Abigael Gerbrantsdr. Schagen

Information:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290773860_Child_of_the_Ref...

CHILD OF THE REFORMATION  315hypothesis is that the Testament was printed in order to offer a model of behav-iour to young adults and to win them for the Reformed church. Yet before we analyze this work, we will begin with an outline of the life and times of''' Abigael Gerbrants.'''

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ABIGAEL GERBRANTS

The main source for the reconstruction of the biography of Abigael Gerbrants is her Testament; no information about her life and times has been preserved in local archives. Abigael was born in 1582, most probably to the Reformed pastor Gerbrandus Jansz (1552-1612). We can deduce that Gerbrandus was Abigael’s father from her patronym (Gerbrants = daughter of Gerbrant); from the years Gerbrandus lived in Naarden and Purmerend, which correspond with the story of Abigael; and from the (for that time) uncommon name Abigael, which we encounter among Gerbrandus Jansz’s descendants – that biblical name is also a clear indicator of the Calvinist origin of Abigael’s parents.7 In the Testament the father only refers to himself in the first person singular. In such sources as ecclesiastical records he is known by the names Gerbrandis Johannis and Gerbrandus Jansz Schagen. The fact that both variants only occur in sources after 1600 explains why the toponym Schagen is missing in Abigael’s name.

- Ingestuur Ds. MG Muller