Susteren Abbey ( nl, Abdij van Susteren) is a former

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey at

Susteren Susteren (; li, Zöstere ) is a city in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Echt-Susteren, about 7 km northwest of Sittard. It was a separate municipality until 2003, when it was merged with Echt. Susteren r ...

near

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Ro ...

, in the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

, founded in the 8th century. The former abbey church is now St. Amelberga's Basilica.

History

The abbey is first recorded in 711, in a letter from one of the monks, Ansbald, to

Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg. Early life His fath ...

, bishop of Utrecht. Early in 714

Pepin of Herstal Pepin II (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who de facto ruled Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of the Fr ...

and his wife

Plectrude Plectrude ( la, Plectrudis; german: Plektrud, Plechtrudis) (died 718) was the consort of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, from about 670. She was the daughter of Hugobert, seneschal of Clovis IV, and Irmina o ...

sent

Saint Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg. Early life His father ...

letters of conveyance and protection for the monastery, permitting free election of abbots. The Benedictine foundation served as a refuge for the missionaries working in Frisia and the Netherlands. It was destroyed by the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

in 882 and refounded as a house of

secular canon A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

esses, whose first

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

was Saint Amelberga of Susteren, who died about 900. The

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

n King

Zwentibold Zwentibold (''Zventibold'', ''Zwentibald'', ''Swentiboldo'', ''Sventibaldo'', ''Sanderbald''; – 13 August 900), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Arnulf.Collins 1999, p. 360 In 895, his father granted h ...

, a benefactor of the abbey and either the father or the brother of the abbesses Benedicta and Cecilia, was buried (according to a later tradition) in Susteren Abbey in about 900. Also buried there are Saint Wastrada, who died in the mid-8th century, and Saint Gregory of Utrecht (d. about 775/777), a companion of Saint Boniface in his missions to Friesia, and later abbot of the '' Martinsstift'' in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. The abbey was suppressed at the end of the 18th century when the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

spilled over into the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. The church alone remains.

St. Amelberga Basilica

The abbey church, one of the major examples of

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

in the Netherlands, although marred by a poor restoration in 1885-1890, was built in the 11th century. It was clearly influenced by the

Ottonian The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...

minster church of

Essen Abbey Essen Abbey (''Stift Essen'') was a community of secular canonesses for women of high nobility that formed the nucleus of modern-day Essen, Germany. It was founded about 845 by the Saxon Altfrid (died 874), later Bishop of Hildesheim and saint ...

. It was dedicated to Amelberga in 1886, after authentication of the relics kept here. On 6 September 2007 the church was declared a basilica minor.

References

Sources

*Habets, J.J., 1869: ''Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van de voormalige stad Susteren en van de adellijke vrouwenabdij Sint-Salvator aldaar'', Publications de la Société Historique et Archéologique dans le Limbourg 6 (1869), 441-567. *Koldeweij, A.M., and van Vlijmen, P.M.L. (eds.), 1985: ''Schatkamers uit het Zuiden. Tentoonstellingscatalogus Rijksmuseum het Catharijneconvent'' (pp. 83-92, 97-104, 165-167). Utrecht *Roozen, N., 1960: ''Uit de schatkamer van de oude abdijkerk van Susteren''. Harreveld *Sangers, W., and Simonis, A.H., 1958: ''De kerk van Susteren. Karolingische familieabdij. Adellijk vrouwenstift. Parochie''. Susteren

External links

Susteren Abbey Church
(private interest site)
Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland: Life of Saint Amelberga of Susteren
{{coord, 51, 3, 40, N, 5, 51, 3, E, source:nlwiki_region:NL_scale:3125_type:landmark, display=title Former Christian monasteries in the Netherlands Monasteries dissolved during the French Revolution Benedictine monasteries in the Netherlands Christian monasteries in Limburg (Netherlands) Christian monasteries established in the 8th century Roman Catholic churches in the Netherlands Basilica churches in the Netherlands Romanesque architecture in the Netherlands Mosan art Echt-Susteren Churches completed in 714