![Adelbertabdij - Egmond-Binnen - 20349882 - RCE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Adelbertabdij_-_Egmond-Binnen_-_20349882_-_RCE.jpg)
Egmond Abbey or St. Adalbert's Abbey ( nl, Abdij van Egmond, ''Sint-Adelbertabdij'') is a
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 ...
monastery of the
Congregation of the Annunciation
The Congregation of the Annunciation (''Congregatio Annuntiationis B.M.V.''), formerly known as the Belgian Congregation, is a congregation of monasteries within the Roman Catholic Benedictine Confederation. Founded in 1920, the Congregation inc ...
between
Egmond aan den Hoef
Egmond aan den Hoef () is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about west of Alkmaar. Until 2001, Egmond aan den Hoef was part of the municipality of Egmond.
The village was firs ...
and
Bakkum in
Egmond-Binnen
Egmond-Binnen () is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about southwest of Alkmaar.
History
The village was first mentioned in 922 as Ekmunde. The etymology is unknown. The m ...
in the municipality of
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
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
North Holland
North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...
. Founded in 920-925 and destroyed in the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, it was re-founded in 1935 as the present ''Sint-Adelbertabdij'', in the
Diocese of Haarlem
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
.
History
![Evangeliarum van Egmond](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Evangeliarum_van_Egmond.jpg)
Egmond was the oldest monastery of the
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
region. According to tradition, the Benedictine abbey was founded by
Dirk I, Count of Holland
Dirk I ( Frisian ''Durk I'' or ''Diderik'', Latin ''Theoderic'' or ''Thidericus Fresonie'', German ''Dietrich'') was count of West Frisia, later known as the County of Holland. He is thought to have been in office from c. 896 to c. 928 or 939.
' ...
, in about 920-925. It was a nunnery erected near a small wooden church built over the grave of Saint
Adalbert
Adalbert is a German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Derivative names inclu ...
. In about 950 work began on a stone church to replace the wooden one, as a gift from
Dirk II, Count of Holland
Dirk II or Theoderic II (920/930 – 6 May 988) was a count in West Frisia, and a predecessor of the counts of Holland. He was the son of Dirk I, count in West Frisia, and Geva (or Gerberge).
Career
In 983 Emperor Otto III confirmed Dirk's right ...
, and his wife Hildegard, to house the relics of Saint Adalbert. The consecration of the new church apparently took place in or shortly after 975, and is recorded in the
Egmond Gospels
The Egmond Gospels ( nl, Evangeliarium van Egmond) is a 9th-century Gospel Book written in Latin and accompanied by illustrations. It is named after the Egmond Abbey, to which it was given by Dirk II, and where it remained for six centuries. It ...
, presented to the abbey by Dirk. At the same time a community of
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 ...
monks from
Saint Peter's Abbey, Ghent
Saint Peter's Abbey ( nl, Sint-Pietersabdij) is a former Benedictine abbey in Ghent, Belgium, now a museum and exhibition centre.
Saint Peter's was founded in the late 7th century by Amandus, a missionary sent by the Frankish kings to Christian ...
replaced the nuns, who under their abbess Erlinde, daughter of Count Dirk, were transferred to a newly established nunnery, Bennebroek Abbey.
[Selderhuis, Herman J., ''Handbook of Dutch Church History'', Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014, p. 45]
![Abdij Egmond 1638](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Abdij_Egmond_1638.jpg)
The abbey had many property and feudal rights. Its library and scriptorium were very important. Monks served as scribes in the ducal chancery.
[ Dirk I, the founder, was buried there, as were many subsequent ]counts of Holland
The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.
House of Holland
The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...
and members of their families, including Dirk II, Arnulf, Dirk III, Floris I
Floris I (born c. 1017 in Vlaardingen – 28 June 1061) was count of Holland, then called Frisia west of the Vlie, from 1049 to 1061.
Floris was born in Vlaardingen. He was a son of Dirk III, Count of Holland, Dirk III and Bernard, Margrave of th ...
, Dirk V
Dirk V (1052 – June 17, 1091) was Count of Holland (called Frisia at that time) from 1061 to 1091.
Dirk V succeeded his father, Floris I, under the guardianship of his mother, Gertrude of Saxony. William I, Bishop of Utrecht, took advantag ...
, and Floris II
Floris II, called Floris the Fat ( – 2 March 1121) was the first from the native dynasty of Holland to be called Count of Holland, reigning from 1091 until his death.
Life
Floris was the son of his predecessor Dirk V and his wife Othilde. Fl ...
. Egbert
Egbert is a name that derives from old Germanic words meaning "bright edge", such as that of a blade. Anglo-Saxon variant spellings include Ecgberht () and Ecgbert. German variant spellings include Ekbert and Ecbert.
People with the first name Mid ...
, the son of Dirk II, was educated at Egmond and later became Archbishop of Trier.
The Count Lamoral, owner of the nearby castle, was beheaded in 1568, and this started the Dutch Revolt
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...
. Shortly afterwards, in 1573, the abbey was dissolved and laid waste just before the siege of Alkmaar
The siege of Alkmaar (1573) was a turning point in the Eighty Years' War. The burghers of the Dutch city of Alkmaar held off the Spanish (who had set up their camp in Oudorp) between 21 August and 8 October 1573, with boiling tar and burning bra ...
on the orders of Diederik Sonoy
Diederik Sonoy or Snoey ( Kalkar (Duchy of Cleves), 1529 - Pieterburen, 2 June 1597) was a leader of the Geuzen during the Eighty Years' War.
