The St. Bernulphusgilde or Guild of St. Bernulphus was a Dutch

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

secret society established on December 1, 1869. Its intention initially was to serve as a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

and protect national traditions of old craftsmanship in religious art and church architecture. Information about the association's meetings, as well as trade information, was published in their magazine ''The Guild Book''. The association was considered a

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

and named after the 11th-century bishop of

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 ...

, a passionate church builder named

Bernold Saint Bernulf or Bernold of Utrecht (died 19 July 1054) was Bishop of Utrecht (1026/27–1054). Bernold succeeded Saint Adalbold as Bishop of Utrecht on 24 September 1027, when he was appointed by emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Conrad I ...

.Cortjaens, pp. 166-168

Establishment

The association was established in

, founded by Gerard van Heukelum, at that time chaplain of St. Catherine's Cathedral in that city, from the idea of the Flemish St. Thomas Guild and St. Lucas Guild. Membership was originally open only to clergy, but the guild flourished when membership was extended to certain religious artists and architects. Although guild members worked mainly in the Netherlands in the Utrecht province, and to a lesser extent in other parts of the archdiocese, it played an important role in the construction and furnishing of churches throughout the Netherlands. Many well-known artists and craftsmen from the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

were welcomed. The association was strict about conforming to particular requirements of style and obtained important jobs because of this. The guild stayed active until the 1930s.

Style

The prescribed style for church construction was a conservative variant of the

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th cent ...

that focused on indigenous varieties of the late Gothic period, particularly the Gothic Lower Rhine, and was done almost exclusively in brick. The so-called "Utrecht School" of the association contrasted with the much more progressive views of

Pierre Cuypers Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. ...

, who was an honorary member but for whom Gothic Revival was just a starting point for innovation. The design of the Willibrord church in Utrecht is one of many that followed the concepts of the St. Bernulphus guild association and is one of its best-preserved examples. The first church both built and decorated according to the ideas of the guild was the St. Nicolas in

Jutphaas Jutphaas is a former village and municipality in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The municipality merged with Vreeswijk in 1971, and is now the northern half of the town of Nieuwegein Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the D ...

, of which Van Heukelum was appointed priest, in 1874. Founder Van Heukelum's collection of art from medieval times served as examples to form a museum in 1872. It was available to the public. This museum in 1882 was elevated to the Archbishop's Museum, the predecessor of the current Museum Catharijneconvent. Men of Guild

Members

* Gerard Brom (1831–1882), silversmith * Jan Brom, silversmith, son of Gerard Brom''Old Ni-is: Lijfblad van de Heemkundekring Bergh'' (March 2013), p. 14. * (1841–1904), stained-glass artist *Albert Kniep, metalworker *

Johannes Franciscus Augustinus Lindsen Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

(1939–1910), antiquarian. *

Chrétien Lindsen Chrétien is a given name and surname. In the French language, ''Chrétien'' is the masculine form of "Christian", as noun, adjective or adverb. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Chrétien de Troyes, 12th-century French poet * C ...

(1840–1898), painter *, organ builder *

Friedrich Wilhelm Mengelberg Friedrich Wilhelm Mengelberg (1837–1919) was a German-Dutch sculptor, architect of church interiors, and art collector.BWN, pp. 389–391 His work promoted the Gothic Revival architectural-style in churches throughout Germany and the Netherl ...

(1837–1919), sculptor * (1867–1924), sculptor and stained-glass artist, son of Friedrich Wilhelm Mangelberg *

Martinus Christiaan Schenk Martinus may refer to: * Martin (magister militum per Armeniam), 6th-century Byzantine/East Roman general * Martinus (son of Heraclius), 7th-century Byzantine/East Roman co-emperor * Martinus of Arles, doctor of theology, priest, and author on dem ...

(1833–1911), painter *J. Schillemans *

Alfred Tepe Wilhelm Victor Alfred Tepe (1840–1920) was a Dutch architect. He is considered an important and influential representative of Gothic Revival architecture in the Netherlands during the 19th century. He designed and built many churches as we ...

, architect *P. W. van der Weijer, publisher

Attitude

St. Bernulphus guild association was run more like a fraternity than a scholarly society. This characterization was typified by discussions being postponed due to copious dinners that overran their allotted time. Their meetings usually ended up in fraternal jovial feasting. The guild association even had its own song that was sung by the members. The song lyrics were written by Herman Schaepman (1844-1903), a priest.Cortjaens, p. 168

References

Sources