Adolf van Meetkercke

Adolf van Meetkercke[lower-alpha 1] (1528–1591) (Latin: Adolphus Mekerchus) was a Flemish diplomat and humanist.

Adolf van Meetkercke, engraving by James Basire.

Life

He was born in Bruges, into a wealthy family of the nobility.[1]

In 1577, after the Pacification of Ghent, he travelled to England on a diplomatic mission concerned with the First Union of Brussels, with the Marquis of Havrech (Havré), Charles Philippe de Croÿ (1549–1613).[1]

In 1580, he became a Protestant convert.[2] He accompanied Philip Marnix of St. Aldegonde to France, to negotiate the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours with François of Alençon. He was then appointed as chairman of the Flemish governing council.[1] His support for Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester in 1587 led to his becoming an exile in England, leaving with Hadrian Saravia. This followed a failed plot to mount a coup in Leiden on behalf of Leicester.[3][4][5]

He died in London in 1591^ .

Works

Hubert Goltzius published his translations of Moschus and Bion of Smyrna in 1565.[6]

  • De veteri et recta pronuntiatione linguae Graecae commentarius

He wrote a commendatory poem for the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Abraham Ortelius.[7]

Family

He married the widow of Jean Wijts of Bruges.[8] With Jacoba Cerbina he had four sons: Adolf, Nicolaas, Anthony, and Baldwin.[3] Nicolaas and Baldwin were killed at the siege of Deventer, Anthony at Zutphen.[9]

Margaret, daughter of John Lichtervelde, was his second wife; Edward Meetkerke, an English clergyman, was his son with her.[3] His daughter Elizabeth married Thomas Westfield.[10] There was another daughter of this marriage, Salome.[1]

Notes
  1. There are numerous variants, in particular found in the English State Papers; Meetkerke, Meetkerk, Meetkirk, Meddykyrk, Medekerk, Medkerke, Midkerke, Meetkerque, Meetquerque, Metkerke, Mettkerke, Mekerke, Merkerke etc.; Mekerchus, Medkerkius, Metkerkius. Also Adolph or Adolphus.

References
  1. s:de:ADB:Meetkercke, Adolf van (in German)
  2. Nijenhuis, Willem (1980). Adrianus Saravia (ca. 1532–1613): Dutch Calvinist, First Reformend Defender of the English Episcopal Church Order on the Basis of the Ius Divinum. BRILL. p. 102. ISBN 90-04-06194-0.
  3. Larminie, Vivienne. "Meetkerke, Edward". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18512. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. Barfoot, C. C.; Todd, Richard (1992). The Great Emporium: The Low Countries as a Cultural Crossroads in the Renaissance and the Eighteenth Century. Rodopi. p. 88. ISBN 90-5183-362-8.
  5. Vigne, Randolph; Littleton, Charles (2001). From Strangers to Citizens: The Integration of Immigrant Communities in Britain, Ireland, and Colonial America, 1550–1750. Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-902210-85-8.
  6. Waterschoot, Werner (2002). Schouwende fantasye: opstellen. Academia Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-90-382-0316-4.
  7. Cosgrove, Denis E. (2003). Apollo's Eye: A Cartographic Genealogy of the Earth in the Western Imagination. JHU Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-8018-7444-4.
  8. Devreese, Jozef T.; Berghe, Guido Vanden (2008). 'Magic is No Magic': The Wonderful World of Simon Stevin. WIT Press. p. 297. ISBN 978-1-84564-391-1.
  9. Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth Peter (1894). A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. London: Harrison. p. 1373 – via Internet Archive.
  10. "Westfield, Thomas" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
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