View source for Oudaen, Joachim (1628-1692)

Joachim Oudaen (b. 7 October 1628 at Rijnsburg, d. 26 April 1692 at Rotterdam), a Dutch poet spiritually akin to [[Camphuysen, Dirk Rafaelsz (ca. 1586-1626)|D. R. Camphuysen]], was the son of Frans Oudaen, a Rotterdam baker who settled in Rijnsburg in 1622 to avoid persecution for his Remonstrant sympathies, joined the [[Collegiants|Collegiants]] there and became the friend of the van der Kodde family of Warmond, to which the originators of the Collegiant movement belonged, and into which he married. His son Joachim was educated at the University of [[Leiden (Zuid-Holland, Netherlands)|Leiden]] and moved to Rotterdam, where a "Collegiant college" had been formed both among the [[Remonstrants|Remonstrants]] (about 1630) and the Mennonites. He was closely connected with this group, which included Francois van Hoogstraten, poet and book dealer. His first biographer states that although he was a Remonstrant he was also a deacon in the [[w381.html|Waterlander]] Mennonite congregation of Rotterdam.

That he was a Waterlander deacon is a fact, but that he was a Remonstrant is questionable, though he often attended the Remonstrant church. Some of his descendants were baptized in the Mennonite church. In honor of [[Menno Simons (1496-1561)|Menno Simons]] he wrote a short poem to be used with the etching of Menno; for the Mennonite painter [[Mierevelt, Michiel Janszn van (1567-1641)|Michiel van Mierevelt]] he composed an epitaph. He met the poets [[Antonides, Joannes (1647-1684)|Johannes Antonides van der Goes]] and Heiman Dullaert in the same circle of God-fearing intellectuals in Rotterdam. As a young enthusiast he was a chiliast and later probably inclined toward [[Socinianism|Socinianism]]. He was sharply anti-Catholic.

As a religious poet his chief work was rhyming the Psalms, publishing the first part in 1680, the second a year later (<em>Uitbreiding der Psalmen</em>). The Waterlander congregation in [[Amsterdam (Noord-Holland, Netherlands)|Amsterdam]] adopted many of his rhymed Psalms into the new hymnal in 1684, the [[Flemish Mennonites|Flemish]] congregation in 1889. In addition he wrote many other religious songs, which were sung by the Rotterdam Waterlander congregation.

In his secular verse Oudaen sought to imitate the great Vondel (see Literature), though with humble reverence and a mediocre poetic gift. [[Camphuysen, Dirk Rafaelsz (ca. 1586-1626)|Camphuysen]], whom he adored second only to Vondel, was much more nearly an equal and a more comfortable model. His work also includes dramas and historical poems. A personal trait in his lyric poetry is his lively feeling for nature, and in harmony with it, a conspicuous interest in effects of landscape painting (Jan Porcellis, Adam Willaerts, Hendrik Sorgh, Mierevelt). Oudaen's complete works (Poezy) were published in three volumes at Amsterdam in 1712 with a biography by David van Hoogstraten.
= Bibliography =
Boekenoogen, G. J. "De portretten van Menno Simons." <em class="gameo_bibliography">Doopsgezinde Bijdragen</em> (1916).

Cramer, Samuel. "Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van ons kerklied." <em class="gameo_bibliography">Doopsgezinde Bijdragen</em> (1900, 1902).

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Mennonitisches Lexikon</em>, 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 329.

Houbraken, Arnold. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Groote Schouburgh der Nederlandsche Konstschilders</em>. (1718-19).

Hylkema, C. B. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Reformateurs</em>. Haarlem, 1900-1902.

Kalff , Gerrit. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche Letterkunde</em>. Groningen, 1906-1912: Dl. IV.

Melles, J. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Joachim Oudaen</em>. Utrecht, 1958.

Miller, W. J. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Het Socinianisme in Nederland</em>. Leiden, 1912.

Prinsen J.Lzn, Jakob. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Handboek tot de Nederlandsche letterkundige geschiedenis</em>. The Hague, 1916.

Slee, J. C. van. <em class="gameo_bibliography">De Rijnsburger Collegianten</em>. Haarlem, 1895.
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