Reyer Anslo


Reyer Anslo was a Dutch poet.

Life

Anslo was born at Amsterdam and brought up a Mennonite. He was baptized in 1646. Early civic fame as a poet came to him in Amsterdam, when he was rewarded by his with a laurel crown and a silver dish for a poem in honour of the foundation stone of the new town hall in 1648. In 1649 he travelled to Rome with Arnout Hellemans Hooft, the son of P.C. Hooft; they arrived in November 1651.
In December he was received into the Catholic Church, together with forty-three others, as is shown by manuscript records of the Society of Jesus. He proceeded to Rome, where he became secretary to Cardinal Luigi Capponi, and received from Pope Innocent X a gold medal for his poetical labours. In 1655 he was presented to Queen Christina of Sweden, to whom he dedicated new poems. A poem entitled De Zweedsche Pallas, brought him a golden chain.
He died at Perugia.

Works

Anslo's collected works were published in 1713. They include a tragedy, "The Parisian Blood-Bridal", dealing with the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. He wrote an epic on The Plague at Naples.