Jacob Cats, Jacob also spelled Jacobus was a Dutch writer of emblem books and didactic verse whose place in the affections of his countrymen is shown by his nickname, “Father Cats. ”
Background
Jacob Cats was born on November 10, 1577 in Brouwershaven as son of Adriaen Cornelisz Cats and Leenken Jacob. Having lost his mother at an early age, he and his three brothers were adopted by his aunt Anna Breyde, sister of his mother and his uncle Doen Leenaerts.
Education
He studied at Leiden and Orléans began to practice law at Middleburg, and was called to a high official position at The Hague.
Career
Cats was essentially a didactic poet. Contrary to the practice of most other poets of his time, he used the popular language, and this attracted a large audience unable to understand the refined writings of his literary colleagues. The most popular of his works are devoted to the joys of rural life, Ouderdom en Buyten-leven (1655), and to the blessings and troubles of marriage, Houwelyck (1625). A solid Calvinist, Cats pleased the rural population of Holland, who consulted his writings with as much fervor as they used their Bible. Although he was a verbose and often a careless writer, many of his verses sounded like proverbs and axioms and many have passed into the vernacular. At the end of his career his writing became surprisingly frank, as demonstrated in his autobiography, Eighty Two Years of My Life (1734). He died on September 12, 1660, at The Hague.
Achievements
Religion
A solid Calvinist, Cats pleased the rural population of Holland, who consulted his writings with as much fervor as they used their Bible.
Personality
Although he was a verbose and often a careless writer, many of his verses sounded like proverbs and axioms and many have passed into the vernacular.
Connections
He married on April 26, 1605 a lady of some wealth, Elisabeth van Valckenburg from Antwerp, and thenceforward lived at Grijpskerke in Zeeland, where he devoted himself to farming and poetry.