![Munsterbilzen, ancien palais abbatial (et église)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Munsterbilzen%2C_ancien_palais_abbatial_%28et_%C3%A9glise%29.JPG)
Munsterbilzen Abbey was an abbey 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 ...
nuns in
Munsterbilzen
Bilzen () is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg.
In 2021, Bilzen had a total population of 32,536. The total area is 75.90 km ...
,
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, founded in around 670 by Saint
Landrada. It was plundered by
Vikings
Vikings ; non, vÃkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
in 881 but restored. From the 9th century it was dedicated to Saint Amor.
It was an
imperial abbey
Princely abbeys (german: Fürstabtei, ''Fürststift'') and Imperial abbeys (german: Reichsabtei, ''Reichskloster'', ''Reichsstift'', ''Reichsgotthaus'') were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of impe ...
of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
separately administered from the surrounding
County of Loon
The County of Loon ( , , ) was a county in the Holy Roman Empire, which corresponded approximately with the Belgian province of Limburg. It was named after the original seat of its count, Loon, which is today called Borgloon. During the middle ag ...
. The abbess exercised lordship over the village of Munsterbilzen and four more villages nearby until 1773, when she was forced to recognize the suzerainty of the
Prince-Bishop of Liège. The abbey was dissolved and its property confiscated at the time of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
.
Dating back to the time of the
Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
, it is considered the oldest women's convent in the
Greater Netherlands
Greater Netherlands () is an irredentist concept which unites the Netherlands, Flanders, and sometimes including Brussels. Additionally, a Greater Netherlands state may include the annexation of the French Westhoek, Suriname, formerly Dutch-speak ...
, and, together with the abbey of Sint-Truiden, the abbey of Aldeneik, the abbey of Susteren, and the abbey Rolduc, one of the most important monasteries in the Dutch-speaking part of the diocese of
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
.
History
![Munsterbilzen - Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Tenhemelopnemingskerk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Munsterbilzen_-_Onze-Lieve-Vrouw_Tenhemelopnemingskerk.jpg)
The women's abbey of Belisia (Bilzen) was, according to legend, founded around 670 by the holy Landrada, possibly under the direction of Lambertus, bishop of Maastricht (from 669 to 709). Another legend mentions the Holy Amor of Aquitaine as the founder of the monastery. The abbey church is also named after him. The village that formed near the abbey was named Belisia Monasterii, or Munsterbilzen, to distinguish between Beukenbilzen (now
Bilzen
Bilzen () is a city and a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg.
In 2021, Bilzen had a total population of 32,536. The total area is 75.90 km² which gives a population density of 426 inhabitants per km².
Bilzen consist ...
) and Eikenbilzen (now called
Eigenbilzen
Eigenbilzen is a village and former municipality in the Bilzen municipality of the Limburg province in the Flemish Community of Belgium. Eigenbilzen was an independent municipality until 1977 when it merged into Bilzen.
History
The village was fir ...
).
In 881 the abbey of Munsterbilzen, as well as the abbey of Sint-Truiden and the churches of Tongeren, Liège, and Maastricht, were destroyed by the Normans. In the third quarter of the 10th century the monastery was rebuilt, and thereafter called Monasterium Sancti Amoris, in honor of Amor of Aquitaine. The abbey church played an important role in the establishment of the
County of Loon
The County of Loon ( , , ) was a county in the Holy Roman Empire, which corresponded approximately with the Belgian province of Limburg. It was named after the original seat of its count, Loon, which is today called Borgloon. During the middle ag ...
in the 10th and 11th century. Several
Hesbaye
The Hesbaye ( French, ), or Haspengouw (Dutch and Limburgish, ) is a traditional cultural and geophysical region in eastern Belgium. It is a loamy plateau region which forms a watershed between the Meuse and Scheldt drainage basins. It has be ...
nobles were buried in the abbey church, such as count and countess Clodulf and Hilda, count and countess Bengarius and Berta, and in 1044 Count Gozelo I of
Verdun
Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
..
Under Ida van Bonen, the mother of
Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of princ ...
and Boudewijn I of Jerusalem, around the middle of the 11th century, the abbey of Munsterbilzen received a large number of bequests, among others in Bilzen,
Riemst
Riemst (; li, Riems) is a small town and a municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Riemst is in the Flemish speaking area of Belgium.
On January 1, 2018 Riemst had a total population of 16,665. The total area is 57.88 km² which gi ...
, Waltwilder, Martenslinde, Gellik, Eigenbilzen, and
Rijkhoven
Rijkhoven is a village in the Bilzen municipality of the Limburg province in the Flemish Community of Belgium.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1076 as Rudenchoven. It used to be part of the County of Loon. In 1220 the chapel of Alden B ...
.
At the end of the 12th century the monastery was transformed into a noble woman's abbey, over which the count of Loon had custody. Those who were attached to the secular chapter took part in the choral prayer every day, but did not have to keep monastic vows. Only part of the building complex was located within its walls and in later centuries many canonesses lived outside the monastery.
The abbess was not only Lady of Munsterbilzen, but also had rights over the villages of
Wellen
Wellen (; li, Wille) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On 1 January 2018, Wellen had a total population of 7,402. The total area is 26.72 km², giving a population density of 266 inhabitants per km2.
The municip ...
