Typification

• Type of institution for collective action: Beguinage
• Name/description institution: Begijnhof
• Country: The Netherlands
• Region: Province of Noord-Brabant
• Name of city or specified area: Breda
• Further specification location: When the beguinage was first established it must have been situated – according to IJsseling (1967)  – somewhere around the current Prins Bernard Pavilion, at the north side of the city of Breda. Later on, it was moved because earl Hendrik III of Nassau wanted to extend his palace and the beguinage was in the way. The beguinage was thus moved to the eastern part of the Valkenberg, where it is still situated. 
• Surface and boundaries: For the current location of the Begijnhof of Breda, click here (Google Maps).
• Patron Saint: Saint Catherine of Alexandria
• Recognized by local government: Yes; the beguinage was recognized by the local government. The beguinage of Breda even had – and still does – a special relation with the house of Orange, the royal family of the Netherlands. This must have had to do with the fact that Breda was a so called “Oranjestad” – a city of the house of Orange. As lords of the city of Breda, the Nassau family protected the beguinage during several instances in history, especially during the Eighty Years War (see also the history of the beguinage).

Foundation – termination

• Foundation/start of institution, date or year: 1267
• Confirmed year of founding or first mention: First mention of the beguinage, in the form of a foundation act.
• Foundation act present: Yes.
• Description of Act of foundation: The act, made up in 1267 by lord Hendrik van Nassau of Breda, states that the beguines are entitled to their estate and permits them to build their own chapel and churchyard.  
• Year of termination of institution: The beguinage is still in place, though the last beguine, sister Cornelia Catherina Frijters, passed away on the April 13th – Good Friday – 1990. She was the last living beguine in the Netherlands. The beguinage now serves as a museum, with still a number of single women living in the courtyard.
• Act regarding termination present: No. See above.
• Reason for termination: See above.

Concise history of institution

The first official mention of the beguinage of Breda was in 1267, but it must have existed some time before that. The beguinage was moved to its current location at around 1535.

The Dutch Revolt and the Eighty Years War posed some problems for the beguinage. At the time when the municipal council of Breda was in the hands of the reformatory movement, Catholic services were forbidden. From 1590 until 1625, the beguines had to give up their church, the Wendelinus chapel, and had to use a conventicle – which was an improvised chapel organized in two houses that were build against the Wendelinus chapel. From 1625 onwards, the beguines could use their own church again, only to give it up in 1648, when the church was given to the Reformed congregation. The treaty of Munster in 1648 forbade the Catholic worship and all clergy had to leave Breda, except for the inhabitants of the beguinage. The inhabitants of the beguinage were protected by the princess of Orange-Nassau; this becomes apparent in no less than four acts of saveguarding in 1590, 1637, 1649 and 1653.

The beguinage had thus set up a conventicle: this is where they professed their worship until they build a new church in 1838. This church was dedicated to Saint-Catharine, as were both the church at the old location and the altars in the Windelinus chapel.

The beguines had several occupations. First of all in the textile industry: they examined wool for little mistakes, and then repaired these. Also, in the sixteenth century they started to repair embroidered cushions.

A second task of the beguines was the caretaking of old and sick sisters; the beguinage of Breda would have had an infirmary on the old location. On the new location there was also a house called ‘the infirmary’ but it is not certain whether it has ever been used as such. The beguines did also take care of sick and elderly lay women in the new beguinage, but these women had to pay for the services of the beguines.

A third occupation of the beguines was that they prayed for those who had founded a benefice. This meant that they prayed for the souls of a person who had passed for which they got a certain amount of money or goods. For this the beguines would, on or around the date of death, pay a visit to the grave of the deceased and pray and attend mass for his or her soul. The names of the people who founded a benefice were registered in the anniversarium.

Last, but not least, the beguines also educated children – especially in church matters. The articles of association from the year 1855 tell us that the beguines were allowed to board and teach girls; boys were only allowed until they made their first communion.

The beguinage had a so called “mistress” (meesteres); she was the head of the institute, and as such also responsible for the financial aspect of the beguinage. During the twentieth century though, the title of the head of the beguinage was changed to ‘superior’ (overste), which is a term commonly used in convents. Another development that indicates that the beguinages was moving towards a structure that resembled a monastery, is the fact that the sisters were professed for life from the 1920s onwards, instead of for three years, as was the case before.

Special events? Highs and lows? Specific problems or problematic periods?

• 1267: Foundation act made up by Lord Hendrik van Nassau of Breda.
• 1270: The bishop of Liege – responsible for Breda until the second half of the sixteenth century – gave ecclesial permission to the beguines to establish a church and a graveyard.
• 1291: Founding of the chapel of Saint Catherine.
• 1531: Agreement between the beguines and the count Hendrik III about the move of the beguinage for the extension of his palace. The beguines moved to the new location around 1535.
• 1590 – 1625: Ban on the use of the church next to the beguinage: the Wendelinus chapel.
• 1548: The Wendelinus chapel is handed over to the reformed church.
• 1637: Probably from this year onwards there was a pastor inhabiting the beguinage. Before this time the beguinage would have received their spiritual services from the benefice, but because of the alteration policy of the government of the Republic (staatsbewind), it was more safe for a pastor to live on the property of the beguines, since they were safeguarded by the prince of Orange. Though the pastor was at first not solely committed to the beguines, from 1674 onward he was.
• 1731 and 1939: In these years a placard was given out which determined that there should be no new novices accepted by the beguinage. Clearly the municipal government wanted to extinguish the beguinage, this danger was averted in 1747 when a member of the Orange family was made stadhouder again.
• 1836 – 1838: Construction of the new Catherine church.
• 1850: Construction of a new vicarage.
• 1860 – 1863: Constructing of  the Buitenhof: containing nine new houses and a communal area;
• 1967: Celebration of the 700th anniversary of the beguinage, and the start year of the restoration of the entire estate.
• 1990: Death of the last beguine: Cornelia Catherina Frijters.

Membership

Numbers of members (specified)

• In 1480, the beguinage contained 16 houses, inhabited by 37 persons.
• During the sixteenth century the beguinage was expanding. This can be noticed by the fact that the beguines added a gateway and some new houses around it.
• In 1526, the beguinage contained 22 houses.
• 1589: 21 beguines.
• 1631: 11 beguines.
• 1635: 8 beguines.
• 1962: 10 beguines. 

Membership attainable for every one, regardless of social class or familybackground?

See below.

Specific conditions for obtaining membership? (Entrance fee, special tests etc.)

• The women needed to be either unmarried or widowed;
• Girls or women who wanted to enter first became a novice, this meant that they were subjected to a probation period of a year;
• They had to pledge a vow of chastity and poverty.
• The women who wanted to enter the beguinage also needed to donate a certain amount of estate. In the professie-register of the beguinage (see also sources mentioned at end of case study)  the mistress sometimes noted details about the donation. For example:  

‘Anno 1651 in september is geproffessit Anneken Willems out wesende vijftich jaeren. Heeft aen de kerck vereert vier coperen candeleren enden eenen witten satijnen geborduerden kelckdoeck. Suster Anneken Willems is gestorven int jaer 1675 den 10 november ende heeft aen het begijnhoff van Breda gemaeckt xxxx (doorgehaald) gulden, ontfangen bijde meesterse Magdalene van Sprangh, maer behouden 71 gulden 13 st. door de groote rusie die de vrinden maeckten. Maer heeft nog aen de kerck gegeven eenen silveren aerm die voor Sinte Begga hanght’.