Biography
Diderick Sonoy was born about 1529 in the Duchy of Cleves, but afterwards resided mostly in ...
to prevent it being used by the Spanish. The abbey's income was diverted by the stadtholder to the financing of his educational project, the newly formed Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
.
Relationship to Egmond Castle
North of the abbey is the site of Egmond Castle in Egmond aan den Hoef
Egmond aan den Hoef () is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about west of Alkmaar. Until 2001, Egmond aan den Hoef was part of the municipality of Egmond.
The village was firs ...
. The castle was built by the knight Berwout van Egmond in 1129, who was paid by the Count of Holland to represent him, protect the abbey and collect the rents, as ''Voogd
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
''. This was the origin of the House of Egmond
The House of Egmond or Egmont (French language, French: ''Maison d'Egmond'', Dutch language, Dutch: ''Huis Egmond'') is named after the Netherlands, Dutch town of Egmond aan den Hoef, Egmond, province of North Holland, and played an important role ...
. The relationship quickly turned into a power struggle between the Egmond family and the abbots that lasted for centuries. Just like the abbey, the castle was destroyed in 1573. The chapel was later restored by the Dutch Protestant church, but the castle was never rebuilt. The foundations are still visible and the land surrounding the old moat and foundations has been turned into a park.
Sint-Adelbertabdij
In 1933 a new Benedictine community, the Sint-Adelbertabdij, was founded on the site of the former Egmond Abbey, and was again dedicated to Saint Adalbert. The first buildings, designed by ( ''nl'') were constructed in 1935. and the community was repopulated with monks (from the Benedictine abbey in Oosterhout
Oosterhout (; from ''ooster'', "eastern", and ''hout'', "woods") is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. The municipality had a population of in .
Population centers
The municipality of Oosterhout includes the following pla ...
). Buildings were refurbished and extended in the late 1940s and early 1950s; the monastery was elevated to an abbey in 1950. The farmlands were put back to use, though since 1989 however the agricultural lands have been let to a farmer. A candle-making operation was started in 1945 to support the community, and later a pottery workplace was added.
In 1984 the relics of Saint Adalbert were returned here, having been kept safe in Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
since the destruction of the previous monastery in the 16th century, and are enshrined beneath the altar.
In the spring of 2003 the monks had solar panels installed which were promptly stolen two weeks later, a loss of €20,000. An online collection was held to help pay for new panels.
In December 2021, the Abbey donated a relic of Saint Nicholas to the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Amsterdam. Said to be a fragment of the saint's rib, the bone has been in the custody of the Abbey since 1087."Amsterdam church receives Saint Nicholas bone fragment for Sinterklaas", ''NL Times'', December 5, 2021
/ref>
Legacy
Many artefacts from the old abbey have been recovered in the years since 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 ...
' of 1568, such as the altarpiece of 1530, and the Egmond Tympanum, a 12th-century tympanum originally set over the portal of the west front of the abbey church, which since 1842 has been preserved in the Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...
. At first it was assumed that all the abbey's possessions had been burned, but in fact they had been sold by the Protestant leader who dissolved the abbey, Diederik Sonoy
Diederik Sonoy or Snoey ( Kalkar (Duchy of Cleves), 1529 - Pieterburen, 2 June 1597) was a leader of the Geuzen during the Eighty Years' War.
Biography
Diderick Sonoy was born about 1529 in the Duchy of Cleves, but afterwards resided mostly in ...
, before the buildings were destroyed. In recent decades the current monastery has been able to recover many lost relics, or at least information about them. The old abbey had been of great importance to artists, and much of that art has survived, against all odds.
Moreover, in the intervening period from 1568 until the remaining ruins were finally demolished in about 1800, the abbey and the associated castle ruins served as an inspiration in its damaged state to many artists who visited Bergen, Schoorl or Egmond to paint the ruins, among them Jacob van Ruisdael
Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural ach ...
in 1655-60.
File:Bonifatius-gregorius-aedelbertus-noordwijk.JPG, Egmond Abbey altarpiece of 1530 by the Egmond monk Jan Joesten van Hillegom
File:Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael - The Jewish Cemetery - WGA20486.jpg, ''The Jewish Cemetery
''The Jewish Cemetery'' (c. 1650s) is an oil painting, oil on canvas painting by the Netherlands, Dutch landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael.
It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the Detroit Institute of A ...
'' by Jacob van Ruisdael
Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural ach ...
with the ruins of Egmond Abbey
File:Kellen Egmond litho.jpg, The Egmond Tympanum, depicting Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
between Dirk VI, Count of Holland
Dirk VI (c. 11145 August 1157) was Count of Holland between 1121 and 1157, at first, during his minority, under the regency of his mother Petronilla. He was the son of Count Floris II. After his death he was succeeded by his eldest son Floris ...
, and his mother and Countess Petronilla (chromolithograph of 1860/61)
File:Abdij-toren egmond-binnen1725.jpg, Egmond Abbey ruins, 1725
References
External links
*
*
{{coord, 52, 35, 42, N, 4, 39, 37, E, source:nlwiki_region:NL_scale:6250, display=title
Christian monasteries established in the 7th century
Benedictine monasteries in the Netherlands
Buildings and structures in North Holland
Bergen, North Holland
Monasteries dissolved under the Dutch Reformation
7th-century churches
Burial sites of the House of Holland (nobility)