The Proveniershuis is a

hofje {{inline refs needed, date=May 2012 A hofje (diminutive of 'hof', 'court') is a Dutch word for a courtyard with almshouses around it. Hofjes have existed since the Middle Ages. A hofje provided housing for elderly people (mostly women). ...

and former

schutterij Schutterij () refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces w ...

on the

Grote Houtstraat The Grote Houtstraat is a shopping street in Haarlem that connects the Grote Markt to the Houtplein in the direction of the Haarlemmerhout woods. History The street runs along one of two old parallel roads running through the city on either side ...

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 ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The complex of buildings surrounds a rectangular garden taking up a city block that is on the Haarlem hofje route. Unlike

s that were meant for poor elderly women, the homes around this courtyard are much larger, and the garden itself is about twice the normal size. The reason is that these inhabitants were men who actually paid rent to live there, as opposed to hofje inhabitants who had no income to spend on rent. Most hofjes were for women, because they were able to run their own modest household, usually as a member of a "hofje team" in various responsible roles. Men were generally less able to take care of themselves and were thus dependent on the "preuves" in the form of simple meals and services that were paid for from rents.

History

This home for Haarlem ''proveniers'' was founded in 1707 by the city council to house elderly men. The main buildings are much older than that. The entire site was once a nunnery, called the St. Michielsklooster, from the 14th century up to 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 ...

, when all church lands reverted to the city council. The Haarlem archives still have a first-hand account of one of the original nuns, Elisabeth Verhagen, who was moved to a house on the Begijnhof after the reformation. She complained of the plundering of her old cloister and the fact that all the sisters were split up and sent to live elsewhere. They had to make room for the ''St. Joris Doelen'', or St. George Militia.

St. Jorisdoelen

In 1577, the city council refurbished the main buildings to house the

Haarlem schutterij The Haarlem schutterij refers to a collective name for the voluntary civic guard of Haarlem, from medieval times up to the Batavian Revolution in 1794, when the guilds of Haarlem were disbanded. History During the Hook and Cod wars in 1402, Ha ...

called the "Oude schuts", and since before the reformation they had been 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 ...

with patron saint St. Joris, or St. George, this was called the St. Jorisdoelen, or ''St. George militia target field''. The garden was converted to include two shooting lanes; one for bow and arrow, and one for the

blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a firearm with a short, large caliber barrel which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity or caliber. The blunderbuss is commonly consid ...

. The fancy St. Joris militiamen, who during the course of the 17th-century met more often together for shooting practise than for fighting or policing the streets, were painted several times in ''

schutterstuk Schutterij () refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces w ...

ken'', most notably by militia member

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...

Schutterstukken

Today, 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 ...

houses several schutterstukken, which are group portraits of the officers of the St. George militia painted to commemorate the end of a three-year term of service. These paintings once hung in the main hall and were considered tourist attractions in their day. As they accumulated over the course of time, they were slowly crowded out, so not all schutterstukken have survived. The list of paintings that have survived up to the present day are as follows: File:Cornelis van Haarlem - Banket van de officieren van de St. Jorisdoelen.jpg, 1599, Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem File:Frans Hals - Banket van de officieren van de Sint-Joris-Doelen.jpg, 1616, Frans Hals File:Frans Pietersz de Grebber - Maaltijd van officieren van de St. Jorisdoelen 1618.jpg, 1618, Frans Pietersz de Grebber File:Frans Pietersz de Grebber - Maaltijd van officieren van de St. Jorisdoelen 1621-1624.jpg, 1624, Frans Pietersz. de Grebber File:Frans Hals 013.jpg,

1627 Events January–March * January 26 – The Dutch ship t Gulden Zeepaert'', skippered by François Thijssen, makes the first recorded sighting of the coast of South Australia. * February 15 – The administrative rural p ...