[Transl.: In the year 1651, in the month of September, Anneken Willems, aged 50, has been professed. She has piously donated to the church four candelabres made out of copper and a embroidered purificatorium, made of white satin. Sister Anneken Willems has died November 10th, 1675 and has legated to the beguinage of Breda 40 guilders [the amount having been crossed out], as this amount has been received by mistress Magdalena van Sprangh, but has kept 71 guilders 13 stuivers because of the great quarrel among the friends. However, she has donated a silver arm, pending before [the statue of] Saint Begga].

Specific reasons regarding banning members from the institution?

Disrespecting the rules, inobedience to the mistresses of the beguinage, and indecent or improper behavior could  all in its way be the cause for banishing the novice or beguine from the beguinage.

Advantages of membership?

The beguines lived a life that was in-between the secular and the sacred: they were free to hold on to their own possessions. The beguines of Breda were even completely financially independent, both their possessions and income were their own responsibility. They could run their own household but still live within the walls of the beguinage, which gave them a form of protection. 

Obligations of members? 

• Religious obligations: religious services were a big part of the life of the beguines. The beguines were concerned with the celebration of the Eucharist, and several times during the day they came together for silent prayers. On days of sacrament they held processions in the courtyard.
• Domestic services: The beguines cleaned their own houses and rooms and the linens from the church, since those needed to be washed by pious hands.
• Regulations: the beguines had to uphold their vows of chastity and obedience to the head of the beguines, for as long as they remained in the beguinage.
• Beguines were obliged to work hard: partially because they had to, and partially because it was assumed that work was the only way to keep the devil away.
• Dress obligations: beguines were obliged to dress according to regulations. These regulations changed over time, but were mainly concerned with the colors of the dresses. Form 1631 onward regulations determined that the beguines of Breda had to be dressed in black woolen dresses, with a white cap.
• Originally the beguines were not permitted to leave the beguinage without the permission of their mistress.

Literature on case study

• IJsseling, J.M.F., 1967. Het Begijnhof te Breda. S.l.: s.n.
• IJsseling, J.M.F., 1966. Inventaris van het Archief van het Begijnhof te Breda. Breda: Gemeentearchief Breda.
• Koorn, F. W. J., Van der Eycken, M., and Meeter, O., 1987. Begijnen in Brabant : de begijnhoven van Breda en Diest. Esso Museumreeks 9. Breda: Esso.

Sources on case study

• Municipal Archive of Breda (Stadsarchief Breda)
  • Archief Begijnhof
    • Inv.nr. 6: Statuten 1855 (esp. Ch. 6, regarding school education).
    • Inv.nr. 43: Professieregister 1648-1833.
  • Archief Stadsbestuur Breda, 1280-1810 (toegang ARC0001)
    • Inv.nr. 2273: Foundation act of the beguinage.
• The archive of the Begijnhof of Breda will be digitized by the Municipal Archive of Breda (Stadsarchief Breda) and is expected to be put online in 2012. More information (in Dutch only) regarding this is to be found here.

Links to further information on case study:

• Website of the beguinage of Breda [in Dutch]

Case study composed by Aart Vos, Stadsarchief ‘s-Hertogenbosch (inventarisation of data) and Winny Bierman, Utrecht University (text).

Typification

• Type of institution for collective action: Beguinage
• Name/description institution: Begijnhof
• Country: The Netherlands
• Region: Province of Noord-Holland
• Name of city or specified area: Haarlem
• Further specification location: Beguinage was situated at the location of the house, courtyard, garden, and orchard of the priest Arent van Sassenheim (later to become the first priest of the beguinage), who donated these possessions to the beguines in 1262. This orchard was lying behind the Grote Kerk, bordered by both the Jansstraat and the Bakenessergracht.
• Surface area and boundaries: See above and map beneath. The beguinage consisted of 56 houses and 5 convents.

The beguinage also owned, as a result of donations and legacies, several pieces of land throughout the Low Countries. They were not actually used by the beguinage itself, the beguinage however, being the formal owner, enjoyed the revenues of those estates, such as land rents and tithes.

• Patron Saint: Saint Martin
• Recognized by local government: Yes. Protection of the beguinage was guaranteed by both the Count of Holland and Zeeland (Count Albrecht I of Bavaria) and the municipal government of Haarlem (1356, promise renovated in 1389 and 1408). The power of appointing the priest of the beguinage was the privilege of the Count of Holland and Zeeland until the Count abdicated this power to the beguines themselves in 1401. In 1404, privileges of beguinage were officially recognized by the Bishop of Utrecht.

Foundation – termination

• Foundation/start of institution, date or year: c. 1262
• Confirmed year of founding or first mention: First mentioning of the presence of beguines in Haarlem, mentioned in deed of priest Arent van Sassenheim, donating the property of his house, courtyard, garden, and orchard to the beguines living in Haarlem. Hence, it appears that there were already beguines living in Haarlem before 1262.
• Foundation act present: Yes.
• Description of Act of foundation: Deed of priest Arent van Sassenheim, donating the property of his orchard to the beguines living in Haarlem
• Year of termination of institution: There was no formal end of the beguinage as institution. However, with the death of the last beguine living at the beguinage (Anna Barbara Amstenraad, died April 7, 1824 at the age of 86), the beguinage could no longer be considered to be a beguinage in the strict sense of the word.
• Year of termination estimated or confirmed: Confirmed date. 
• Act regarding termination present: No. See above.
• Reason for termination: From the end of the seventeenth century on, the number of beguines decreased, while hardly any new novices presented themselves to be admitted. With the death of the last beguine living at the beguinage (Anna Barbara Amstenraad, died April 7, 1824 at the age of 86), the beguinage could no longer be considered to be a beguinage in the strict sense of the word.

Concise history of institution

In 1262, the priest of the Grote Kerk of Haarlem, Arent van Sassenheim, donated the property rights of his house, courtyard, garden and orchard to the beguines living in Haarlem. From the content of the deed, it seems these beguines were already living in Haarlem before 1262. In 1263, the former properties of the priest were transformed into a beguinage and the construction of the church of the beguinage was started.

A great city fire in 1347 destroyed a major part of the church of the beguinage. As of 1348, services could be held again in a small part of the church already restored; the restauration of the church was not completed until 1398.

During the fourteenth century, the Count of Holland and Zeeland was not only a formal protector of the beguinage, but also enjoyed the sole privilege of appointing the priest of the beguinage. In 1401, Count Albrecht I of Bavaria abdicated this right and transferred this privilege to the congregation of the Haarlem beguines. From 1401 on, the beguines had the privilege of electing the priest of the beguinage themselves.

In 1576, a great city fire destroyed a large part of the inner city of Haarlem, including most of the houses of the beguinage. Only one house and the church of the beguinage  survived the fire and are the only remains of the original beguinage (i.e. dating from before the fire of 1576) still to be found at the former location of the beguinage.  Tweo years later, the Alteration in Haarlem reached its peak. The possessions of Catholic institutions at Haarlem, impounded by the Estates General, were donated by the Estates General to the municipal government of the City of Haarlem, in order to serve as compensation for the losses the city of Haarlem suffered due to the Siege of Haarlem by the Spanish (1572-3).

As a result of the Alteration, on April 24th, 1581, the possessions of the beguinage fell to the municipal government. The church of the beguinage was closed instantly, only to be re-opened again in 1590, after being commissioned to the Walloon Church. The beguines however were allowed to remain living in their own houses, regardless whether the house was owned by either the beguine herself or the beguinage before the Alteration. The municipal government provided for the payment of pensions to the beguines.

The Alteration did, however, not put an end to the existence of the Haarlem beguinage. By acquiring new houses at the former Lange Poort, the beguines managed to be able to continue admitting new novices and therefore to ensure the survival of the beguinage as instution throughout time.

