Mercurius Gallobelgicus

{{Short description|Early printed periodical in Latin}}

{{Italic title}}

The Mercurius Gallobelgicus was an early printed periodical,{{cite book | last = Winston | first = Brian | title = Messages | url = https://archive.org/details/messagesfreeexpr00wins | url-access = limited | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 2005 | isbn = 0-415-23222-8 | page = [https://archive.org/details/messagesfreeexpr00wins/page/n53 41] }} published semi-annually,{{Cite journal| last1 = Shaaber | first1 = M. A. | title = The History of the First English Newspaper | jstor = 4172183 | journal = Studies in Philology | volume = 29 | issue = 4 | pages = 551–587 | year = 1932 }} and written in Latin. It first appeared in 1592 in Cologne, Germany, compiled by the Dutch Catholic refugee Michael ab Isselt, under the pseudonym "D. M. Jansonius".Samuel De Wind, Bibliotheek der Nederlandsche geschiedschrijvers (Middelburg, Gebroeders Abrahams, 1835), p. 216. It was distributed widely, even finding its way to readers in England.Joad Raymond, Pamphlets and Pamphleteering in Early Modern Britain (Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 128-129.

After Isselt's death, rival continuations were printed in Cologne and Frankfurt. The Frankfurt Mercurii Gallobelgici succenturiati was compiled by Gotthard Arthusius from 1603 to 1626, then briefly by Georg Beatus, and from 1628 by Johann Philipp Abelin.Ernst Kelchner, [https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd122266943.html#adbcontent Arthusius, Gothard], Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 1 (1875), p. 613. The Cologne continuation, under the title Annalium Mercurio Gallobelgico succenturiatorum, was the work of Gaspar Ens. It was last published in 1635.{{cite book|author=Martin Conboy|title=Journalism: A Critical History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y-O06dE_UUC&pg=RA1-PA242|accessdate=14 April 2020|date=25 May 2004|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-0-7619-4100-2|page=17}}