St. Michael Abbey Church (Antwerp)

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Premonstratensian Abbey of St. Michael in the 17th century
Plan of Antwerp 1649; Michael's Abbey at the top left (letter L)
Painting in the refectory , etching

The abbey church of St. Michael ( Dutch Sint-Michiel ) in Antwerp belonged to the Premonstratensian monastery of the same name , which existed from 1124 to 1796. Nothing remains of the buildings on the banks of the Scheldt between Sint-Michielskaai and Kloosterstraat .

history

On the site of the later abbey there was a parish church with a canons' convent in the early Middle Ages , which bore the patronage of the Archangel Michael . Bishop Burchard von Cambrai handed the building over to Norbert von Xanten and his young religious community in 1124 after Norbert had successfully preached against the Tanchelmites . The canons moved to the previous church of today's Cathedral of Our Lady , which became the new parish church. Norbert appointed his colleague Waltmann as the first abbot . The monastery played an important role in the religious life of the city from that time until the founding of the diocese of Antwerp in 1570. The monastery was also the residence of the Dukes of Brabant while they stayed in Antwerp. and otherwise served as a hostel for royal visitors and people of high rank and position.

Soon after the monastery was founded, a new abbey church was built in the Romanesque style. This was replaced from 1401 to 1470 by a late Gothic three-aisled basilica with a choir ambulatory and three wreath chapels . This monastery church has been described as "one of the most important churches and most important monuments in Antwerp from its foundation in the 12th century until its destruction in the 19th century."

Isabella von Bourbon († 1465) received a monumental tomb in St. Michael. Remnants of the rich sculptural jewelry are in Amsterdam in the Rijksmuseum and in the M - Museum Leuven .

In 1520 Albrecht Dürer visited Antwerp. He recorded the abbey in a drawing and noted in his diary:

“I was also in the rich Abbey of St. Michael. There they have a church with delicious stone tracery like I've never seen. Also a delicious choir stalls . And in Antwerp you don't save any costs on such things, because there is enough money! ... The pillars of the parish church in the monastery of Sanct Michael in Antwerp are all made from one piece of beautiful black gold stone. "

After a lightning strike in 1501 and a fire in 1525, there were several looting and iconoclasms in the late 16th century . Discipline in the monastery was not very good, the spiritual life did not develop, and in 1562 the low level of knowledge and the lack of discipline were well known. Abbot Wilhelm Greve (abbot since 1562) did not implement the reform decisions of the Tridentine Council, so that the convention came into direct opposition to the Abbot General of the Premonstratensian and the Pope.

The convent was so small and impoverished in 1590, and St. Michaels was in such bad shape that Bishop Laevinus Torrentius considered abolishing it. In addition, the reputation of the remaining canons was ruined.

Then a new period of prosperity began. Abbot Yrsellius (1614-29) began to rebuild after fire damage in 1620. The msiste can be traced back to Abbot Johannes Chrysostomus van der Sterre, who was abbot from 1629 to 1652 and who managed to restore the reputation of the canons. In 1624, exactly 500 years after the abbey was founded, the church received a new baroque high altar with the image of the Adoration of the Magi by Peter Paul Rubens in collaboration with Johannes van Mildert in the course of restoration work . Rubens' marriage to Isabella Brant had taken place in 1609 in St. Michael. Also, Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens received orders of the monastery. The library grew at an impressive rate, and members of the monastery, including Abbot Johannes Chrysostomus van der Sterre , wrote important books themselves. The abbots were also given secular rights to rule. The monastery was supposed to play an important role in the Counter-Reformation in restoring Catholic rule over the city.

In 1635 Ferdinand of Spain made a solemn entry into the city. The procession ended at St. Michael, where Ferdinand took up residence. Also Tsar Peter the Great (1717), Karl Alexander von Lorraine (1744) and Louis XV. (1746) lived in the abbey when they visited Antwerp.

