declaration dedicated Dutch edition Elizabeth ende England English Catholics English College epigrams Epitaph Europe exiles Flanders Flemish France French Gazette German Gomarist Habsburg hath Henry Jaye History Holland humanist intelligence intelligencer Jesuits John Joseph Creswell Justus Lipsius King language later learning letter Leuven Lipsius Lipsius's literary Londons looking-glasse looking-glasse Low Countries Mechelen Medicamenten mentioned merchant Miraeus Mission nation Nederduytsche epigrammen Nieuwe Tijdinghen Oxford pamphlet peace Pedro de Ribadeneira Petti Philip poet polemical political Post priests Primer Prince printed printer Protestant published reader Recusant Reformation religion religious reports Restitution Richard Verstegen Robert Persons Rombauts Rome satire sixteenth century social Southern Netherlands Spain Spanish Theatrum theme Thomas translation unto verhael Verhoeven verses Verstegan Verstegan's view Verstegan's writings Wetsteen William witch wrote zijn