In 2007, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek was able to make a spectacular addition to its collection: the famous Gruuthuse manuscript. The most important medieval manuscript still in private hands became public property. The manuscript carries the name of the oldest known owner, Lodewijk van Gruuthuse, Lord of Bruges (c. 1422-1492), who obtained it in the second half of the fifteenth century, long after it had originally been produced.
The first segment of the manuscript includes seven rhymed prayers, and the third segment contains eighteen allegorical poems, but the Gruuthuse manuscript owes its fame to the songs included in the second segment. Among the 147 songs in the song book are the famed Egidus song, with the lyrics: 'Egidius waer bestu bleuen / Mi lanct na di gheselle mijn / Du coors die doot du liets mi tleuen' ['Egidus, where have you gone / I long for thee, my companion / Thou chose death and left me life']. Gerrit Komrij characterised this song as a 'sob for the injustice of life'. Other songs known only from this manuscript are the satirical 'Kerelslied' ['Peasants' Song'] and the amorous song 'Aloeette voghel clein / Dijn nature es zoet ende rein' ['Alouette little bird / Your nature is sweet and pure'].