In 1796 the abbey with all its buildings and goods was confiscated by the First French Republic . The hope of the conventuals for restitution after the Concordat of 1801 was not fulfilled. The complex was used as a shipyard and for naval administration. In 1807 a telegraph station was set up in the tower. During the Kingdom of the United Netherlands , the monastery buildings were used as warehouses. During the bombardment of Antwerp in the course of the Belgian Revolution , they burned down on October 28, 1830 and were demolished in 1831. What was left of the significant furnishings ended up in various collections and museums.

Abbots

Jean Chrysostome Teniers

List of abbots until 1709:

  1. Waltmannus, 1124-1138
  2. Emelinus, d. 1161
  3. Alardus, d. 1162
  4. Thibaldus, resigned 1171
  5. Richardus, resigned 1188
  6. Waltherus de Stripe, d. 1192
  7. Elias, d. 1199
  8. Giselbertus, d. 1205
  9. Hugo, d. 1208
  10. Arnoldus de Erps, displaced in 1219
  11. Hermannus, d. 1230
  12. Sigerius, d. 1230
  13. Eggerius, d. 1244
  14. Gerardus de Lira, d. 1258
  15. Joannes de Lira, d. 1272
  16. Aegidius de Biervliet, d. 1286
  17. Henricus de Mechlinia, d. 1300
  18. Godefridus de Waerloos, d. 1328
  19. Guilielmus de Cabeliau, d. 1341
  20. Guilielmus Lympiaes, d. 1353
  21. Martinus Loys, d. 1372
  22. Guilielmus Brulocht, d. 1390
  23. Petrus Breem, d. 1413
  24. Olardus Terlinck, d. 1452
  25. Joannes Fierkens, d. 1476
  26. Andreas Aechtenryt, d. 1478
  27. Joannes Robyns, d. 1486
  28. Joannes de Weerdt, d. 1499
  29. Jacobus Elsacker, d. 1505
  30. Jacobus Embrechts, d. 1514
  31. Stephanus a Thenis, d. 1518
  32. Cornelis de Mera, d. 1538
  33. Gregorius de Dagis, d. 1562
  34. Cornelius Emerici, d. 1563
  35. Guilielmus de Greve, d. 1581
  36. Emericus Andreae, d. 1590
  37. Dionysius Feyten, d. 1612
  38. Christianus Michaelius, d. 1614
  39. Matthæus Yrsselius, d. 1629
  40. Johannes Chrysostomus vander Sterre, d. 1652
  41. Norbertus van Couwerven, d. 1663
  42. Macarius Simeomo, STL, d. 1676
  43. Hermannus vander Porten, d. 1680
  44. Gerardus Knyff, d. 1686
  45. Joannes Chrysostomus Teniers, d. 1709

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barbara Haeger: Abbot Van der Sterre and St Michael's Abbey: The restoration of its church, its images, and its place in Antwerp. In: Hans Vlieghe, Katlijne van Der Stighelen (Ed.): Sponsors of the Past. Flemish Art and Patronage. 1550-1700. Turnhout, Brepols 2005, ISBN 2-503-51500-2 , pp. 157-179.
  2. ↑ quoted from Gerd Unverfetern: I saw many delicious things there. Albrecht Dürer's trip to the Netherlands . Göttingen 2007, p. 53
  3. ↑ Haeger p. 157
  4. ↑ Haeger p. 157.
  5. ↑ Rob Korving, Bart van der Herten (Ed.): Een tijding met de snelheid des bliksems. De optical telegraaf in de Nederlanden (1800-1850). Universitaire Pers Leuven et al., Leuven 1997, ISBN 90-6186-824-6 , p. 63.
  6. ^ Jean François Foppens: Historia episcopatus Antverpiensis. Joannes Franciscus Broncart, Liège 1717, pp. 147-150 .

Web links

Commons : St. Michael Abbey (Antwerp)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 51 ° 12 ′ 54.2 "  N , 4 ° 23 ′ 35.5"  E