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Adolf van Meetkercke

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Adolf van Meetkercke (1528–1591) (Latin: Adolphus Mekerchus) was a Flemish diplomat and humanist.

Adolf van Meetkercke, engraving by James Basire.

Life

He was born in Bruges, into a wealthy family of the nobility.

In 1577, after the Pacification of Ghent, he travelled to England on a diplomatic mission concerned with the First Union of Brussels, with the Marquis of Havrech (Havré), Charles Philippe de Croÿ (1549–1613).

In 1580, he became a Protestant convert. He accompanied Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde to France, to negotiate the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours with François of Alençon. He was then appointed as chairman of the Flemish governing council. His support for Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester in 1587 led to his becoming an exile in England, leaving with Hadrian Saravia. This followed a failed plot to mount a coup in Leiden on behalf of Leicester.

He died in London in 1591 .

Works

Hubert Goltzius published his translations of Moschus and Bion of Smyrna in 1565.

  • De veteri et recta pronuntiatione linguae Graecae commentarius

He wrote a commendatory poem for the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Abraham Ortelius.

Family

He married the widow of Jean Wijts of Bruges. With Jacoba Cerbina he had four sons: Adolf, Nicolaas, Anthony, and Baldwin. Nicolaas and Baldwin were killed at the siege of Deventer, Anthony at Zutphen.

Margaret, daughter of John Lichtervelde, was his second wife; Edward Meetkerke, an English clergyman, was his son with her. His daughter Elizabeth married Thomas Westfield. There was another daughter of this marriage, Salome.

Notes

  1. There are numerous variants, in particular found in the English State Papers; Meetkerke, Meetkerk, Meetkirk, Meddykyrk, Medekerk, Medkerke, Midkerke, Meetkerque, Meetquerque, Metkerke, Mettkerke, Mekerke, Merkerke etc.; Mekerchus, Medkerkius, Metkerkius. Also Adolph or Adolphus.

References

  1. ^ s:de:ADB:Meetkercke, Adolf van (in German)
  2. Nijenhuis, Willem (1980). Adrianus Saravia (ca. 1532–1613): Dutch Calvinist, First Reformend Defender of the English Episcopal Church Order on the Basis of the Ius Divinum. BRILL. p. 102. ISBN 90-04-06194-0.
  3. ^ Larminie, Vivienne. "Meetkerke, Edward". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18512. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. Barfoot, C. C.; Todd, Richard (1992). The Great Emporium: The Low Countries as a Cultural Crossroads in the Renaissance and the Eighteenth Century. Rodopi. p. 88. ISBN 90-5183-362-8.
  5. Vigne, Randolph; Littleton, Charles (2001). From Strangers to Citizens: The Integration of Immigrant Communities in Britain, Ireland, and Colonial America, 1550–1750. Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-902210-85-8.
  6. Waterschoot, Werner (2002). Schouwende fantasye: opstellen. Academia Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-90-382-0316-4.
  7. Cosgrove, Denis E. (2003). Apollo's Eye: A Cartographic Genealogy of the Earth in the Western Imagination. JHU Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-8018-7444-4.
  8. Devreese, Jozef T.; Berghe, Guido Vanden (2008). 'Magic is No Magic': The Wonderful World of Simon Stevin. WIT Press. p. 297. ISBN 978-1-84564-391-1.
  9. Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth Peter (1894). A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. London: Harrison. p. 1373 – via Internet Archive.
  10. "Westfield, Thomas" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

External links

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