Description: Why and how did the Count of Egmont (1522-1568) become a mythical figure in European culture? This book explains and also provides a methodological instrument for the reading of similar historical myths.
Review Quotes: "This book is a splendid achievement: the research is prodigious, the work is clearly organized, and the writing is elegant and even witty. I certainly learned much that I did not know about a classic work of German literature."
Theodore Ziolkowski, Princeton University
"Rittersma's book can be perceived as a cornerstone in a cultural history of Europe, since it is one of the very first studies that systematically tackles the transformation, during a period of more than two centuries, of a historical figure."
Peter Burschel, Director Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel
"Rittersma's meditations on myths are thoughtful and illuminating [...]. This rich study deserves to be read by historians and literature specialists alike."
Jan Machielsen, Cardiff University. In: The English Historical Review, Vol. 134, Issue 568 (June 2019), pp. 701-703.
"meticulously researched [...] This book provides an often witty and engaging account of the history, influence, and transformation of a historical figure."
Dannielle Shaw, University of Groningen. In: European History Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 2 (April 2019), pp. 346-347.
"highly informative and engrossing [...] a paradigm for the mythmaking of historical figures."
Cornelia Niekus Moore, University of Hawaii, Emeritus. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 49, No. 4 (2018), pp. 1277-1279.
"a fascinating analysis of the work process of Goethe and Schiller, which Rittersma describes with great attention to detail and great joy."
Liesbeth Geevers, Lund University. In: Cuadernos de Historia Moderna, Vol. 44, No. 2 (2019), pp. 661-663.
"For scholars of Goethe and Schiller, Rittersma performs an invaluable service."
Simon Richter, University of Pennsylvania. In: Goethe Yearbook, Vol. 28 (2021), pp. 387-389.
"[Rittersma] legt die komplexe Beziehung von Mythos und Realität offen."
Olaf Mörke, Universität Kiel. In: H-Soz-Kult, 16.03.2020.
"Cet ouvrage, par l'ampleur et l'exhaustivité du corpus analysé, constitue un bel exemple d'une manière nouvelle d'incorporer l'étude de sources à l'analyse des textes: elle ne se limite pas aux sources dont l'utilisation est attestée, ni à peser la signification des choix des détails retenus dans l'économie de l'oeuvre, mais elle retrace sur un mode archéologique toute une présence diffuse et souterraine en amont, comparée à des rhizomes, et replacée elle-même dans les enjeux idéologiques du moment de leur rédaction et saisie dans ses mutations, pour aboutir à l'acmè des années 1780."
Gérard Laudin, Sorbonne Université (émérite). In: Études germaniques, 2022.