The Low Countries as a Crossroads of Religious Beliefs

The great ports of the Low Countries have long served in the international commerce of ideas as well as goods. In these 13 essays contributors examine how issues of faith from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries informed religious scholars and forces in the area. Topics of essays include Bible translation, Protestant converts in the Catholic Reformation, the fates of biblical picture books, Justus Lipsius's treatise on the Holy Virgin, Abraham Ortelius's religious thought, the tensions of the Dutch Reformed and Catholic churches, Dutch reactions at English wonder stories, the reactions of the Dutch republic to questions of faith, the influence of two remarkable women martyred in different ways, and reactions of the region to its being a religious crossroads. Essays include references, and the volume includes an index of names. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Arie Jan Gelderblom, Ph.D. (1991), Utrecht, teaches Early Modern Dutch Literature in Utrecht University, the Netherlands. His research and publications focus on cultural analysis of colonial texts, word-image relationships and topographical poetry. He lectured in Universities in France, Poland, South-Africa and Indonesia. During Fall Term 2003-2004 Gelderblom was Erasmus Lecturer on the History and Civilization of the Netherlands and Flanders at Harvard University.Jan L. de Jong, Ph.D. (1987) in Art History, Leiden University, is Assistant Professor of Italian Renaissance Art at Groningen University, The Netherlands. He has published extensively on sixteenth century painting in Italy.Marc van Vaeck, Ph.D. (1994), is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Literature at the University of Leuven. Publications on sixteenth and seventeenth century Dutch literature, and Dutch emblem literature. Since 2001 he is also editor of Spiegel der Letteren. Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Literatuurgeschiedenis en voor Literatuurwetenschap.