Probatio Pennae came about as a result of a conversation with a fellow Belgian writer, who was frustrated at the lack of a local community for writers. A brief search on the Internet revealed that there were either no writers' groups in Belgium, or they were extremely well hidden! So we decided to do something about it, and Probatio Pennae was born. This site is intended as an online locale for what we hope will be an international community of writers, and also as the springboard for launching a "real life" writers' group in Belgium.

"Probatio pennae" is a Latin term meaning the trying out of a new pen. It originates from the times when people wrote using quills; after the quill was sharpened, the scribe would often test the newly-cut end by writing a few words or a brief sentence before continuing his work.

This term also has a special meaning for speakers of the Dutch language, as the first known written record of Old Dutch is a probatio pennae, written some time around 1100 by a West Flemish monk who was residing in Rochester Abbey in England at the time. The words he wrote were as follows:

Thus, written Dutch began with a love poem!

(Source: http://www.ned.univie.ac.at/publicaties/taalgeschiedenis/en/anltexte.htm)

Huge thanks to Mr. O for his generosity, time and patience in hosting and setting up the site for Probatio Pennae, and for teaching me new and amazing things (html coding!). We really appreciate your help, O!