'Prince of Poets', with these words Joost van den Vondel
was honoured by artists and poets at age 65. Indeed Joost
van de Vondel is considered to be one of the Netherlands greatest
poets.
Joost van den Vondel was born on November 17, 1587 in
Cologne. His parents were anabaptists and because of their
religion they had to leave Antwerp. In 1595 they left Cologne,
most probably again because of their religion, and they settled
in the Netherlands. First they lived in Utrecht, and then
in 1597 they moved to Amsterdam. The father of Joost, als
Joost, was a 'coopman van syde'. This is an old-Dutch expression
for 'silk trader'. The main focus of the store was selling
stockings. After the death of his father his mother continued
to run the store; Joost very soon became a partner. In 1610
he married Maeyken de Wolff. Maeyken (Mary) ran the store
whilst Joost devoted himself to poetry. The marriage was blessed
with children. In 1612 a son was born and they gave him the
name Joost. Their other children were Anna, Sara and Constantijn.
Joost learned Latin and he wrote many poems and plays. Then
a period of sorrow came over the family. The infant Constantijn
died and also the 8 year old daughter Saartje died. His wife
died in 1635 and Joost was so despondent that he could not
finish his great work about Contantin the Great, which he
had started. After the death of his mother in 1637, he made
a public declaration of his lack of faith in religion. However,
in 1641 he converted to become a Catholic. On February 5,
1679 he died at age 91. On a remembrance farthing is written
'Our Country's oldest and greatest Poet".
Joost van den Vondel
1587-1679
