The Janskerk or St. John's Church is a former church 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 ...

city of

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 ...

. Today it houses the

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 ...

Archives (''Noord-Hollands archief'').

History

Gerard van Tetrode donated land in 1310 in the centre of

to build St. John's monastery. Later the St. Barbara gasthuis was founded in 1435 by the Hugo van Assendelft, priest of the St. John's monastery, on the south side of this area. The monastery's church and the old Gasthuis doorway are the only parts of the large complex that still exist today. It was a commandry of the Knights of Saint John and is the oldest church in Haarlem after the St. Bavochurch. The order of St. John was disbanded after the

Protestant 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 ...

and the church reverted to the state in 1625. The Haarlem council sold most of the monastery's land, and much of the art during the following years, which added considerably to the wealth of the city. In 1936 it became the location of the Haarlem Archives, and it is now the location for the North Holland Archives.Van Commanderij van Sint-Jan tot Noord-Hollands Archief. Geschiedenis van het klooster en de kerk van de Ridderlijke Orde van het Hospitaal van Sint-Jan van Jeruzalem in Haarlem, door Wim Cerutti, Haarlem, 2007, Though many objects from the church were removed from the city by the Order of St. John before the iconoclasm, many have also survived and are in the collection of the

Frans Hals Museum The Frans Hals Museum is a museum located in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The museum was established in 1862. In 1950, the museum was split in two locations when the collection of modern art was moved to the '' Museum De Hallen'' (since 2018 called ...

or the

Museum Catharijneconvent The Museum Catharijneconvent (St. Catherine's Convent Museum) is a museum of religious art in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is located in the former St. Catharine convent, having been sited there since 1979. Its collections include many artifacts fro ...

in Utrecht (which contains the former collection of the Haarlem Bishop museum). File:Janskerk Haarlem in Geertgens St Bavo.jpg, The ''Janskerk'' from the southwest in a painting by

Geertgen tot Sint Jans Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1465 – c. 1495), also known as Geertgen van Haarlem, Gerrit van Haarlem, Gerrit Gerritsz, Gheertgen, Geerrit, Gheerrit, or any other diminutive form of Gerald, was an Early Netherlandish painter from the northern Low ...

. File:Janskerk westzijde.JPG, The ''Janskerk'' from the west (Pieterstraat). File:Geertgen_tot_Sint_Jans_006.jpg,

painted ''The Lamentation of Christ'' for the

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

of the house of the Knights of Saint John in

. File:Geertgen lamentation copy Jacob Matham 1620.JPG, Mirror image engraving in 1620 by

Jacob Matham Jacob Matham (15 October 1571 – 20 January 1631), of Haarlem, was a famous engraver and pen-draftsman. Biography He was the stepson and pupil of painter and draftsman Hendrik Goltzius, and brother-in-law to engraver Simon van Poelenburgh, hav ...

, includes poem and latin quote of Dürer. File:Geertgen tot Sint Jans 005.jpg, Other side of this altarpiece showing the burning of the bones of St. John. Probably contains a group portrait of the Haarlem members of the order of St. John, with the Commandeur or Precepteur holding the finger of St. John. File:St barbara gasthuis-doorway-jansstraat.JPG, Doorway of St. Barbara gasthuis on the Janstraat.

References

External links

*
website of the North Holland Archives
{{coord, 52, 22, 59.54, N, 4, 38, 16.55, E, source:nlwiki_region:NL_scale:3125_type:landmark, display=title Churches in Haarlem Rijksmonuments in Haarlem