HOOFT, PIETER CORNELISZ

(1581–1647)

   Dutch poet and historian. Hooft was born into a rich Amsterdam family of merchants. He made a grand tour in France and Italy and became a typical “Renaissance” poet whose plays and poetry were inspired by and modeled after classical themes and models. When Hooft wrote his Nederlandsche Historien [Dutch History, covering the years 1555–1587], his model was the Roman historian Tacitus.

   See also Dutch language and literature; Historiography.