The decrease of the number of novices in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries affected the beguinage of Haarlem severely. The existence of the beguinage as such ended with the death of the last beguine, Anna Barbara Amstenraad, aged 86, on April 7, 1824.

After the death of the last beguine, the houses of the beguinage were converted into regular houses. On the premises of the former beguinage, a new Catholic church was built (Church of Saint Joseph, built in 1841-3 and consecrated in 1843). Nowadays, the remaining houses of the former beguinage form the central part of the Haarlem red light district.

Special events? Highs and lows? Specific problems or problematic periods?

• 1262: Donation of house, courtyard, garden and orchard by priest Arent van Sassenheim to the beguines of Haarlem.
• 1263: Start of construction first church of beguinage.
• 1348: After a significant part of the church burnt down during the great city fire of Haarlem of 1347, restauration of the church started, lasting until 1398.
• 1356: First declaration by both Count Albrecht I of Bavaria (Count of Holland and Zeeland) and the municipal government of Haarlem to guarantee the protection of the Haarlem beguinage (renovated 1389 and 1408).
• 1381: Foundation of the Convent of Saint Lucia (Sint Lucienconvent) at the beguinage by Machteld Hughe de Roeper.
• c. 1390: Foundation of the Convent of Saint Barbara (Sint Barberenconvent) at the beguinage by Ym Jan Pieterszoondochter.
• 1401: Count Albrecht I of Bavaria abdicated his privilege of appointing the priest of the beguinage; the beguines from then on enjoyed the privilige to elect the priest by themselves.
• 1404: Recognition of privileges of the beguinage by the Bishop of Utrecht.
• bef. 1405: Foundation of the Convent of Saint Agnes (Sint Agnietenconvent) at the beguinage by Alijt, daughter of Hugo Goutsmit (priest of the beguinage).
• 1410: Surface area of the beguinage was expanded significantly.
• 1576: Large city fire destroyed all houses of the beguinage but one, also church was saved.
• 1581: As a result of the Alteration, the possessions of the beguinage fell to the municipal government; church was closed and handed over to the Walloon Church in 1590.
• 17th century: beguines acquiring new houses, thus ensuring the surival of the beguinage.
• April 7, 1824: death of last beguine of the beguinage, actual end of the beguinage as such.

Membership

Numbers of members (specified)

Numbers of beguines are known from various sources:

• 1401: 13 beguines receive the privilege, granted by Count Albrecht I of Bavaria, of electing the priest of the beguinage.
• 15th century: the total amount of beguines living at the beguinage is estimated at about 90 (about 50 living in the houses of the beguinage, about 40 living in the convents; Kan 1997, 22).
• 1582: the municipal governent of Haarlem will provide for the payment of pensions for 55 beguines.
• 1663 – 1692 : 60 new members applied, 67 novices were professed.
• 1694: a number of 37 beguines (including two mistresses of the beguinage (meesteressen)) has been mentioned.
• 1824: death of last beguine at the age of 86.

Membership attainable for every one, regardless of social class or familybackground?

The beguinage at Haarlem admitted novices regardless of their financial status. Beguines who had ample financial resources of their own, usually owned their own house at the beguinage (after having lived at one of the convents for at least two years). The poor beguines together with the novices lived within the respective convents of Saint Gertrud (Sint Geertruytsconvent), Saint Agnes (Sint Agnietenconvent), Saint Lucia (Sint Lucienconvent), and Saint Barbara (Sint Barberenconvent). The mistresses of the beguinage were living in the Convent of Saint Agatha (Sint Aachtenconvent).

Specific conditions for obtaining membership? (Entrance fee, special tests etc.)

To become a beguine, each novice had to pass some phases:

• after living at the convent for 1,5 year, a novices received a letter from the municipal government, recognizing her status (faliebrief) as being a ‘beguine by statute’ (‘verwillecoerde begijn‘)
• after living at the convent for 2 years, the novice was entitled, in case she had sufficient financial resources, to buy a house of her own at the beguinage
• after living at the beguinage for 5 years, the novice could be professed and could be accepted as being a full beguine (‘ontfanghen beghijn‘)

Specific reasons regarding banning members from the institution?

Disrespecting the rules, inobedience to the mistresses of the beguinage, and indecent or improper behavior could  all in its way be the cause for banishing the novice or beguine from the beguinage.

Advantages of membership?

• Beguines only pledged the vows of chastity and obedience; they did not pledge the vow of poverty. Therefore, they were entitled to remain in possession of their own financial resources.
• Also, the vows of the beguines were not perpetual. Although al large part of the beguines will have lived up to their vows all their life, the vows formally only applied to the time they would be living at the beguinage. Beguines were allowed to part the beguinage to be married or out of free will.

Obligations of members? 

The principal vows of beguines were the vows of chastity and obedience (the latter especially referring to the obedience to the mistresses of the beguinage). 

Literature on case study

• Kan, K.J. 1997. De geestelijke instellingen te Haarlem gedurende de Middeleeuwen. Haarlem (especially pp. 17-22).
• Koorn, F.W.J. 1981. Begijnhoven in Holland en Zeeland gedurede de Middeleeuwen. Assen : Van Gorcum.
• Verhoofstad, P.M. 1959. Inventaris der archieven van kerken, kloosters en staties berustend in het Archiefdepot van het Bisdom van Haarlem. Haarlem : Drukkerij S. Jacobs-Godshuis.

Sources on case study

• Provincial Archive of Noord-Holland (Noord-Hollands Archief)
  • Archief Bisdom Haarlem betreffende staties en kloosters te Haarlem (toegang 2106). For full inventory (in Dutch only), click here
    • Inv.nr. 331, Brief van hertog Aelbrecht van Beyeren, waarbij het recht van de pastoorskeuze wordt verleend aan 13 begijnen dd. 1401
    • Inv.nr. 334, Akte van toekenning van een jaarlijks pensioen aan 55 begijnen door de regering van de stad Haarlem, 1582
    • Inv.nr. 36, Brief door de Infante Isabella tot de pastoor gericht, betreffende de wijze, waarop de begijnen zullen worden aangenoemen en haar professie zullen doen, 1602

Case study composed by Aart Vos, Stadsarchief ‘s-Hertogenbosch (inventarisation of data) René van Weeren, Utrecht University (text)

Typification

• Type of institution for collective action: Beguinage
• Name/description institution: Beguinage of the grey beguines of Leeuwarden (Het klooster van de Grauwe Bagijnen van Leeuwarden)
• Country: The Netherlands
• Region: Province of Friesland
• Name of city or specified area: Leeuwarden
• Further specification location: At the time the beguinage was fist mentioned as such (1451), the beguinage was located outside the city walls of Leeuwarden at a place called Galilea, located along the river Ee. From about 1510 onwards the St. Anne’s convent (Sint-Annaklooster) was moved inside the city walls. The exact location of the new beguinage was the plot between the Bagijnestraat, the Sint Anthonystraat and the Diept – a waterway.
• Patron saint: From the time the beguinage was located within the city walls – around 1510 – the patron saint of the beguines became Saint Anne, hence the name of their convent. According to Mol (1992), the patron saint before the move of the convent was St. Francis. 
• Surface area and boundaries: The terrain was quite big, but the exact parameters are unknown. The actual buildings that the beguines inhabited were placed largely on the Bagijnestraat – the south side.
• Recognized by local government: Yes, the beguinage was recognized by the local government. In fact, there is some debate whether beguines had a privileged position within society: the textile guilds in Leeuwarden certainly seemed to think they did. The guild charters and the representatives in the city council displayed deep suspicion against the sisters of St. Anne’s and pressed for measures against unfair competition.

