Klaarkamp Abbey ( nl, Klooster Klaarkamp; la, Monasterium beatae Mariae de Claro Campo) was a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery in the community of

Dantumadeel Dantumadiel () is a municipality in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. Dantumadiel is a rural municipality characterized by economic activity and agriculture. History The first time Dantumadiel is mentioned was in a document from 12 ...

, about 4 kilometres southwest of

Dokkum Dokkum is a Dutch fortified city in the municipality of Noardeast-Fryslân in the province of Friesland. It has 12,669 inhabitants (February 8, 2020). The fortifications of Dokkum are well preserved and are known as the ''bolwerken'' (bulwarks). ...

and 2 kilometres north of

Rinsumageast Rinsumageast ( nl, Rinsumageest) is a village in the Dantumadiel municipality of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 965 in 2017. The village is locally called ''De Geest'' (Dutch) or ''De Geast''Gildemacher, Karel F. (2007). ...

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

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

A, zwerfkei met opschrift - Birdaard - 20035260 - RCE

History

The abbey was founded in either 1163 or 1165, either directly from

Clairvaux Abbey Clairvaux Abbey (, ; la, Clara Vallis) was a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, from Bar-sur-Aube. The original building, founded in 1115 by St. Bernard, is now in ruins; the present structure dates from 1708. Clairvaux Abbey was a ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, which is the more generally accepted account, or from

Riddagshausen Abbey Riddagshausen Abbey (german: Kloster Riddagshausen) was a Cistercian monastery just outside the city of Brunswick in Germany. History It was founded as Marienzelle by Ludolf the Wend, a '' ministerialis'' of Henry the Lion and steward of Brun ...

near

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

, in which case Klaarkamp was of the filiation of

Morimond Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of the Ci ...

. The abbey's daughter houses were

Bloemkamp Abbey Bloemkamp Abbey ( nl, Abdij Bloemkamp, also ''Oldeklooster''; la, Floridus campus) is a former Cistercian abbey in the Netherlands, located in Hartwerd in the municipality of Wûnseradiel to the north-east of Bolsward, in the province of Friesland ...

(founded c. 1190 near

Bolsward Bolsward (, West Frisian: ''Boalsert'') is a city in Súdwest-Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Bolsward has a population of just under 10,200. It is located 10 km W.N.W. of Sneek. History The town is founded on thr ...

Aduard Abbey Aduard Abbey ( nl, Abdij van Aduard, ''Abdij Sint-Bernardus in Aduard'') is a former Cistercian abbey in the village of Aduard about 8 kilometres to the north-west of Groningen in the Netherlands, founded in 1192 and dissolved in 1580. History Th ...

(founded 1192) and Gerka Abbey (founded 1240 in

Gerkesklooster Gerkesklooster ( fry, Gerkeskleaster) is a village in Achtkarspelen in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It forms, together with Stroobos, the double village Gerkesklooster-Stroobos. The double village had a population of around 1144 i ...

near

Buitenpost Buitenpost (''Bûtenpost'' in West Frisian) is a village in north-east Friesland in the Netherlands. It lies approximately halfway between the cities of Leeuwarden (the capital of Friesland) and Groningen, in the northern part of the municipali ...

). The monastery was engaged in brick production from the clay on its land, and employed hundreds of

lay brothers Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...

in this work. The abbey's main estates were in

Jannum Jannum ( nl, Janum) is a small village in Noardeast-Fryslân municipality in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 63 in January 2017. Before 2019, the village was part of the Ferwerderadiel Ferwerderadiel () is ...

Sibrandahûs Sibrandahûs ( nl, Sijbrandahuis) is a small village in the Dantumadiel municipality of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 40 in 2017. It is located just west of Dokkum. Sibrandahûs has no real residential core, the village ...

Feanwâlden Feanwâlden ( nl, Veenwouden) is a village in the Dantumadiel municipality of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 3,430 in 2014. Together with the village of Feanwâldsterwâl, a former hamlet of Feanwâlden, it has a village ...

and on the island of

Schiermonnikoog Schiermonnikoog (; fry, ) is an island, a municipality and national park in the Northern Netherlands. Schiermonnikoog is one of the West Frisian Islands, and is part of the province of Friesland. It is situated between the islands of Ameland a ...

. It also owned a

grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...

at ''Betterwird'', apparently in Westdongeradeel. During 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 ...

battles of the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

Friesland converted to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and secularised all its religious houses. On 31 May 1580 the abbey was dissolved and its assets confiscated by the state of Friesland. The buildings were sold off and demolished. In the 19th and early 20th centuries the mound, about 4 metres high, on which the monastery had stood was removed, and some excavation took place at that time.

Premises and buildings

Nothing remains of the abbey buildings. The site is marked by a monolith.

References

*Boersma: ''De voormalige abdij Klaarkamp bij Rinsumageest archeologisch verkend'', Publikatieband Stichting Alde Fryske Tsjerken 2, 1978, pp. 77–88 *Mol, J.A.: ''Besitzerwerbungen der friesischen Zisterzienserklöster Klaarkamp, Bloemkamp und Gerkesklooster'', in: K. Elm (ed.)., ''Erwerbspolitik und Wirtschaftsweise mittelalterlicher Orden und Klöster'', Berliner Historische Studien 17, Ordensstudien 7 (Berlin 1992), pp. 67–96 *Praamstra/Boersma: ''Die archäologischen Untersuchungen der Zisterzienserabteien Clarus Campus (Klaarkamp) bei Rinsumageest (Fr.) und St. Bernardus in Aduard (Gr.)'', ''Palaeohistoria'' 19, 1977, pp. 173–259

Sources and external links

Website about Klaarkamp Abbey

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