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

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

city of

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

. Today it houses the

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

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 The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

and is the oldest church in Haarlem after the St. Bavochurch. The order of St. John was disbanded after the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

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 (formerly ''Stedelijk Museum van Haarlem'') is a museum in the North Holland city of Haarlem, the Netherlands, founded in 1862, known as the Art Museum of Haarlem. Its collection is based on the city's own rich collection, b ...

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 Lo ...

. 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 a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter 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 or sculpture, ...

of the house of the

. 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 an 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, having ma ...

, 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