Foundation – termination

• Foundation/start of institution, date or year: Thirteenth/fourteenth century.
• Confirmed year of founding or first mention: It is not quite clear when the first beguines settled themselves in the area of Leeuwarden. There is already a mention of begghin[ae] in a charter made up in 1285; whether this were actual beguines or tertiary sisters is not clear. The first explicit mentioning of the existence of a beguinage in the Leeuwarden area is in a document, dated April 18, 1451.
• Foundation act present: No.
• Year of termination of institution: 1582
• Year of termination estimated or confirmed: Confirmed, see beneath.
• Act regarding termination present: Yes.
• Description Act of termination: On May 18, 1582, Frans of Anjou confirmed by grant the decision of the municipal government of Leeuwarden, meaning that the real estate and income of the three convents in the city – that of the Jacobeans, of the “white nuns”, and of the “grey beguines” – would fall to the custodians of the Hospital of St. Anthony (St. Anthonygasthuis), of the municipal poor relief (huisarmen) and the orphanage (weeshuis), because of the reformatory policy, on the conditions that the inhabitants of the convents would be supported for life. Included in the original document is a list of possessions of the beguinage of St. Anne’s.
• Reason for termination: Alteration.

Concise history of institution

The beguinage of the grey beguines of Leeuwarden is one of the beguinages of which it is not quite clear whether it was a beguinage in the strict sense of the word or that it was rather more a convent of tertiaries: sisters living in accrodance with the Third Rule of Saint Francis. Although the composition and management of the beguinage seems to indicate in favour of the latter option, the first written sources referring to the inhabitants of the beguinage explicitly mention them as beghuinae rather than as moniales, which latter term was more common for  the inhabitants of monasteries.

In 1451, for the first time the existence of a community of beguines in the area of Leeuwarden is mentioned. The convent was then located outside of the city; their former habitat was called Galilea, and was located along the river Ee. The moving of the beguinage to within the city walls was ordered by the duke of Saxony: the location of the convent formed a strategic risk, because enemies who wanted to besiege Leeuwarden could use it as a hide-out. With the moving inside the city walls the beguinage also was renamed: from then on it was named Sint-Annaklooster. Saint Anne supposedly was a popular saint around that time, and this could explain the choice of a new patron.

At the head of the beguines’ worldly affairs was the mater, who was assisted by the ministra and the procuratrix (for business affairs). The spiritual practices were guided by a pater. A distinct feature of the St. Anne’s beguinage was that the beguines shared all their living areas; it did not, therefore, possess the well known feature of a courtyard with almshouses, as was the case in many other beguinages.

The ladies of St. Anne’s earned their living by yarning and weaving. This made them quite unpopular with other members of the textile industry in Leeuwarden, namely the craft guilds.  A charter made up by the linen and wool weaver’s guild in 1482 proves this: the members of the guild were forbidden to conduct any business with the ladies, and there could not be any outsourcing of labour.

Besides handicrafts the beguinage of st. Anne’s gained income from gifts from devout members of the community, and from the income of sisters with worldly assets. Also the beguinage had in its possession a fair share of real estate.

The Reformation had a large impact on the development of the beguinage from around 1530 onwards. For one, the income of the convent slowly decreased, because the beguinage as a whole received fewer inheritances: inheritances were more frequently made to individual beguines. Also, the number of beguines that joined the convent diminished; hence there was less income from admission fees. Secondly, the service of prayer diminished in importance. Since part of the income of the beguinage originated from paid prayer services for the deceased, this source of income subsequently became less and less important.

At the time of dissolution, the beguinage consisted of only a pater, his second, a mater, and fourteen sisters.

Special events? Highs and lows? Specific problems or problematic periods?

• 1285: First mentioning of beguines (begghin[ae]) in the Leeuwarden area; the document however provides no information about where and how exactly these beguines were living.
• 1498/99: During military operations in and around Leeuwarden the duke of Saxony used the beguinage, at that time was still located outside the city. This made him realize how vulnerable the convent was for a hostile take-over: this set the way for the moving of the convent to a location inside the city walls.
• 1511: A specific peak moment for the members of the convent was the survival of the convent from a major city fire. The fact that the convent was saved from the flames was attributed to the miraculous powers of St. Anne.
• 1505: On April 12, 1505 Anscke Auckama entered the convent. She was a member of a very important patrician family within the city of Leeuwarden. Her entrance into the convent meant a significant increase of income for the convent. Besides this financial aspect, the entering of a respectable patrician daughter into the convent meant an upgrade in social status for the convent.
• 1582: The municipal government of Leeuwarden decided to dissolve the beguinage, which was approved of by a grant, dated May 18, 1582, by Frans of Anjou.

Membership

Numbers of members (specified)

It is difficult to determine the exact numbers of beguines during the years of existence of St. Anne’s convent. Mol (1992) estimates that during the peak period of the convent – the pre-reformatory period – the probable number of sisters would have been between 40 and 60. The fact that two other female convents were built in the city of Leeuwarden during the beginning of the sixteenth century suggest that convents were quite popular. When reformatory thoughts spread though, the convents became less and less popular; when the beguinage was dissolved in 1582 only fifteen beguines were left.

Membership attainable for every one, regardless of social class or familybackground?

The literature available states clear that the relationship between the social position of the sisters in a convent and the way in which a convent was led – by a male or female – was very significant. Women from higher status would enjoy a greater deal of legitimacy to govern themselves. In any case, the beguinage of St. Anne’s – aside from the joining of Anscke Auckama – did not seem to attract a very élite-like public. The beguinage probably mostly attracted women from nearby areas who were from a lower rank of society. To enter a beguinage an admission fee was not required, though very welcome. This way, beguinages were open to women from all classes. This made the conventual life available for women of lower ranks of society.

Specific conditions for obtaining membership? (Entrance fee, special tests etc.)

The requirements for entering the convent were set out along the lines of the Third Rule of St. Francis. The beguines lived a life that was somewhere between the secular and the sacred. They did take vows, but not all the vows a member of the first or second order would take:.

• the beguines did vow to be obedient to their mater and pater and to the rules of their convent;
• they also had to take a vow of chastity;
• although they did not make a vow of poverty, the beguines did have to give all their income to a mutual fund.  

Specific reasons regarding banning members from the institution?

None mentioned.

Advantages of membership?

• The vows of the beguines were first and foremost not obsolete; they could get out of the convent if they wanted to. This way the entering of a beguinage was a less permanent commitment than entering a convent of the second rule of St. Francis.
• Moreover, it offered a sober but secure livelihood for many common daughters.
• For daughters of richer families, the beguinage offered a favorable option over other convents: the property of the beguines remained their own; this meant that, if they came to pass, the property would be returned to the family estate. 

Obligations of members? 

• As mentioned above, some vows had to be taken to enter a beguinage.
• The beguines of St. Anne’s supposedly went in full clausura from around 1470 onwards; this meant that there was a distinction made between enclosed and outgoing sisters.

Literature on case study

• Mol, J.A., 1992. De Grauwe Bagijnen van Leeuwarden. Leeuwarder Historische Reeks 3,  p.61-106.
• Mol, J.A., 1993.  Begijnen in middeleeuws Leeuwarden: enkele nieuwe gegevens. Leeuwarder Historische Reeks 4, p.36-9.
• Schuur, R.G., 1979. Leeuwarden voor 1435. Een poging tot reconstructie van de oudste stadsgeschiedenis. Zutphen : Walburg Pers.

