First edition of Adrianus Barlandus (1486-1538) seminal Humanist chronicle of Brabant, a landmark in 16th-century Netherlandish historiography and one of the authors most influential works. The present work offers a sweeping history of the Duchy of Brabant the supposed first Duke of Brabant Pepin I of Landen (ca. 580-640) to the early life of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500-1558).
Completed and printed in 1526, the Rerum gestarum marks a deliberate break with medieval chronicle tradition. While structuring his narrative by reign, a method common in Brabantine historiography since the 13th-century, Barlandus consciously omits the Dukes of Lotharingia and the early Counts of Louvain and Brussels, judging the surviving sources too unreliable. This bold decision created the famous "gap" between 840 and 1095 and illustrates the authors emerging sense of critical method.
Equally innovative is the moralising dimension of the chronicle. Barlandus presents history as a mirror of princely conduct, selecting exemplary virtues and vices to guide contemporary readers, an approach that reflects his Erasmian Humanism. Classical authors are woven throughout the narrative, not in imitation of any single model but as a wide-ranging repertoire. Horace, Terence, Livy, Cicero, Quintilian and others appear in passing, producing a lively and deliberately varied humanist voice. At the same time, Barlandus asserts his reliability through careful authorial self-presentation, occasionally adding eye-witness testimonies, notably concerning the birth festivities for Charles V in Ghent. The present work preserves much information on political, ecclesiastical and cultural events in the early Habsburg Netherlands.
With an old ownership inscription on the title page ("Hen: Veleher"), inner margins reinforceds, the margins are cut slightly short, somewhat affecting the headlines but never the main text, and occasional browning. Otherwise in good condition. Bibl. Belgica pp 154-156; Bijsterveld, "De Kroniek van de hertogen van Brabant door Adrianus Barlandus. Vertaling, inleiding en voortzetting", (2004); Machiels B-112; Nijhoff & Kronenberg 236; USTC 437339; WorldCat 1439785608 (1 copy); not in Adams, STCV; cf. Cockx-Indestege and Geneviève Glorieux, 257 and 258 (only 1551 and 1566).