Hendrik van Geldenaken en de Roman van Limborch

This article discusses the authorship of the Roman van Limborch, an early fourteenth-century Dutch epic romance. A recent reconsideration of the historical references in the text allows us to connect the Limborch to (the interests of) the dynasty of Luxemburg, in particular the emperor Henry VII and his sister Felicitas. Within the entourage and literary culture of the Luxemburg family the jurist, secretary and diplomat Hendrik van Geldenaken (Henri de Jodoigne or Hendricus de Geldonia) can be singled out as a familiaris that shares important characteristics with the author of the Limborch (who introduces himself only as ‘Heinriic’). A detailed discussion of Geldenaken’s biography, his attachment to the Luxemburg dynasty and his familiarity with Dutch and Francophone literature provides a corpus of (circumstantial) evidence to identify him as the Limborch author and to introduce a new name and a new individual in the history of medieval Dutch literature.