Anonymous: The Chronicle of Kattendijke; fol. 382v-383r (1491)

(National Library, The Hague, The Netherlands)

An illuminated page made by an unknown Dutch artist. This page comes from a manuscript with the provisional title 'The Chronicle of Kattendijke' (named after the family who had it in its possession). The official title of the manuscript is "Die historie of die cronicke van zeelant ende van vrieslant ende vanden stichte van wtrecht en de van veel landen diemen hier na nomen sal" (The history of this chronicle of Holland, Zealand and Friesland and of the founding of Utrecht and of many lands which will be mentioned later). The manuscript itself is a fusion of a history of Troy, a world chronicle and a Dutch chronicle. The author claims that Troy is the starting point for the history of Rome, France, England, including king Arthur, and the Netherlands. The text and illustrations were taken from a whole array of different sources which the author combined into a single document. This page is dedicated to the history of count William VI of Holland (1365-1417). All the coat-of-arms on the page are linked to the count, his wife Margaret of Burgundy (daughter of duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy) and their family. The personal coat-of-arms of the count is the one on the flagpole. Page from around 1491.