Sources on case study

• Municipal Archive Leeuwarden (Historisch Centrum Leeuwarden)
  • Archief Gilden en Beurzen c.a. te Leeuwaren, toegang 7
    • inv.nr. 1: Zestiende eeuwse afschriften van reglementen en gilderollen van het weversgilde uit de jaren 1482-1518
  • Archief Sint Anthony Gasthuis I, toegang 263:
    • inv.nr. 1057: Acte van scheiding van de zathe te Hylaard, ‘Sickinga’ genaamd, tusschen de gasthuisvoogden, Ulbe van Aylva en Jan Wissema, waarbij het gasthuis het 1/4 ged. min twee pdmt., d.i. 15 pdmt., afkomstig van de goederen van het St. Anna-klooster der Grauwe Bagijnen, ontvangt, 1592.
    • inv.nr. 1340: Octrooi van Frans van Anjou tot bevestiging van het besluit van burgemeesteren, schepenen en raden van Leeuwarden van 9 April 1582, waarbij de baten en lasten der drie kloosters te dezer stede, die der Jacobijnen, der Witte Nonnen en der Grauwe Bagijnen, welke bij de invoering der Hervorming aan de stad waren vervallen, worden overgedragen aan de voogden van het St. Anthony-Gasthuis, de voogden der Huisarmen en de voogden van het Weeshuis, ieder voor 1/3 gedeelte, 1582.

Links to further information on case study:

• Website municipal archive Leeuwarden (Historisch Centrum Leeuwarden), regarding location of former convent of St. Anne 
• Online inventory of archive of Hervormde Gemeente Leeuwarden, regarding location of former convent of St. Anne, see: Inleiding.

Case study composed by Winny Bierman

Typification

• Type of institution for collective action: Beguinages
• Name/description institution: Begijnhof 
• Country: The Netherlands
• Region: Province of Limburg
• Name of city or specified area: Sittard
• Further specification location: The beguinage was destroyed during the eighteenth century, and its exact location is somewhat of a debate. Probably it was situated on the south end of the Begijnenstraat, on the west side, cornering the Limbrichterstraat and the Begijnenhofstraat. For location on Google Maps, click here.
• Patron saint: Unknown.
• Recognized by local government: Yes; one of the benefits the beguines received was the exemption of city taxes, as mentioned in their foundation act. The city council thus seemed to have protected the ladies of the beguinage.

Foundation – termination

• Foundation/start of institution, date or year: 1276
• Confirmed year of founding or first mention: Confirmed. Since the foundaction act mentions the re-founding of the beguinage, the beguinage may have existed even before 1276.
• Foundation act present: Yes.
• Description of Act of foundation: Foundation act. The document entails a permission to re-establish the beguinage and confirms the statutes of the beguines.
• Year of termination of institution: Before 1584? See also underneath.
• Year of termination: estimated or confirmed: Estimated.
• Act regarding termination present: No.
• Reason for termination: Not clear. Van Luyn estimates that the beguinage was terminated as such already before 1584. The building of the beguinage was destroyed in the seventeenth or eighteenth century; possibly in a fire that destroyed much of Sittard in 1677.

Concise history of institution

From the founding act of the beguinage it becomes clear that the beguines were living in a house (domus) at the time of their first official mention. The beguinage, therefore, was quite small, and the ladies must have shared their living areas.

There is no further mentioning of the beguines during the sixteenth century. Only in 1584 there is a mention of the beginhauss which, at that time, is no longer an actual beguinage. Van Luyn draws the conclusion that the beguinage must have kept some of its function during the sixteenth century, by offering a habitat for unmarried women, orphans and widows.

Special events? Highs and lows? Specific problems or problematic periods?

• 1276: Founding by lady of Montjoie
• 1329: First beguine is mentioned by name: Mechtild. She had an income from a rent placed on a house on the market square in Sittard. This rent went to the chapel after Mechtild passed. Fifteen years later another rent was granted to Mechtild, which was also inherited by the chapel.

Membership

Numbers of members (specified)

None available from sources.

Membership attainable for every one, regardless of social class or familybackground?

There has been mention of a second beguinage, founded in 1411, one that was set up for poor beguines. The municipal council received an inheritance from Lord Huprecht and his wife Kathrijne who left their house and a rent-charge as an inheritance for five poor beguines. These women would be appointed by the mayor, the aldermen, and the master of the hospital of Sittard, in accordance with the pastor. The difference with the earlier mentioned beguinage is that the authorities had much more to say about this one, and that the beguines that were professed were poor.

The Obituarium, or the death records, mentions three beguines by name; this is an indication of their relative wealth, because being mentioned in an obituarium was something reserved for benefactors of the beguinage.

Specific conditions for obtaining membership? (Entrance fee, special tests etc.)

The beguines were obliged to contribute to the beguinage, which indicates that they had to have some estate.

Specific reasons regarding banning members from the institution?

When a beguine was living her life in a promiscuous way (‘mit offenbare fame mit mannen’), she could be expelled.

Advantages of membership?

The communal life would have entailed some benefits for single women in the Middle Ages. The fact that their estate was left in their own possession made the beguinages an attractive option compared to convents.

Obligations of members?

The foudation act contained the statutes of the beguinage:

• Relatives of the beguines could only be allowed to enter the beguinage after consulting with the other beguines; the mistress (magistra) and the convent needed to grant permission.
• If a beguine wanted to leave the beguinage she could no longer have part in the beguinage or anything that belonged to it. Also, any contributions she had made to the maintenance of the house would not be returned.
• When a beguine knew she would pass away within a short period, she was not allowed to leave her house – mansion – to another beguine without the permission of the mistress and the convent of the house.
• Furthermore, the women had to take  a vow (temporary, not eternal) of obedience to their mistress and a vow of chastity.

Literature on case study

• Van Luyn, P.B.N., 1995. Begijnhuis en Begijnstraat. In: Historisch Jaarboek voor het Land van Zwentibold, ed. Stichting Historisch Jaarboek voor het Land van Zwentibold, 14-36.

Sources on case study

• Euregionaal Historisch Centrum Sittard-Geleen
  • Bestuursarchief Gemeente Sittard,  1243-1794, toegang 163, inv. nr. 1238: Foundation act with statutes.
• Regionaal Historisch Centrum Limburg (Maastricht) (on second beguinage)
  • Archief van het Kapittel van Sint Pieter te Sittard, toegang 14B004, inv.nr. 7: Cartularium, regest 16.

Case study data collection: Aart Vos, Municipal archive (Stadsarchief) ‘s Hertogenbosch. Text: Winny Bierman, Utrecht University.

