Lodewijk van Velthem was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

poet and priest of the late 13th and early 14th century writing in

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarch ...

Biography

Very little is known about the life of Lodewijk van Velthem. He was said to be from

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

, and from descriptions of what he witnessed we can deduce that he was active before 1293 and until at least 1327. He presumably lived in Paris between 1293 and 1296. In the winter of 1298, he was in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

. He was ordained a priest in or before 1304 as he worked as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

Zichem Zichem is a village of the town of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Zichem was an independent municipality until the municipal redistribution of 1977. Zichem is on the list of The most beautiful villages in Flanders ...

then. By 1312, he was the parish priest of Veltem, now a part of

Herent Herent () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the villages and former municipalities of Herent proper, Veltem-Beisem and Winksele. On January 1, 2016, ...

; this is presumably the origin of his name. His earliest known writings date to this period, as the 4th part of the ''Spieghel Historiael'' was finished in 1315.

Work

After the death of

Jacob van Maerlant Jacob van Maerlant (c. 1230–40 – c. 1288–1300) was a Flemish poet of the 13th century and one of the most important Middle Dutch authors during the Middle Ages. Biography Jacob van Maerlant was born near Bruges. He becam ...

, Van Velthem finished his most important work, the '' Spieghel historiael'', writing the end of the 4th part and the complete 5th part. In 1326, he finished the ''Boec van Merline'', an Arthurian poem.

Notes

* {{DEFAULTSORT:van Velthem, Lodewijk 13th-century births 14th-century deaths Flemish poets Flemish writers (before 1830) Burgundian Netherlands poets Middle Dutch writers People from the Duchy of Brabant