Joannes Bochius

Joannes Bochius, sometimes Jan Boghe or Jean Boch (1555–1609) was a civic officeholder and neo-Latin poet in the city of Antwerp.

Joannes Bochius
An illustration from Bochius's Descriptio publicae gratulationis (1595), engraved by Pieter van der Borcht the Elder
Native name
Jan Boghe
Born1 July 1555
Brussels
Died9 January 1609(1609-01-09) (aged 53)
Antwerp
Resting placeCathedral of Our Lady (Antwerp)
Pen nameI.B.
Occupationsecretary to the city of Antwerp
Languagenew Latin
Educationlaw
Alma materLeuven University
Period1587–1609
Genresfestival book, psalm paraphrase, panegyric, epigram
Literary movementNorthern Humanism
Notable worksDescriptio publicae gratulationis (1595), Historica narratio profectionis et inaugurationis (1602)
ChildrenJoannes-Ascanius

Life

Born in Brussels in 1555, Bochius studied law at Leuven University and then travelled to Rome, where he served in the household of the later Cardinal Radzivil and studied under Robert Bellarmine.[1] After leaving Rome he made a tour of northern Europe, almost losing his feet to frostbite in Moscow and being attacked and left for dead by brigands in Lithuania. After the Fall of Antwerp he was appointed secretary to the city, holding the office until his death in 1609.[2]

Works

Bochius wrote Latin celebrations of the restoration of Habsburg authority in Antwerp by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and of the career of Christopher Plantin. As secretary to the city, he compiled the festival books recording the Joyous Entry into Antwerp of Archduke Ernest of Austria in 1594 (published 1595) and of the sovereign Archdukes Albert and Isabella in 1599 (published 1602).[3] He also produced numerous commendatory verses and epigrams for books by other authors and for prints (collected and published in Cologne after his death) and verse paraphrases of the Psalms of David (partially published posthumously).[4]

Those of his letters preserved in the Antwerp city archive were published by Pieter Génard in the Antwerpsch archievenblad (vols. 16-17; 1890-1891).

Bibliography
  • Panegyrici in Antverpiam sibi et regi obsidione restitutam (Antwerp, Christopher Plantin, 1587).
  • Epigrammata funebria ad Christophori Plantini architypographi regij manes (Antwerp, Jan Moretus, 1590).
  • Descriptio publicae gratulationis, spectaculorum et ludorum, in adventu Sereniss. Principis Ernesti (Antwerp, Jan Moretus, 1595).
    • Reprinted as Hans Mielke (ed.), The Ceremonial Entry of Ernst, Archduke of Austria, into Antwerp, June 14, 1594 (New York, 1970).
  • Historica narratio profectionis et inaugurationis Serenissimorum Belgii Principum Alberti et Isabellae (Antwerp, Jan Moretus, 1602). Available on Google Books.
  • Psalmorum Davidis parodia heroica (Antwerp, Jan Moretus, 1608-1609).
  • Panegyrici, epigrammata & poemata varia, collected by Franciscus Sweertius (Cologne, Joannes Kinckius, 1614).

References
  1. Baron de Saint-Genois, "Boch (Jean)", Biographie Nationale de Belgique, vol. 2 (Brussels, 1868), 541-544.
  2. Anna Sarrazin, "Joannes Bochius (1555-1609)", Bijdragen tot de Geschiedenis 28 (1937), 261-267.
  3. Margit Thøfner, "Marrying the City, Mothering the Country: Gender and Visual Conventions in Johannes Bochius’s Account of the Joyous Entry of the Archduke Albert and the Infanta Isabella into Antwerp", Oxford Art Journal, 22/1 (1999), 1-27.
  4. Dirk Imhoff, Joannes Bochius, in Jan Bloemendal en Chris Heesakkers, eds., Bio-bibliografie van Nederlandse Humanisten. Digital Web Centre for the History of Science in the Low Countries. Accessed 10 November 2015.
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