Typification

• Type of institution for collective action: Beguinage
• Name/description institution: Begijnhof
• Country: The Netherlands
• Region: Province of Utrecht
• Name of city or specified area: Utrecht
• Further specification location (e.g. borough, street etc.):
• The location of the beguinage is indicated by the red polygon displayed on the city map of 1598 by Adam van Vianen underneath. As is visible on the map, the beguinage was surrounded by a wall and had a small gate to the Breedstraat and a larger entrance gate facing the convent of the White Nuns. On the map underneath the location of the chapel of the beguinage is visible; remains of this chapel has been included in the construction of the current houses in the Wijde Begijnestraat. Besides this large beguinage there may have been other small groups of pious women living together that may have been inidcated as ‘beguines’. For instance, Margareta, widow of Rudolfus Posch, in her will dating from 1292 bequeathed some land, called Heyligh Land [‘Holy Land’] to a group of beguines, in order for those women ‘to live there forever’. Van Ryn (1719) indicated the location where these beguines lived as ‘near the city gate called Wittepoort, opposite of the convent of the White Nuns’ [‘staande bij de Witte-poort, recht over de Witte Nonnen’] (the convent of the White Nuns was a congregation of women living together, following the rule of Saint-Norbert and were called ‘White Nuns’ because of the white habits they wore); this location has been marked by the red ellips on the city map displayed above. This group and location was also discussed in an artcle by De Bruijn (1984). In this case description, we however only discuss the beguines living in the beguinage located around de current Wijde Begijnestraat (see also underneath).
• Surface and boundaries: According to Muller (2013), the beguinage covered the area bordered by the current Voorstraat, the Asch van Wijkskade, the Plompetorengracht, and the Begijnesteeg (previously named Tweede Begijnensteeg); see also the map above. According to a detailed study by De Bruijn (1994) on property documents of houses of the beguines and to archeological research there is uncertainty about the eastern boundary of the beguinage; some of the houses at the Plompetorengracht at theeastern side of the beguinage may have been adjacent to, but de facto not actually belonging to the beguinage.
• Patron Saint: unknown
• Recognized by local government: Yes. The municipal magistrates however tried to monitor the beguinage at close range, as the appointment of two municipal supervisors [begijnmeesters] in 1394 seems to confirm: they were the laisions between the municipal government and the beguinage and were also in charge of the protection of the beguines. After the Reformation, municipal involvement with the management of the beguinage increased: whereas in 1581 the town council demanded to have the right of approval of appointing new beguines, in 1586 they demanded to have the sole right of appointing new beguines. Althought this measures were initially withdrawn in 1588, in 1613 four officials [rentmeesters] were appointed to take over the financial and organizational management of the beguinage, thus initiating the de facto end of the beguinage as an independent institution.

Foundation – termination

• Foundation/start of institution, date or year: before 1251
• Confirmed year of founding or first mention: According to a charter from 1400. there has been a previous act dating from 1251, mentioning the beguinage. The earliest original source mentioning the beguinage dates from 1282. The earliest documents referring to houses of beguines dates from 1284 according to De Bruijn.
• Foundation act present: No.
• Year of termination of institution: De jure, the beguinage ceased to exist in 1707, when the administrators in charge terminated the separate administration of the possesions of the beguinage as an institution. De facto the beguinage had already ceased to exist in the course of the seventeenth century, especially after 1613, when the communal household of the beguines was abolished by the municipal government and also Protestant women were allowed to live in the beguinage.
• Act regarding termination present: No. See above.
• Reason for termination: See above.

Concise history of institution

In an act dating from 1400, a previous act from 1251 (the original act being lost), mentioning the beguinage, is mentioned. In 1282, two other acts mention this beguinage, afirst regulation dates from 1284. In 1292, Margareta, widow of the Utrecht burgher Ruldophus Posch, states in her will that she will leave part of the land she ownes (called ‘Heylige-Land'[transl. ‘Holy Land’]) opposite the convent of the White Nuns to the ‘pious women, who are called beguines’ [‘de godvruchtige vro uwluyden, dewelke Begijnen genoemt worden’], in order for them to ‘live there forever, in obedience and wearing a habit’ [‘aldaar geduurig, onder gehoorzaamheiit staande en een religieus kleed aan hebbende, zullen blijven’]. A remarkable statement in her will is that she orderes that ‘if anyone of them will live in disgrace, and this will be known publicly, that women will be expelled from the beguinage, but will however remain in possession of her belongings’ [‘indien iemand van haar een eerloozen naam gekregen heeft, en zulks op straten en in kerken bekend is geworden, die zal van het gezelschap der anderen verstooten worden; zoo evenwel, dat ze haare goederem zal behouden’].

This statement was overruled almost a century later by a proclamation of the bailiff and the aldermen [schout and schepenen], which stated that beguines who would be expelled from the beguinage, would lose the possession of their house at the beguinage. The same proclamation also stated that, in case a beguine had not drawn up a last will, all her belongings would befall to the beguinage. It was also determined that no beguine would be allowed to bequeath her house in the beguinage to somebody from outside the beguinage; this latter rule may have been the causal factor for the number of non-beguines that, according to Muller (2013), seem to have lived inside the walls of the beguinage.

By that time, the beguinage had already survived another serious threat to their existence. In 1311, Pope Clemens V issued a decree to interdict and abolish the beguinages, due to the reason beguinages did not belong to one of the official ecclesiastical orders. This decree was published in 1317, and in 1318 the bisshop of Utrecht intended to take action against the beguinages in the Northern Netherlands. The decree of the late Pope Clemens V (he died in 1314) had, however, already been adjusted and ‘softened’ by his successor, Pope John XXII, who proclaimed that women of rightuous belief [molieres fideles] were allowed to live together without having to adapt to a specific ecclesiastical order. In 1323, a proclamation was issued that ordered the protection of the beguines against any malvolent action; this order would be re-issued several times within the next decades. In 1394, two municipal officials were appointed who were supposed to act as a liaision between the beguinage and the municipal government; their appointment may also have been intended to guarantee the safety of the beguines.

After the Alteration, the beguines continued to celebrate mass. From 1310 on, mass was celebrated with the assistance of one of the Black Friars [Predikheren] from the adjacent monastery. During the Reformation, the Protestant movemenet strove to abolish the former Catholic institutions; this also applied to the beguinage. In 1586, an attempt was made by the municipal (Protestant) magistrates to abolish the communal household of the beguines; new beguines from then on could only be admitted by appointment of the town council. Although these measures were initially revoked in 1588, in 1613 the municipal magistrates finally reorganized the beguinage by abolishing the communal household of the beguines, appointing four officials in charge of financial matters of the beguinage, and change the system of self-support to a system of allotment by the municipality, allowing also non-catholic single women to enter the beguinage.

In 1674, it was decided to amortize obligations of the beguinage that were to te expense of the municipality. One year later, in March 1675, the allowances to the surviving beguines were also amortized, thus ternimating de facto the existence of the beguinage. In 1707, the town council decided to end the separate accounts that were still made up regarding the possessions of the former beguinage, thus also de jure terminating the beguinage .

Special events? Highs and lows? Specific problems or problematic periods?

• 1251: First mentioning of the beguinage (according to an act dating from 1400)
• 1292: Margareta, widow of burgher Rudolfus Posch, bequeathes a part of the land she ownes to a congregation of beguines
• 1311: beguinages interdicted by Papal decree of Pope Clemens V (decree published in 1317)
• 1318: Pope John XXII issues a decree, allowing molieres fideles to form congregations without having to adapt to a specific ecclesiastical order
• 1394: first two municipal officials appointed as begijnmeesters
• 1421: bishop Frederik van Blankenheim abolishes the rule that houses of beguines would befall to the beguinage in case they died without a will or in case of banishmanet from the beguinage, inheritors of deceased beguines could inherit their houses from then on
• 1586: first attempt of Protestant municipal magistrates to take over the organization of the beguinage: abolishement of communal households, finances would be handled by municipal officer
• 1588: measures taken in 1586 were revoked
• 1613: municipal magistrates take over organization of the beguinage: abolishment of communal household beguines, appointment of four officials in charge of finance [rentmeesters], changing from self-support to allotment-system
• 17th century: decrease of number of beguines, increase of non-beguine women inhabiting the beguinage
• 1674/1675: obligations to expense of municipality and allowances to still living beguines amortized
• 1830: chapel of former beguinage demolished, part of the remains being integrated into new buildings on the same site

Membership

Numbers of members (specified)

Due to a lack of sources, exact numbers of the beguines of this beguinage are unknown. From archival sources we know that the beguinage consisted of several individual houses (godshuizen) and a large communal house (Groothuys), where several beguines lived together. In 1284, only one mistress (magistra) managing was mentioned, from as early as 1400 onward there have been at least two mistresses in charge of the beguinage. An agreement between the mistresses of the beguinage and the bailiff and aldermen, mentioned in the proclamation of 1384, seems to indicate that the number of beguines entering the beguinage may have been quite considerable, since the mistresses of the beguinage promise ‘to accept no more new beguines from now on’.

