Charles Théodore Henri de Coster (1827-1879), Belgian novelist, born in Munich, Germany. Coster was born of Belgian parents and brought to Belgium as a child. Later he held some minor official positions and taught at the military academy, but he lived in relative poverty and obscurity all his life.

In writing his finest work, La Légende et les adventures héroïques, joyeuses, et glorieuses d’Ulenspiegel et de Lamme Goedzak au pays de Flandres et aileurs (1866), Coster had a patriotic motive. He hoped that his picture of a heroic past would inspire the Belgian people to future greatness. His hero was Ulenspiegel (“Owlglass”), a prankster whom he made into the symbol of the Belgian people's resistance against oppression and tyranny. To strengthen the atmosphere of his story, he placed it in the 16th century, using an archaic French and resorting to forceful vulgarity in his vocabulary. In the novel, Ulenspiegel becomes the symbol of freedom, fighting the Inquisition and the state. Coster was not primarily concerned about historical accuracy in his portrayals and his anticlerical feelings prevented him from stating both sides of the question with objectivity. He found inspiration in the paintings of the Flemish masters; much of their influence is present in his writings. In the Légendes flamandes (1857) he imitated the style of French writer François Rabelais, reviving the local tales of the Belgian region of Flanders with great success. His tragedy, Stephanie, was published after his death. Among Coster’s other works are Les Bohémiens (1868), and Le Voyage de noce (1872). An unhappy romance is portrayed in his Lettres á Elisa (1894).