Een literair topstuk uit het Limburgse verleden.

Het historiografische oeuvre van Peter Treckpoel (1442-1510/11)

Samenvatting

A literary masterpiece from Limburg’s past. The historiographical oeuvre of Peter Treckpoel (1442-1510/11)
The purpose of this paper is to argue that the extraordinary body of vernacular historiographical texts by the cleric Petrus Treckpoel (1442-1510/11) is one of the ‘missing links’ in the literary canon of Belgian and Netherlandish Limburg. Over nearly twenty-five years Treckpoel compiled extensive notes about the turbulent events in his region, which he subsequently used in a series of ambitious literary projects. The first of these, a convent chronicle of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw ter Engelen in Bilzen, was part of an effort to shape the memory culture of this small community of semi-religious women. The next was a world chronicle with a focus on the Overmaas region, for which Treckpoel found inspiration in a copy he had recently acquired (and heavily annotated) of the Alder excellenste chronijke van Brabant. The third and final of his literary projects was a set of Deeds of the bishops of Liège. It is unclear what audience he envisaged for the latter two texts; nor do we know how they were received at the time. However, Treckpoel’s work distinguishes itself for its typological diversity and profound inter- textuality. It is also notable for its emotional idiom, its focus on the common man and woman, and for the many clues about his working methods that can be found in the texts and in the extant manuscripts.