Gerbrand Adriaenszoon Bredero

Bredero, Gerbrand Adriaansz (1585–1618), Flemish dramatist, whose romantic plays, drawn mainly from tales of chivalry, are remarkable for the realism of the comic interludes, where characters from everyday life mingle with the more stereotyped knights and their ladies. Among them are Griana (1612) and The Dumb Knight (1618). His best work was done in the farces and comedies which laid the foundations of the Dutch comic tradition, among them The Farce of the Cow (1612), based on a German tale which tells how a rogue tricks an old peasant into selling him a cow and then returning him the money paid for it. In spite of its German origin it is purely Dutch in character, and Bredero, himself a man of the people, has caught admirably the spirit and dialogue of his times. His last and perhaps his best play was The Spanish Brabanter (1617), a series of comic scenes loosely held together by the two central characters, a master and his servant, which vividly creates on stage the widely differing worlds of the pretentious but penniless nobleman and the ordinary working people of Amsterdam. It became one of the most successful comedies of its day and was frequently revived.

Gerbrand Adriaenszoon Bredero , 1585-1618, Dutch dramatist and poet. He is considered the major Dutch poet of his generation, particularly for his spontaneous love sonnets. The first Dutch master of comedy, Bredero was an important innovator; he drew upon classical elements as well as Renaissance models. His masterpiece, De Spaansche Brabander (1617, tr. The Spanish Brabanter, 1982), is a realistic comedy of Amsterdam life and reveals the influence of Spanish romanticism. Bredero's work was collected in three volumes in 1890.