The Peoene (Peony), also known as the Sint-Jansgilde (Guild of St John), was a

chamber of rhetoric Chambers of rhetoric ( nl, rederijkerskamers) were dramatic societies in the Low Countries. Their members were called Rederijkers (singular Rederijker), from the French word 'rhétoricien', and during the 15th and 16th centuries were mainly inte ...

dating back to the 15th century in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

History

The oldest mention of the Peoene is in a city accounts book from 1472. The guild took part in ''landjuweel'' competitions in Leuven (1478), Antwerp (1496), Herentals (1510), Leuven (1518), Diest (1521), Brussels (1532), Antwerp (1561), and Brussels (1562). The guild hosted such competitions in Mechelen in 1515 and 1535. Activities were suspended in 1585, in the midst of the Habsburg reconquest of the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

. An application to recommence activities in 1593 was rejected, but in 1617 the chamber received a charter from the Archdukes

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

and

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

. A rhetoric competition drawing participants from across the Low Countries was hosted by the Peoene in Mechelen on 3 May 1620. Plays written by the guild's dean, the silversmith

Jan Thieullier Jan Thieullier (active in the early 17th century) was a Flemish poet, residing in Mechelen, about whom very little is known. Life Thieullier was a silversmith who has been said to have been born in Mechelen, but the evidence for this is unclear.C. ...

, and factor,

Hendrik Faydherbe Hendrik Faydherbe or Henri Fayd'herbe (1574–1629) was a Flemish sculptor and gilder, and poet, who lived and worked in Mechelen, in the Southern Netherlands. Life He was born in Mechelen in 1574, the son of Antoon Faydherbe, a brewer, and at t ...

, were performed to entertain the participants. The entertainments, together with the entries to the competition, were published by

Henry Jaye Henry Jaye (died 1643) was an English Catholic exile in the Southern Netherlands. He became printer to the city of Mechelen. Life The earliest record of Jaye is in 1606, when the English ambassador in Brussels, Sir Thomas Edmondes, had him summ ...

, printer to the city, in a luxury volume entitled ''De schadt-kiste der philosophen ende poeten''. The guild was suppressed in 1795, during the French occupation, but was refounded in 1858.G. J. J. Van Melckebeke, ''Geschiedkundige aenteekeningen rakende de Sint-Jansgilde, bygenaemd De Peoene'' (Mechelen, 1862), p. 141.

References

{{reflist Chamber of rhetoric Mechelen 15th-century establishments in Europe 1858 establishments in Belgium 1795 disestablishments in the Southern Netherlands