Pieter Christiaensz Bor - Frans Hals pinxit - Adriaen Matham sculpsit 1634

Pieter Bor, or Pieter Christiaensz Bor (1559-1635) was a Dutch Golden Age writer and historian. His portrait was painted by Frans Hals in 1634, and it was engraved for his book in 1637.

Biography

He was born in

Utrecht (city) Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

and settled in Haarlem in 1578, where he became a public notary. He moved in 1591 to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

, where he is registered as being a notary. He is also registered as having lived and worked in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes t ...

, and

Beverwijk Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...

, before returning to Haarlem, in 1602, where he received an annuity from the Staten General for his history writing. Through his work, he had access to city archives in the places he stayed, and he transcribed these sources for his history writing.

Works

Although he is not registered as a member of 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 ...

, he wrote a few plays that were published in 1617. This ''stapelspel'' is based on the same story as

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Pericles, Prince of Tyre ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio. It was p ...

. This work, which occupied him for 25 years (according to the introduction), was never finished in rhyme, necessary for performances in those days. He is best known for the historical work he wrote during his years traveling through various cities, called ''Origin, Beginning, and Continuation of the Dutch Wars'' (Dutch title: ''Oorsprongk, Begin, en Vervolgh der Nederlantsche Oorlogen''). This work, which was published in 37 installments from 1595-1601, is one of the longest publications generated in the 17th century. It was consolidated and published in 8 volumes in Amsterdam in 1679 and forms an important historic resource for the Dutch Revolt. Bor was a perfectionist who was careful to include both sides to every battle, transcribing documents from both the Dutch rebels and the Spanish Catholics. Many of the original documents have since been lost.Article
on

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

website

Trivia

In his history, Bor also wrote descriptions of non-military accomplishments such as the last trip to Novaya Zemlya by Willem Barentz. Bor-Nederlantsche-Oorloghen 9138.tif, Title page of Pieter Bor: ''Nederlantsche oorloghen, beroerten, ende borgerlijcke oneenicheyden...'', 1621 Bor-Nederlantsche-oorloghen MGG 1257.tif, Print from the Nederlantsche oorloghen: the arrest of Egmont and Horne

References

Nederlantsche oorloghen, beroerten, ende borgerlijcke oneenicheyden, "Oorsprongk", volume II
1626 on

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Kort ende waerachtigh verhael van de heerlijcke ende onvoorsiene victorie...Weesel
1629, on Google books
Register of all 37 volumes
of the "Oorsprongk", 1640, on Google books
Complete Oorsprongk with register
1680, on Google books {{DEFAULTSORT:Bor, Pieter 1559 births 1635 deaths Writers from Utrecht (city) 17th-century Dutch historians Dutch Golden Age writers Frans Hals