, Frans Hals File:Frans Hals 020.jpg, 1639, Frans Hals (with self-portrait) File:Pieter Claesz. Soutman - Maaltijd van het korporalschap van de St. Jorisdoelen 1644.jpg, 1644,

Pieter Claesz Soutman Pieter Claesz Soutman (1593-1601 – 16 August 1657)

From fancy inn to old age home

The complex was the domain of militiamen until well into the 17th century, but in 1688

Romeyn de Hooghe Romeyn de Hooghe (bapt. 10 September 1645 – 10 June 1708) was a late Dutch Baroque painter, sculptor, engraver and caricaturist. Biography He was born in Amsterdam, and was a skilled etcher, draughtsman, painter, sculptor and medalis ...

made an etching of the building, calling it the ''Heren Logement'', or gentlemen's hotel. In 1682 it had been restored by the city architect

Lieven de Key Lieven de Key (1560 – 17 July 1627) was a Dutch renaissance architect in the Netherlands, mostly known today for his works in Haarlem. His style is described by Simon Schama as Mannerist. Biography De Key was born in Ghent, and was already a w ...

for this purpose, with rooms being made for travelers in the top floors, and a main hall below. It was meant to be a chic refuge for travelers by coach, but this never quite succeeded, because the coaches never stopped there. In 1707 it became the proveniershuis, serving older men who could pay room and board. Older men with no money at all were kept in the men's poor house known as the ''Oudemannenhuis'', a similar courtyard complex just a few blocks away and currently housing the

. The regents were painted in 1736 by

Frans Decker Frans Decker (1684 – 1751) was an 18th-century painter from the Northern Netherlands. Biography Decker was born in 1684. He was a painter whose pictures possess great merit, and are to be met with in almost every collection. He is stated to h ...

. These men were: Cornelis Ascanius van Sypesteyn (1694-1744), A. de Bruijn, Jacobus Barnaart (1696-1762), M. Kuijts en Jan Reeland (1708-1755), group portrait by

. The man standing in the back is probably the secretary, but his name is unknown. File:Pieter Langendijk.jpg, Pieter Langendijk Image:Life-size portrati of Daniel Cajanus in Haarlem city hall.JPG, Daniel Cajanus in Haarlem city hall. File:Frans Decker - portrait of the regents of the Proveniershuis in Haarlem FHM01 OS-I-63 W.JPG, The regents in 1736 by Frans Decker. The most famous men who stayed in the Proveniershuis in the 18th century were

Daniel Cajanus Daniel Cajanus (1704 – 27 February 1749) was a Finnish giant. He made his living by exhibiting himself for money; he appeared in many European countries and attracted the interest of scientists and laypeople, including royalty. After his death, ...

, the "''Wonderful giant''" Finn who was said to be eight feet high, and Pieter Langendijk, the Dutch historian. Daniel Cajanus was buried in the

Sint-Bavokerk The Grote Kerk or St.-Bavokerk is a Reformed tradition, Reformed Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral located on the central market square (Grote Markt (Haarlem), Grote Markt) in the Netherlands, Dutch city of Haarlem. Another Haarlem c ...

when he died in 1749 and a commemorative painting of him now hangs in the lower back cloisters of the city hall. From Pieter Langendijk's stories, we know a bit about the daily life of the average provenier.

French occupation and 19th-century

In 1810 during the French occupation the French used the Oudemannenhuis as a

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

and the elderly men were merged with the proveniers in the Proveniershuis, giving it more of a hofje function. In 1866 the hofje van Alkemade was merged into the Proveniershuis and it became Proveniershof. That hofje was torn down to build the new wing of the local library, itself on the grounds of the other militia of Haarlem, the ''St. Adriansdoelen''. Today the homes around the courtyard are rentals; and the main building houses a shop and a lunch room catering to the busy shoppers in the Grote Houtstraat. Address: Grote Houtstraat 140

References

* Het Proveniershuis te Haarlem, by G. H. Kurtz, Vereniging "Haerlem", Haarlem 1979 * Frans Hals Schutterstukken, by Neeltje Köhler, Koos Levy-van Halm, and Gary Schwartz (volume II of 2 volume work), Mercatorfonds, 1990, {{Rijksmonument, 19243 Hofjes 1707 establishments in the Dutch Republic Rijksmonuments in Haarlem