St. Michael Abbey Church (Antwerp)
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
List of abbots until 1709:
- Waltmannus, 1124-1138
- Emelinus, d. 1161
- Alardus, d. 1162
- Thibaldus, resigned 1171
- Richardus, resigned 1188
- Waltherus de Stripe, d. 1192
- Elias, d. 1199
- Giselbertus, d. 1205
- Hugo, d. 1208
- Arnoldus de Erps, displaced in 1219
- Hermannus, d. 1230
- Sigerius, d. 1230
- Eggerius, d. 1244
- Gerardus de Lira, d. 1258
- Joannes de Lira, d. 1272
- Aegidius de Biervliet, d. 1286
- Henricus de Mechlinia, d. 1300
- Godefridus de Waerloos, d. 1328
- Guilielmus de Cabeliau, d. 1341
- Guilielmus Lympiaes, d. 1353
- Martinus Loys, d. 1372
- Guilielmus Brulocht, d. 1390
- Petrus Breem, d. 1413
- Olardus Terlinck, d. 1452
- Joannes Fierkens, d. 1476
- Andreas Aechtenryt, d. 1478
- Joannes Robyns, d. 1486
- Joannes de Weerdt, d. 1499
- Jacobus Elsacker, d. 1505
- Jacobus Embrechts, d. 1514
- Stephanus a Thenis, d. 1518
- Cornelis de Mera, d. 1538
- Gregorius de Dagis, d. 1562
- Cornelius Emerici, d. 1563
- Guilielmus de Greve, d. 1581
- Emericus Andreae, d. 1590
- Dionysius Feyten, d. 1612
- Christianus Michaelius, d. 1614
- Matthæus Yrsselius, d. 1629
- Johannes Chrysostomus vander Sterre, d. 1652
- Norbertus van Couwerven, d. 1663
- Macarius Simeomo, STL, d. 1676
- Hermannus vander Porten, d. 1680
- Gerardus Knyff, d. 1686
- Joannes Chrysostomus Teniers, d. 1709
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ quoted from Gerd Unverfetern: I saw many delicious things there. Albrecht Dürer's trip to the Netherlands . Göttingen 2007, p. 53
- ↑ Haeger p. 157
- ↑ Haeger p. 157.
- ↑ 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.
- ^ Jean François Foppens: Historia episcopatus Antverpiensis. Joannes Franciscus Broncart, Liège 1717, pp. 147-150 .
Web links
- History of the Abbey ( Royal Museum of Fine Arts , Dutch)
Coordinates: 51 ° 12 ′ 54.2 " N , 4 ° 23 ′ 35.5" E