Tekstblad bij de Begrafenisoptocht van keizer Karel V, 1558 1559

This text sheet, now held in the Rijksmuseum, was produced in 1558 by Christoffel Plantijn. It documents the funeral procession of Charles V. Consider the physical labor involved in creating this printed page. Each letter was individually cast in metal, arranged by hand, inked, and then pressed onto paper. The decorative border too, with its delicate interweaving of flora and fauna, would have been painstakingly engraved onto a woodblock. Plantijn was a master of his craft, running one of the most successful printing houses in Europe. His business was built on the skilled labor of numerous artisans: type founders, compositors, pressmen, and illustrators, all working under intense pressure to meet deadlines. The text itself, detailing the elaborate hierarchy of mourners, reveals a rigid social order. Yet, the very act of printing – of making information widely accessible – had the potential to disrupt that order. This seemingly simple page, therefore, embodies the complex interplay of labor, power, and knowledge in the 16th century.