Marienweerd Monastery

The Premonstratensian Monastery Marienweerd was founded in 1129 and went under in the 16th century during the Reformation . It was in what is now West Betuwe .

history

The founder was Abbot Walter of the Premonstratensian Abbey of St. Martin in Laon . The Counts of Cuyk donated the necessary property . The Marienwaard daughter monastery maintained close relationships with the mother monastery in the years that followed. It was dedicated to Beata Maria Virgo . The official name was Beata Maria in Insula.

The monastery was initially a double monastery for women and men. In 1214 the women were moved to Zennewijnen. Further monasteries were founded from Marienweerd. Daughter monasteries were Berne and Wedinghausen near Arnsberg . At least to the Wedinghausen subsidiary monastery, there were close relationships until the Reformation. The abbot of Marienweerd had the right to preside over the election of a monastery head in Wedinghausen. Several provosts in Zennewijnen, Kessel and Koningsveld belonged to the monastery . The Premonstratensian convents in Utrecht and Nijmegen were possibly also subordinate to Marienweerd. A priory in Haarlem also belonged to Marienweerd. There were also a number of churches and parish rights.

Over the centuries, the monastery was destroyed several times and later rebuilt. In 1456, 29 conventuals belonged to the monastery. Of these, 12 occupied pastoral positions outside of Marienweerd.

In 1519, Karl von Egmond, Duke of Geldern, intervened deeply in the internal constitution of the monastery when he determined that the abbots were to be elected with the ducal approval. In 1567 there was looting by followers of Calvinism .

The conventuals therefore lived mostly in Utrecht from 1573 and later in Kuilenburg as guests of a local convent. A short return of at least the abbot followed in 1575 but in 1576 the devastation of Marienweerd followed. The abbot coadjutor von Winssen converted to Protestantism. In 1580 he managed to get part of the monastery property. In the following years the monastery buildings were completely destroyed. In 1734 the area was acquired by the Counts of Bijlandt, who built a castle there.

literature

• BJP van Bavel: Goederenverwerving en goederenbeheer van de abdij Marienweerd (1129-1592) . Hilversum, 1993

Web links

• Premonstratensians in the Duchy of Geldern
• Review of van Bavel: Abdij Marienweerd .. in: Francia 21/1 1994

Coordinates: 51 ° 53 ′ 22 ″  N , 5 ° 13 ′ 7 ″  E