Drongen Abbey, or the Old Abbey, Drongen ( nl, Abdij van Drongen, Oude Abdij van Drongen), is a monastic complex on the River

Leie The Lys () or Leie () is a river in France and Belgium, and a left-bank tributary of the Scheldt. Its source is in Pas-de-Calais, France, and it flows into the river Scheldt in Ghent, Belgium. Its total length is . Historically a very pollut ...

Drongen Drongen ( French: ''Tronchiennes'') is a district within the city of Ghent (Arrondissement of Ghent). Drongen is divided into three parishes: Drongen, Luchteren and Baarle. Monastery Drongen is known for its early medieval monastery, Drongen A ...

, a part of the city of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Formerly a Premonstratensian

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

, since 1837 the premises have belonged to the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. In 1998 the whole property, including the garden, was declared a protected monument.

History

Early days

In the Middle Ages there were two legends regarding the abbey's foundation in the 7th century. According to one, the abbey was built by a certain Basinus, king of Basotes; according to the other, its founder was Saint

Amandus Amandus ( 584 – 679), commonly called Saint Amand, was a bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht and one of the great Christian missionaries of Flanders. He is venerated as a saint, particularly in France and Belgium. Life The chief source of details ...

, who also founded in Ghent during the same period St. Peter's Abbey and St. Bavo's Abbey. The first occupants were

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 ...

s. The

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

destroyed the abbey in 853 but under

Baldwin II, Count of Flanders Baldwin II ( 865 – 10 September 918) was the second margrave (or count) of Flanders, ruling from 879 to 918. He was nicknamed the Bald (''Calvus'') after his maternal grandfather, Emperor Charles the Bald. Rule Baldwin II was born around 86 ...

(879–918), lord of Drongen, it was rebuilt.

Premonstratensians

In 1136 Iwein, Count of Aalst, lord of

Waas The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is an air navigation aid developed by the Federal Aviation Administration to augment the Global Positioning System (GPS), with the goal of improving its accuracy, integrity, and availability. Essentia ...

, Drongen and

Liedekerke Liedekerke () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Liedekerke had a total population of 11,920. It is also situated in the Pajottenland.The total area is 10.08 km² which results in a popula ...

, founded a Premonstratensian abbey at Salegem ( Vrasene,

Beveren Beveren () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') is in Beveren ...

). Two years later, in 1138, the new abbey was moved to Drongen, when the canons accepted the Premonstratensian rules. In 1566 the abbey suffered from the ''

Beeldenstorm ''Beeldenstorm'' () in Dutch and ''Bildersturm'' in German (roughly translatable from both languages as 'attack on the images or statues') are terms used for outbreaks of destruction of religious images that occurred in Europe in the 16th centu ...

er'' (Iconoclasts), and in 1578, during the Ghent Republic, the Calvinists drove out the fathers, who took refuge in the ''Hof van Drongen'', and destroyed the abbey. Its possessions fell into the hands of

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

, but were given back by his heirs. The abbey church was rebuilt in 1638, and the monastic buildings between 1638 and 1698, leaving the abbey much the same as it is now. In 1796, during 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 ...

, the fathers were again driven out, and the abbey suppressed and sold off. Lieven Bauwens installed a cotton mill, which went bankrupt in 1836, and a dyeworks using

madder ''Rubia'' is the type genus of the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, which also contains coffee. It contains around 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and subshrubs native to the Old World. The genus and its best-known ...

root.

Jesuits

In 1836 the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

bought part of the abbey buildings for the use of their novices, and in 1848 they bought the remainder of the property. The training continued until 1968, when it stopped for want of vocations, but they continued to provide meditations and retreats, for individuals and groups, and thus the abbey became a retreat centre. Older Jesuits continued to live there, and the abbey also became a Jesuit retirement home. The octagonal abbey church in white stone, with a small cupola, was rebuilt in 1734 after a fire. Known as St. Gerolf's Church, it now serves as the parish church of the centre of Drongen.

References

External links