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This is the first study, edition and English translation of the Middle Dutch Brut, the only medieval Dutch chronicle of England. The work was first published in 1480 in Utrecht by Johan Veldener, the typographer who also helped William Caxton set up his printing press.
About the author
Sjoerd Levelt is Senior Research Associate of the Leverhulme Trust project The Literary Heritage of Anglo-Dutch Relations, c.1150-c.1600, University of Bristol. He studied Dutch and English Medieval Studies in Amsterdam, Berkeley and Oxford, received his PhD in Combined Historical Studies at the Warburg Institute, and previously taught at the Universities of Exeter and Sussex, and Bilkent University (Ankara). He is author of Jan van Naaldwijk's Chronicles of Holland: Continuity and Transformation in the Historical Tradition of Holland during the Early Sixteenth Century (Verloren, 2011), which was Winner of the Society for Renaissance Studies Book Prize 2012.
Summary
While being the first known standalone chronicle of England in Dutch, it shows a remarkable sophistication and adeptness in negotiating English and Dutch sources, as well as Dutch and English interests, and presents a determinedly Lancastrian view of English history to its Dutch audience.
