The Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady (Illustre Lieve Vrouwe Broederschap) was a religious

confraternity A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most c ...

founded in 1318 in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

to promote the veneration of the Mother of God. The brotherhood was organized around a carved wooden image of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

in St John’s Cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch. The Brotherhood had two types of members: ordinary members and sworn members, also called 'swan-brethren' because they used to donate a

swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

for the yearly banquet. Sworn members were clerics in principle; in fact they were often chosen among the nobility, the magistrates, etc. As a result, the Brotherhood also functioned as an important social network.

Well-known members

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...

(c. 1450 – 1516), painter.P. Gerlach, ‘Jheronimus van Aken alias Bosch en de Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe-Broederschap’, in: Jheronimus Bosch: Bijdragen bij gelegenheid van de herdenkingstentoonstelling in 's-Hertogenbosch 1967 ('s-Hertogenbosch 1967), pp. 48–60; G.C.M. van Dijck, Op zoek naar Jheronimus van Aken alias Bosch (Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek, 2001). *

Nycasius de Clibano Nycasius de Clibano (also Nicasius, Casijn) (fl. 1457 – 1497; d. 9-14 Oct. 1497) was a Franco-Flemish singer and composer of the Renaissance, probably active only in his homeland, the southern part of the Netherlands. Life and work He was th ...

(? – 1497), singer and composer * Jheronimus de Clibano (c. 1459 – 1503), singer and composer *

Jan Heyns Johannes "Jan" Heyns (14?? in Bruges – 1516 in 's-Hertogenbosch) was a Flemish-Brabantic architect. Originally from Bruges, Jan Heyns was active in 's-Hertogenbosch from 1495. There he became the architect in charge of building the St. Joh ...

(? – 1516), architect * Frans Crabbe van Espleghem (c. 1480 – 1553),

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

artist * Jan van Wintelroy (? – 1576), composer and choirmaster *

Matthaeus Pipelare Matthaeus Pipelare ( – ) was a Netherlandish composer, choir director, and possibly wind instrument player of the Renaissance. He was from Louvain, and spent part of his early life in Antwerp. Unlike many of his contemporaries, many of whom t ...

(c. 1450 – c. 1515), composer and choirmaster * Frederik van Egmond (c. 1470 – 1539), Count of Buren and lord of IJsselstein *

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 ...

(1533 – 1584), leader of 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 ...

Well-known members

References

Further reading