Membership attainable for every one, regardless of social class or familybackground?

The only direct requirements that have been explicitly mentioned in archival sources is the condition mentioned in the will of the widow Margareta of 1384 (see above), stating that the beguines should live in obedience and were expected to wear a religious habit.

Specific conditions for obtaining membership? (Entrance fee, special tests etc.)

See above.

Specific reasons regarding banning members from the institution?

The archival sources preserved contain no rules written down for the beguines. The will of Margareta of 1284 and the proclamation issued by the bailiff and the aldermen in 1384 however mention the possibility of beguines being excluded from the beguinage. In accordance with rules known from other beguinages, exclusion may have been the result of disrespecting the rules, inobedience to the mistresses of the beguinage, and indecent or improper behavior.

Advantages of membership?

The beguines lived a life that was in-between the secular and the sacred: they were free to hold on to their own possessions. The beguines of Utrecht initially even were allowed to keep their possessions after exclusion from the beguinage; this was however overruled by proclamation of the bailiff and aldermen in 1384. This right was however restored in 1421 by the bishop, also enabling inheritors from decaeased beguines to claim the inheritance of their possessions (including houses) in the beguinage.

Obligations of members?

There is no list of rules preserved in the archival documents of this beguinage. It may, however, be assumed that these rules will have been more or less alike regulations from other beguinages and therefore would have contained rules about religious obligations, obedience, and chastisty. Beguines did not have to pledge the vow of poverty, which also is proven by the amount of property documents preserved in the archives.

Literature on case study

• Bakker, F. J. 1988. Bedelorden en begijnen in de stad Groningen tot 1584. Assen: Van Gorcum.
• De Bruijn, M. W. J., 1994. Husinghe ende hofstede. Een institutioneel-geografische studie van de rechtspraak over onroerend goed in de stad Utrecht in de middeleeuwen. Stichtse Historische Reeks. Utrecht: Het Spectrum (especially Ch. 11, pp. 395-402).
• De Bruijn, M. W. J., 1984. Begijnen op Het Heilige Leven in Utrecht in de veertiende eeuw. Maandblad Oud-Utrecht 57(7), pp. 72-3. Available as pdf (Open Access) via Utrecht University Repository .
• Muller Fz., S. 2013 (1913). Inventaris van de bij de archieven van het stadsbestuur van Utrecht bewaarde archieven, behorend aan de stad 1284-1813 (1885). Utrecht: Gemeentelijke Archiefdienst (1913) / Het Utrechts Archief (2013).
• Muller Fz., S. and Ketner, F. 1959. Oorkondenboek van het Sticht Utrecht tot 1301. Vol. V. ‘s-Gravenhage: Staatsuitgeverij, pp. 78-9. Available online here.
• Van Ryn, H. (transl.). 1719. Historie ofte Beschryving van ’t Utrechtsche Bisdom, Behelzende De Oudheden, Kerkelijke en Geestelijke Gebouwen, Kapellen, Kommandeurschappen, Abdijen, Kloosters, Oversten en geleerde Mannen, van ’t zelve Bsidom, Getrokken uit de oude Handschriften der Kerken en Abdijen, enz.. I. Van de Oudheeden en Gestichten der Stad Utrecht. Leiden: Christiaan Vermey. Available online here.

Sources on case study

The archival sources of this beguinage are mainly to be found in the Archieven van het stadsbestuur van Utrecht bewaarde archieven, behorend aan de stad 1284-1813 (1885), deposited at Het Utrechts Archief.

Case study composed by René van Weeren (Utrecht University). We thank drs. M.W.J. de Bruijn for supplying additional information on this case study.

Typification

• Type of institution for collective action: Beguinages
• Name/description institution:Begijnhof 
• Country: Belgium
• Region: Flemish Brabant
• Name of city or specified area: Diest
• Further specification location: The beguinage of Diest is integrated into the city, and is situated in the North-Eastern part of the old city. For the exact location of the beguinage of Diest, see the world heritage website of Unesco.
• Patron saint: Saint Catherine.
• Recognized by local government: The beguinage was acknowledged by the Lord of Brabant, Hendrik I, on the 31st of May, 1253, when he granted the beguines the same rights as the other inhabitants of the city of Diest. Effectively, the beguinage became part of the city.

Foundation – termination

• Foundation/start of institution, date or year: Before 1245.
• Confirmed year of founding or first mention: Exact date of foundation is not clear, but the beguinage is mentioned for the fist time in 1245. In that year Pope Innocentius IV documented his ward, guaranteeing the beguines his special protection, over the beguines of Diest.
• Foundation act present: See above.
• Year of termination of institution: The French government issued the closure of all clerical institutes in 1796, which led to substantial changes for the beguinage of Diest in the period that followed but managed to survive. The last two beguines left in 1928.
• Act regarding termination present: No.
• Reason for termination: Leaving of last two beguines in 1928.

Concise history of institution

In 1245, when the beguines were first mentioned, they lived outside the city walls of Diest; they leased a plot of land from the abbey of Saint-Gertrude. The land was granted to them by the abbot, along with the permission to built a church and houses. During the second half of the fourteenth century, the beguinage was included within the city walls, because of the extension of the city.

Work

The main occupation of the beguines was in the textile industry; this caused some trouble between the beguines and the other textile workers in the city of Diest. An agreement dated December 7, 1279, mentions that the beguines will pay the tradesmen a yearly contribution, and would, moreover, not produce more sheets than agreed between the textile crafts and the  mistress of the beguinage. Furthermore, the beguines were not allowed to make coloured sheets, because that would interfere with the business of the textile guilds.

Another dispute between the beguines and the people of Diest was about bread. The bakers of Diest saw the distribution of bread after the death of a beguine – a practice known as ‘lijckmicken’ – as unfair competition. In 1686, they effectively contested this practice through the city council: for three years the breads could only be distributed at the beguinage itself. The beguines, however did not take the warning very seriously and the feud between the bakers and them continued.

Next to their occupation in the textile industry, the beguines were also involved in the education of many children. These children were outplaced by their parents, and received their primary education from the beguines. Boys were allowed in the beguinage until they were ready for the training of a trade or craft; the girls usually stayed in the beguinage and often became beguines themselves.

Management

No less than four mistresses managed the beguinage of Diest simultaneously. These mistresses of the beguinage (hofmeesteressen) were elected by the beguines who had lived for at least ten years in the beguinage. Besides them there were three ‘mistresses of the Holy Spirit’ ( ‘Heilige-Geestmeesteressen’) who took care of poor relief.

The beguinage also had a pastor, who was elected by the beguines as well; he was vested by the lords of Diest. The financial matters of the beguinage were overseen by a lay-steward, who accounted for the annual account for the mistresses and the pastor.

Estate

The beguinage held a large patrimony in its possession; most of it consisted of land, and was acquired through donations. The beguinage from time to time also bought land, as a means to support the poor beguines and maintain the estate. Besides the extra ventures of land income and the incomes form textile production, the beguines had their own farm within the beguinage, with which they could support their daily needs.

During the first decades of the seventeenth century, the income and thus the prosperity of the beguinage expanded. This resulted in the rebuilding of the clay and wooden huts into more durable buildings of brick. The project started with the rebuilding of the Holy Spirit convent in 1618. Between 1634 and 1639 the first houses were rebuilt, and around 1665, when the beguinage consisted of about a hundred houses, one-third of the houses was made of brick. This rebuilding project was largely funded by the beguines themselves.