, Haccourt, Hallembaye, and Kleine-Spouwen. She was a princess of the Holy Roman Empire and regarded herself as sovereign ruler over these five villages. From the 17th century this right was disputed by the Saint Lambert's chapter of Liège and the prince-bishop, and after many processes the abbess in 1773 definitively recognized the sovereignty of the bishop.
In 1794, after the invasion of the French following the French Revolution, the chapter was dissolved and the abbey goods were sold. In the course of the 19th century most of the buildings were demolished, including the abbey church. In the late 19th century, the De Lamberts de Cortenbach family owned the abbey. Since 1895, in the remaining buildings a nursing institution for psychiatric disorders has been established, initially run by the congregation Sisters of Saint Joseph from Clermont-Ferrand, and now known as the Medical Center Sint-Jozef. Other buildings served as a post office and town hall.
List of abbesses of Munsterbilzen
*
Landrada (?-690), monastic poet
* Guda van Heinsberg-Valkenburg? (1157-1173), dochter van Gosewijn I van Valkenburg
* Daughter of Imagina of Loon (before 1203-1214)
* Mechtildis van Are, or Mathilde (about 1220-1249), sister of
Gérard II, Count of Looz Count Gerard (or Gerhard) of Loon (died 1191), was son and successor of Louis I, Count of Loon, and Agnes of Metz. He was count of Loon (in modern Belgium) and of Rieneck (in Germany). Because of a widespread misunderstanding concerning a document f ...
* Mathilde van Pietersheim (1267-1287)
* Aleidis (Ida) van Valkenburg (†1296), daughter of
count Theodoric II of Falkenburg (Dutch: Dirk II van Valkenburg), sister of Roman queen
Beatrice of Falkenburg
* Cecilia Hoen (†1458), daughter of Nicolaas II Hoen, Lord van Hoensbroek
* Odilia van Buymelborn (1550-1582)
* Isabelle Henriette of
Aspremont-Lynden Castle
Aspremont-Lynden Castle ( nl, Kasteel d'Aspremont-Lynden) is a castle in Oud-Rekem in the municipality of Lanaken, province of Limburg, Belgium.
The present castle, on the site of a mediaeval predecessor, was constructed by the noble family of d ...
(about 1725)
* Antoinette van Eltz-Kempenich (about 1766)
Building Description
Almost nothing is left of the once powerful medieval monastery. From the old parish church, right next to the disappeared abbey church, only the church tower from 1565-67 remains. The church itself is neo-Gothic. In the interior there is a Roman baptismal font, the tombstone of canoness Anna van Merode, and a large number of paintings and sculptures from the 15th-18th century. Also during excavations in 2006 under the parish church the remnants of an early medieval church of 11 x 5.7 m were found.
The so-called abbess house and the main entrance in Maaslandse renaissance style were rebuilt around 1730-50 after a design by the Aachen architect
Johann Joseph Couven
Johann Joseph Couven (10 November 1701 – 12 September 1763) was a German Baroque architect. He was born in Aachen, where he also died. His legacy includes several religious and secular buildings in Germany (mostly in or near Aachen, e.g. Bu ...
. The abbey school was built in 1725 at the expense of Abbess Anne-Antoinette of Tilly d'Aspremont of Lynden van Reckheim and was among other things meant for free education to six poor girls. The abbey complex is surrounded by a partly renovated monastery wall, on which are found the coats of arms of some abbesses.
Evangeliarium of Munsterbilzen and Wachtendonckse Psalms
The sentence "Tesi samanunga vvas noble unde scona" ("This monastic community was noble and clean") plays an important role in the history of the Dutch language. The six words were added in 1130 under a list of names in the gospel of Munsterbilzen, a Carolingian manuscript. The gospel of Munsterbilzen also contains an Ordo Stellae (also called Officium Stellae), a three-kings game, which is considered to be the oldest play in the Netherlands. In December 2008, this precious codex threatened to be auctioned at the London auction house
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
. Eventually, after much lobbying, the gospel libraries remained in possession of the Bollandists in Brussels, where it has been around since 1842.
In addition to the goseliarium, a Carolingian psalter, called the Wachtendonckse Psalmen, was kept in the abbey of Munsterbilzen. This lost psalms book from the early 9th century was mentioned in a travel report from 1446 as belonging to the possessions of the abbess of Munsterbilzen. In 1591 it was in the possession of the Liège canon Arnold Wachtendonck, rector of the Landrada altar in the abbey of Munsterbilzen, and as a result of a dispute between two candidate abbesses the pope had been appointed as supervisor of the property and income of the monastery. Wachtendonck was a notorious collector of antiques and had appropriated the ancient Psalterium, which according to tradition had once belonged to the Holy Amor of Aquitaine. Wachtendonck lent the psalterium to the Leuven scholar and humanist
Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius (Joest Lips or Joost Lips; 18 October 1547 – 23 March 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible w ...
, who copied and studied it. The Wachtendonck Psalms transmitted via Lipsius form the oldest known book in an early form of the Dutch language.
References
{{coord, 50.8878, N, 5.5261, E, source:dewiki_region:BE_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title
Bilzen
Christian monasteries in Limburg (Belgium)
Christian monasteries established in the 7th century
Benedictine nunneries in Belgium
Monasteries dissolved during the French Revolution
Medieval Netherlands