Willem van Haecht the Elder
But because of the public turmoil in the Low Countries there was an interruption of 20 years before De Violieren, which had won the last landjuweel, organised another edition of the competition.
[11] This material was intended as a sort of mission statement for the event and gave it a political, literary and economic framing.
[12] The Caerte or invitation letter for the landjuweel was written by van Haecht in the form of a poem of 13 stanzas of 11 lines (rhyme scheme AABAABBCBBC) and starting and ending with the motto of De Violieren which was Vvt ionsten versaemt (gathered in a spirit of goodwill).
The prologue to the actual plays written by van Haecht describes how Rhetorica has been sleeping in the protective lap of Antwerp where it was discovered by three nymphs.
The first play called Oordeel van Tmolus tusschen Apollo en Pan, deals with the mythological theme of the judgement of Midas.
In the farewell piece, he advances the thesis that the decadence of Rome and that of other ancient empires should not be attributed to the disbelief or rejection of God, but to the decline of the arts.
[4] The Royal Library of Belgium holds a bundle of documents referred to as the Landjuweel van Antwerpen, 1561 (catalogue number II 13.368 E (RP)).
He added the following pieces written by himself: a chorus on Om datmen vianden moest voor vrienden houwen (Because one has to treat enemies as friends) (1576), a chorus on Godt slaet en geneest, den droeuen hy blijde maeckt (God hits and heal and makes the sad happy) and a chorus on De rijcke weet qualijck hoe daerme te moey is (The rich do not understand how tired the poor are).
The last page of the bundle of papers has about 20 verses, probably from a chorus on Betrout in Godt, Hy en sal v niet verlaten (Trust in God and he will not leave you).
His moderate views based on the Augsburg Confession are clear from the fact that he distances himself from sects that were considered more radical such as the anabaptists and argues for civic unity in religious and social matters.
Through these plays the chambers of rhetoric De Violieren tried to exert an influence on the religious and social conversation in Antwerp of the time.
[14] With the arrival of the Duke of Alva in the Low Countries in 1567 the fairly tolerant religious climate was replaced by one of persecution of those who no longer adhered to the Catholic faith.
He also wrote smaller poems, including some highly religious songs and choruses, some dialogues, three 'lamentations', a translation of the five lamentations of Jeremiah and arrangements of the Psalms, partly recorded in the hymnbook of the Dutch Lutheran church.
This includes the Dutch lyrics to a polyphonic song in five voices, Ghelijc den dach hem baert, diet al verclaert.
[21] This song was presumably composed by Hubert Waelrant for the opening play of De Violieren at the landjuweel of 1561 that van Haecht had written himself.
Van Haecht's poem Hoe salich zijn die landen that he wrote for De Violieren was set to music by Jacob Florius and was included in the Geuzenliedboek, a collection of songs of those who revolted against Spanish rule in the Low Countries.
[14] A further three songs are in a collection of documents by Willem de Gortter (Royal Library of Belgium): a chorus on In Christus woort is verborghen d'eeuwich leuen (In Christ's word is hidden the eternal life) (1563); a chorus on Eyghen liefde die elcx herte verblinden can (Self love can blind every heart) and a song which starts with Ontwecket mensch tis meer dan tijt (Wake up everyone, it's more than time).