Reform of the beguinage

In 1538 the beguinage was appointed a new pastor, Nicolaas van Essche, who was hired to deal with the misguidance’s of the beguines; van Essche, or Esschius, reformed the beguinage in a profound way. Esschius was a follower of the ‘Modern Devotion’, which made him an advocate of a more personal perception of religion. He foresaw a few very radical changes for the beguinage, many of which encountered much protest from both the beguines and the inhabitants of Diest.

For one, he wanted to cut of the beguines from worldly contact, in order for them to be able to concentrate on a more profound religious experience. To make this possible, he closed off the road that passed through the beguinage. Moreover, he made several alterations in the way the beguines were allowed to produce for the textile industry, and the way they conducted trade with lay people (especially tradesmen).

Secondly, he altered the conduct of religious worship. Many services, and some customs – such as the ringing of the vespers – were abolished. The beguines were not pleased with these alterations, and found the amount of masses unsatisfactory.

Thirdly, some alterations were also made in the field of finance. The distribution of provision was strongly cut; Esschius foresaw that only poor beguines could receive some support. The strong cutbacks can be seen in the light of Esschius’ ideas about poverty: those who can work should work, and only the needy should receive support.

Fourthly, Esschius changed the way in which the beguinage was managed: the mistresses were under his watch chosen from the more youthful girls (around 21-22 years of age); this evoked much protest from the elderly beguines, probably because they were no longer elegible.

Finally, he also raised the admission fee from one to five guilders (gulden).

The reforms Esschius enacted can be regarded as a reaction from the Catholic church to a broader displeasure with the focus of many clerical institutes on earthly, material aspects. However, Monika Triest saw the reform method of Esschius, combined with the actions of Johannes Hauchinus, the archbisshop of Mechelen, and Johannes Fredericus Lummius, pastor of the beguinage of Antwerp, as a struggle by the bishop in order to gain more power. The amendments of the beguinages of their dioceses were replaced by a uniform rule, and made the beguines subordinate to the clerical hierarchy.

Upheaval during the French period

In 1794, French government took over authority in the southern part of the Low Countries. Consequently, in September 1796, the entire estate of the beguinage was transferred to the city’s poor relief patrimony.  A new law, issued on October 7, 1796, erected the ‘Hospices Civils’: the municipal poor relief was from then on governed through this new body. The beguines remained in the beguinage, but some houses were given to poor inhabitants of Diest. Following the changes imposed by the French government, there was an opposition movement in Brabant called Stevinisme, which foresaw the resurrection of the religious values from before the French period. This movement also had a lot of followers among the beguines and inhabitants of the beguinage of Diest. On August 13, 1813, there was a raid on the beguinage to round up all the Stevenisten: the church was closed and bolted, and the beguines received notice on August 21st that they should leave the beguinage and move to a municipality of their own choice, where they would be supervised by the local government. This, of course, had a great impact: in 1813, only 20 beguines still lived in the beguinage.

With the establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, many beguines returned to their homes, the beguinage itself however remained under supervision of the municipality; hence, more and more lay people came to live in the beguinage.

Special events? Highs and lows? Specific problems or problematic periods?

• 1253: Beguines are granted city rights, thus becoming inhabitants of Diest.
• 1538: Start of reform by Esschius.
• June 19, 1578: Esschius died.
• 1841: First kindergarten of Diest was established in the beguinage.
• 1928: Last two beguines left the beguinage.

Prime of the beguinage was during the third quarter of the seventeenth century. The beguinages invested a lot in decoration for the church, purchasing art and the building of many new houses and a new entry port (see picture above).

Membership

Numbers of members (specified)

There were many people living in the beguinage, not just beguines: also children and servants lived there. The infirmary and farm was staffed by servants, and some of the richer beguines had their own maid.

In the chart we can make out the population trend of the beguinage from the second half of the seventeenth century on until 1928, the year in which the last two beguines left the beguinage

From the period of the beginning of the beguinage until the sixteenth century, there is almost no data available on the size of the beguinage. We do know that in 1464 the beguinage contained already 86 houses. In 1526, the number of houses had gone down to 84, inhabited by a total of 176 beguines, 37 novices and helps, 17 children, and 4 other people.

The golden age of the beguinage was clearly during the end of the seventeenth century. The low point, between 1796 and 1833, can be explained by the effects of the period of French government.

The beguines had to take temporary vows of obedience and chastity after they successfully made it through the probation period of one year. After this year and the taking of vows they could move in the beguinage, either by buying their own house or by leasing a room in the house of another beguine.  The really poor beguines could enter in one of the convents or community houses.

When a wealthier beguine wanted to build her own house, she would have to ask permission from the mistresses and the pastor after which they would most likley grant her a plot of land. The beguine that built the house would be allowed to live there until her death; she could also appoint three beguines who could live there rent-free after her passing. When these beguines came to pass the house would fall to the beguinage, and be rented out to other beguines.

As mentioned, before the reforms of Esschius the entree fee of the beguinage was one guilder; Esschius changed it to five.

Membership attainable for every one, regardless of social class or familybackground?

Yes, there were both poor and rich beguines living in the beguinage of Diest. It could be, though, that the entrance fee – and especially after it had gone up during the reform period of Esschius – could have formed a barrier for some girls or women. 

Specific conditions for obtaining membership? (Entrance fee, special tests etc.)

The beguines had to take temporary vows of obedience and chastity after they successfully made it through the probation period of one year. After this year and the taking of vows, they could move into the beguinage, either by buying their own house or by leasing a room in the house of another beguine.  The really poor beguines could enter in one of the convents or community houses.

When a wealthier beguine wanted to build her own house, she would have to ask permission from the mistresses and the pastor, after which they would most likely grant her a plot of land. The beguine that built the house would be allowed to live there until the time of her death; she could also appoint three beguines who could live there rent-free after her passing away. When these beguines came to pass, the house would befall to the beguinage, and be rented out to other beguines.

As mentioned, before the reforms of Esschius,  the entree fee of the beguinage was one guilder (gulden); Esschius changed it to five.

Specific reasons regarding banning members from the institution?

None specifically mentioned in literature.

Advantages of membership?

None specifically mentioned in literature.

Obligations of members?

Literature mentions no specific obligations of the beguines, other than the standard obligations:

• the profession of temporary vows of chastity and obedience 
• daily prayers and attending mass.

There was, however, a custom at the convents of the beguinage of Diest. The women who lived here did prepare their meals together in the same kitchen, but did not join together at a table to have their meals: each ate at her own begijnenschapraai, a cabinet in which the beguines also saved their china. They ate at the extending board from the cabinet. During regular days they used white china; the coloured china was especially reserved for use on Sundays and holidays.

Literature on case study

• Van der Eycken, M., 1987. Het Diestse begijnhof: een besloten hof. In: Begijnen in Brabant: de begijnhoven van Breda en Diest, eds. F. Koorn and M. van der Eycken. Esso Museumreeks 9. Breda: Esso.
• Triest, M., 1998. Het besloten hof: begijnen in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden. Leuven: Van Halewijck.
• Stabergh, I., Jonckers, F., and Van Passel, M. (eds.), 2003. 750 jaar Begijnhof Diest: vroeger en nu. Tienen: Ripova.
• Van der Eycken, M., 1978. Nicholaas van Essche en de hervorming van het Dietse begijnhof.  Historica Lovaniensia, 80, 277-97.

Case study data collection: Aart Vos, Municipal archive (Stadsarchief) ‘s Hertogenbosch. Text: Winny Bierman, Utrecht University