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Document Details :

Title: Literatuur en geschiedenis
Subtitle: De abele spelen en de Brabantse context omstreeks 1350-1400
Author(s): REYNAERT, Joris
Journal: Spiegel der Letteren
Volume: 62    Issue: 3   Date: 2020   
Pages: 211-244
DOI: 10.2143/SDL.62.3.3288955

Abstract :
The 14th-century Middle Dutch drama texts Esmoreit, Gloriant and Lanseloet, three of the so-called abele spelen (aristocratic worldly plays) in the ‘Van Hulthem’ collection (in or near Brussels, before circa 1405) have a chivalric love as their main theme. Apart from this central argument, at least three secondary topics are present in all three of the plays: an endangered dynasty, questions of aristocratic marriage policy, and strikingly prominent female characters. The article examines these aspects in relation to the historical context of which they could be a reflexion: the situation in Brabant under the reign of duchess Johanna (†1406) in the second half of the fourteenth century.

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