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Article: Dutch Literature and Language
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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DUTCH LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE
DUTCH LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE.
From the end of the twelfth century onward, the Dutch language developed into a literary medium in chivalric romances, didactic poems (Jacob van Maerlant [1235
–
1300]), mystical works (Jan van Ruusbroec [1293
–
1381]), plays, and songs. The dialects of the wealthy southern provinces of Flanders and Brabant prevailed in literature. Around 1600 linguistic hegemony shifted to Holland in the north as a result of important changes in the political and cultural landscape after the Dutch revolt against the Habsburg regime. In the course of the seventeenth century, a standard language was established that was based on the ...