The abele spelen ({{IPA-nl, ˈaːbələ ˈspeːlə(n)) are a collection of four plays contained in the

Van Hulthem Manuscript The Van Hulthem Manuscript is a masterpiece of medieval Dutch literature, probably compiled in the Duchy of Brabant. It contains over 200 stories from across the Low Countries. The manuscript is named after its last private owner, Charles van Hult ...

, which dates from 1410 and is in the collection of the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history t ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

(shelfmark hs. 15.589-623). The word ‘abele’ means ‘noble’, and the ‘spelen’ means ‘plays’. In this sense the word ‘noble’ is used as the opposite of ‘religious’, i.e. 'profane'. The "noble plays" date from around 1350. They are the oldest plays of a worldly, non-religious nature known in the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...

, and among the oldest known in West-European theatre. All four plays concern love, and are written in the style of stories of ''hoofse liefde'' or courtly love (note that the word ‘hof’ means ‘court’). Respectively, the amorous pairs in the plays are Esmoreit and Damiët, Gloriant and Florentijn, Lanseloet and Sanderijn, Winter and Somer, the latter being an

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

. The four abele spelen are: *

Esmoreit Esmoreit is a Middle Dutch drama. It is one of the four ''abele spelen'' ("able plays") contained in the Van Hulthem Manuscript and consists of 1,018 lines in rhyme. The other ''abele spelen'' are: '' Gloriant'', ''Lanseloet van Denemerken'' and ' ...

(1018 lines) * Gloriant (1142 lines) *

Lanseloet van Denemerken ''Lanseloet van Denemerken'' (Lancelot of Denmark) is a Middle Dutch drama. It is one of the four ''abele spelen'' ("able plays") contained in the Van Hulthem Manuscript and consists of 925 lines in rhyme.Annelies van Gijsen,Love and Marriage: Fict ...

(925 lines) *

Vanden Winter ende vanden Somer Vanden Winter ende vanden Somer is a Middle Dutch drama. It is the shortest of the four ''abele spelen'' ("able plays") contained in the Van Hulthem Manuscript, comprising 625 lines in rhyme. The other abele spelen are: ''Esmoreit'', '' Gloriant'' ...

(625 lines) Usually the performance of every ‘abel spel’ was followed by a ''sotternie'', a

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

. Because of the noble nature of the play, the same theme was played out in a more populistic and explicit form. The farces belong to the different abele spelen as follows: *

Lippijn Lippijn is a Middle Dutch ''sotternie'' or farce. It is known from the Van Hulthem Manuscript, in which it follows the " able play" ''Esmoreit''. It consists of 199 lines in rhyme. The farce describes the older man Lippijn who spots his wife havin ...

(199 lines) -– Esmoreit * Buskenblazer (208 lines) – Gloriant * Die Hexe (112 lines) – Lanseloet van Denemerken * Rubben (245 lines) – Vanden Winter ende vanden Somer * Truwanten (incomplete) * Drie daghe here (incomplete) It has been suggested that there used to be six abele spelen because of the number of ''sotternieën'' belonging to them.

References

http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/libraries/Libraries.php?launch=1&country=Belgium&language=en&page=Treasures Dutch plays Middle Dutch literature Plays set in the Middle Ages