3/29.- Flanders: Thyl Ulenspiegel, Damme

Damme is the home not only of 13th century author Jacob Van Maerlant, but also of Thyl Ulenspiegel, the popular wag who, at the time of the Counter-Reformation, played practical jokes on the Spanish occupants. Ulenspiegel means "Owl's Mirror", and Thyl is here shown holding up a mirror to three owls. The character appears in Flemish, Belgian-French and German literature.

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