Rutger Velpius

Rutger Velpius, native of Leuven, was a 16th and 17th century printer and bookseller. He started his career as a bookseller in Leuven in 1564, and the next year he became an official bookseller to the University of Leuven. In 1570 he became a printer and by 1578 he was licensed to print the government's decrees.

In 1580 Velpius relocated to Mons on the invitation of the city council which offered him a substantial amount of money and a house near the market-place. In Mons he also acted as the printer to the court of Alexander Farnese, the Prince of Parma and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. He printed some forty editions there, and moved to Brussels in 1585, when Farnese moved his court there. In Brussels, Velpius established his business in a shop called L'Aigle d'or (The Golden Eagle) close to Coudenberg palace, the seat of government. He had the monopoly on the printing of royal proclamations and much of his printing output was directed towards the court market. He often issued French-Spanish dictionaries, the devotional writings of court chaplains, books about war for military men, and Spanish novels and plays. Between 1589 and 1593 his output seems to have been primarily intended for export to France as propaganda in support of the Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion.