after 1447, this Lourens Janszoon Coster gave up the business of chandler in favor of his sister Ghertruit Jan Costersdochter, and that he chose for his new occupation the duties of a tavern-keeper. Van der Linde found this fact clearly stated in the treasury accounts of the town of Haarlem.
| | ||
| 1451 | .. | Lou coster[1] paid, for two menghelen of wine which were sent to the burgomaster a year ago. |
| 1454 | .. | A dinner was offered to the count of Oostervant on the 8th day of October, 1453, at lou coster's; indebted to him for it xvii guilders. |
| 1468 | .. | Louris Coster and other citizens are summoned to the Hague. |
| 1474 | .. | Louris Janszoon Coster pays war taxes. |
| 1475 | .. | Louris Janszoon Coster pays a fine for "buyten drincken " (to drink beyond the premises). |
| 1483 | .. | Received of Louris Janszoon Coster for ferry toll for his goods when he left the town, 8 rex guilders. |
We here see that the name of Louris Janszoon Coster was recorded in the town-book for the last time under the date of 1483, when he paid ferry toll for his goods, and was allowed to leave the town. It is not known where he went or where he died, but it is plain that the story of his death in 1439, as related by Meerman and Koning, must be untrue.
There might have been a doubt as to the identity of the chandler with the innkeeper, if Van der Linde had not investigated in another direction, and made gleanings from the books of an old association, whose records are as trustworthy as those of the archives of the town and the church. This association, which still exists, under the name of the Holy Christmas Corporation, is thus described by Van der Linde:
It is one of those fraternities which had the lofty aim of eating and drinking. This corporation is already very old, for it celebrated its third jubilee in 1606. Its fifty-four brethren and sisters preserved each a chair for their meetings. According to these statutes, these chairs, if they were not disposed of by a last will, were inherited by
- ↑ The variable orthography of the name of Coster, which is here copied literally from the records, is a sufficient explanation of the irregularities spelling of his name which are to be found in all the authorities. I have adopted the orthography as I find it in in the the book of Van der Linde.
