![BegijnhofAmsterdamPanorama](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/BegijnhofAmsterdamPanorama.jpg)
The Begijnhof is one of the oldest
hofje
{{inline refs needed, date=May 2012
A hofje (diminutive of 'hof', 'court') is a Dutch word for a courtyard with almshouses around it. Hofjes have existed since the Middle Ages.
A hofje provided housing for elderly people (mostly women). T ...
s in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. A group of historic buildings, mostly private dwellings, centre on it. As the name suggests, it was originally a
Béguinage
A beguinage, from the French term ''béguinage'', is an architectural complex which was created to house beguines: lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world.
Originally the beguine institution was ...
. Today it is also the site of two churches, the Catholic ''Houten Huys'' and the
English Reformed Church.
Earliest times
The Begijnhof is the only inner court in Amsterdam which was founded during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, and therefore lies within the
Singel
The Singel is one of the canals of Amsterdam. The Singel encircled Amsterdam in the Middle Ages, serving as a moat around the city until 1585, when Amsterdam expanded beyond the Singel. The canal runs from the IJ (Amsterdam), IJ bay, near the ...
— the innermost canal of Amsterdam's circular
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
system. The Begijnhof is at medieval street level, which means a meter below the rest of the old city center.
It is unclear when exactly the Begijnhof (
Beguine
The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take forma ...
s' court) was founded. In 1346, the beguines still lived in a house (a document of that time mentioned one ''beghynhuys''). A courtyard was only first mentioned in 1389, probably after the religious status of the city rose due to the
Amsterdam Eucharistic Miracle of 1345.
Originally the Begijnhof was entirely encircled by water (the ''Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal'', the ''
Spui
A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...
'' and the ''Begijnensloot'' or "Beguines' Ditch"), with the sole entrance located at the ''Begijnensteeg'' ("Beguines' Alley"), which had a bridge across the Begijnensloot. The back facades were therefore water-locked. The
Spui
A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...
entrance only dates back to the 19th century.
Characteristics
![Amsterdam (NL), Begijnhof -- 2015 -- 7220](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Amsterdam_%28NL%29%2C_Begijnhof_--_2015_--_7220.jpg)
The Begijnhof differs from the usual Amsterdam patricians' court in that this old people's home was not founded by private persons. It bore closer resemblance to a
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
, although the beguines enjoyed greater freedom than
nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
s in a convent. While beguines took a vow of
chastity
Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when mak ...
, and while they considered themselves obliged to attend
Holy Mass
The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...
every day and pray various official prayers, they were free to leave the court at any time in order to get married.
Tall Amsterdam houses
The buildings in the court are tall, characteristically Amsterdam-style town-houses, emphasising the court's relatively private character. The Begijnhof is the only court whose houses have addresses bearing the name of the court itself. Unlike most courts, the houses here do not form rows joining one dwelling with another; instead, there are 47 regular town houses, each with its individual aspect, and most of them with
facades from the 17th and 18th centuries. However, the buildings themselves are usually of earlier date, eighteen of them still possessing a
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
wooden framework.
The Wooden House
![RM371 Amsterdam - Begijnhof 34](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/RM371_Amsterdam_-_Begijnhof_34.jpg)
The ancient, restored wooden house (''Het Houten Huys'', 34 Begijnhof) is famous as one of the two wooden houses still existing in the center of Amsterdam (the other one being Zeedijk 1); there are annexed villages like Nieuwendam (Amsterdam North) with many wooden houses and even a wooden church. This house dates from about 1528, and is the oldest wooden house in Amsterdam.
The courtyard has two bleaching greens, one on each side of the chapel.
Gates
The old Begijnesloot gate, restored in 1907, dates from 1574 and has a
gable stone
Gable stones (Dutch ''gevelstenen'') are carved and often colourfully painted stone tablets, which are set into the walls of buildings, usually at about 4 metres from the ground. They serve both to identify and embellish the building. They are al ...
depicting
Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little infor ...
,
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of the Amsterdam beguines. The
Spui
A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thro ...
gate from about 1725 was replaced by the present gatehouse in the 19th century. The Begijnhof has a great number of gable stones, many of which show a strong Roman Catholic character.
Religious strife
After the Alteration (
Protestant takeover) of 1578, when Amsterdam came under
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
rule, the Begijnhof was the only
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
institution to be allowed to remain in existence. This was because the houses were the beguines' private property. The Chapel, however, was closed and lay empty for around 30 years before being ceded to the English
Presbyterians
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
, and since that time has been alluded to as the "
English Church
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
". Several of the
pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
panels were designed by
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...
.
A clandestine church
In 1671, the architect
Philip Vingboons
Philips Vingboons (or ''Vinckboons'', ''Vinckeboons'', ''Vinckbooms'') ( – 2 October 1678) was a Dutch architect. He was part of the school of Jacob van Campen, that is, Dutch Classicism. Vingboons was especially highly regarded in his native c ...
converted two dwellings opposite the Chapel entrance into a ''
schuilkerk
A clandestine church ( nl, schuilkerk), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition th ...
'', or conventicle church, for Catholics, the ''
Church of the Saints John and Ursula'', named after the patron saints of the Begijnhof. This church was kept secret, as was demanded by the city government, and could not be recognized as a church from the outside. In 1908 this became the
Miracle Church, after the original Miracle Church had been deliberately destroyed by its Protestant owners.
Buried in the gutter
The most famous
beguine
The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take forma ...
in the Begijnhof's history is sister Cornelia Arens, who died on 14 October 1654. (Her date of birth is unknown, but she professed the vows of chastity and the Catholic faith on 6 July 1621.) Rather than be laid to rest in the Chapel, which she considered "desecrated" by Presbyterians, she chose to be buried in the gutter of the court. Legend has it that contrary to her wish, she was in fact buried in the Chapel, but her coffin was found in the adjoining gutter the following day. This happened two more times, until she was at last laid to rest in the gutter. Another version of the legend is that her soul found no peace and roamed the court at night until she was buried in the gutter.
The last beguine
"Sister Antonia", whose original name was Agatha Kaptein, was born on 13 April 1887 at
Akersloot
Akersloot is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Castricum, and lies about 9 km south of Alkmaar. Until 1 January 2002, Akersloot was a separate municipality.
The oldest name for Akersloot ...
. The last beguine, she died on 23 May 1971 at the age of 84. She was buried in the Sisters' Grave in the St. Barbara's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Amsterdam on 26 May of the same year.
[
]
Renovation
Until its renovation in 1979, the court had 140 dwellings — some 110 of them consisting of a single room, and about 25 comprising two. The occupants likewise numbered 140. The renovations enlarged the houses to two or three rooms. Since that time, the number of female inhabitants has been an unvaried 105.
See also
*
Beguines and Beghards
The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take fo ...
References
External links
Website of the BegijnhofImages of Begijnhof
{{coord, 52.3694, N, 4.8901, E, type:landmark, display=title
Buildings and structures in Amsterdam
Beguinages
Tourist attractions in Amsterdam
Hofjes in Amsterdam