Het hof van Nederland

ENGLISH

In the historic heart of Dordrecht, on the site where Augustinians founded their monastery in the 13th century, we now present the history of Holland’s oldest city. A history that reaches far beyond the city’s boundaries. On more than one occasion Dordrecht has been the setting for key moments in Dutch history. In 1572, for instance, the First Assembly of the Free States was convened there. This was a key event, that laid the foundations for the independent Republic of the Netherlands, the predecessor of our current Netherlands. And in 1618-19, the city was host to the meeting of the Synod of Dordrecht. This major international ecclesiastical gathering set the course for the Protestant Church worldwide.

DORDRECHT

This book offers the reader a tour around Het Hof and tells the story of Dordrecht through historical objects, archaeological finds, archival records, paintings and prints from the Dordrecht Collection. Not only are the events of 1572 brought to life, but also Dordrecht’s golden age as a powerful trading centre, the devastating St. Elizabeth’s Day Flood, and Dordrecht’s metamorphosis from ‘city of wood’ to modern industrial city. And of course the history of the monastery itself. It is the fascinating story of Dordrecht, spanning almost 800 years of history.

H E T H O F VA N N E D E R L A N D

HE T HOF VAN NEDERLAND

H E T H O F VA N N E D E R L A N D D ORDRECHT

ENGLISH

ENGLISH

In the historic heart of Dordrecht, on the site where Augustinians founded their monastery in the 13th century, we now present the history of Holland’s oldest city. A history that reaches far beyond the city’s boundaries. On more than one occasion Dordrecht has been the setting for key moments in Dutch history. In 1572, for instance, the First Assembly of the Free States was convened there. This was a key event, that laid the foundations for the independent Republic of the Netherlands, the predecessor of our current Netherlands. And in 1618-19, the city was host to the meeting of the Synod of Dordrecht. This major international ecclesiastical gathering set the course for the Protestant Church worldwide.

DORDRECHT

This book offers the reader a tour around Het Hof and tells the story of Dordrecht through historical objects, archaeological finds, archival records, paintings and prints from the Dordrecht Collection. Not only are the events of 1572 brought to life, but also Dordrecht’s golden age as a powerful trading centre, the devastating St. Elizabeth’s Day Flood, and Dordrecht’s metamorphosis from ‘city of wood’ to modern industrial city. And of course the history of the monastery itself. It is the fascinating story of Dordrecht, spanning almost 800 years of history.

H E T H O F VA N N E D E R L A N D

HE T HOF VAN NEDERLAND

H E T H O F VA N N E D E R L A N D D ORDRECHT

ENGLISH

HET HOF VAN NEDERLAND

autho rs

Jan Alleblas Teun de Bruijn Niels van Driel Herman A. van Duinen Marianne Eekhout Iris Knapen Liesbeth van Noortwijk

e dito r

Liesbeth van Noortwijk

CONTENTS

PREFACE

8

INTRODUCTION

10

INDISPENSABLE PARTNERS

12

THE AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY OF DORDRECHT 1275-1575

16

FROM AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY TO HOF VAN NEDERLAND

24

EMBODYING HISTORY

30

EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS OF HISTORY

42

HISTORY AS EXPERIENCE

52

REMODELLING HE T HOF

IN TEN KILOME TRES OF ARCHIVES

STORIES OF DORDRECHT T H E S PA R K L E

62

THE STORM

82

THE CITY

94

THE FREEDOM

106

T H E FA I T H

118

THE CITY’S PROGRESS

130

COLOPHON

5

144

INTRODUCTION After more than two years of renovations, Het Hof van Nederland is ready and open to the public. On the site where Augustinians founded their monastery over seven centuries ago, we now present the rich history of Holland’s oldest city – a history that reaches far beyond the city’s boundaries. On more than one occasion Dordrecht has been the setting for key moments in Dutch history – in 1572 of course, when the First Assembly of the Free States was convened there, and again in 1618-19, when the city was host to a six-month meeting of the Synod of Dordrecht. This major international ecclesiastical gathering set the course for the Protestant Church worldwide. It also commissioned a new Bible translation, the States Bible, which went on to have a profound influence on the Dutch language.

Today, in 2015, Het Hof van Nederland is a place where everyone can discover the story of Dordrecht through hundreds of historical objects, archaeological finds, archival records, paintings and prints from the Dordrecht Collection.

These museum items are part of an innovative and exciting multimedia exhibition including tailor-made film, audio and video presentations and digital information. The emphasis is on experience, participation, surprise and astonishment. Not only are the events of 1572 brought to life, but also Dordrecht’s golden age as a powerful trading centre, the devastating St. Elizabeth’s Day Flood, and Dordrecht’s metamorphosis from ‘city of wood’ to modern industrial city. And of course the history of the monastery itself.

Alongside the permanent exhibition, the museum offers space for temporary exhibitions. The reading room of the Dordrecht Regional Archives, which is freely accessible to everyone, is also part of the remodelled Hof complex.

Het Hof van Nederland has been a major project for the city of Dordrecht. This unique monument has been extensively renovated, bringing together different functions under one roof and creating a cutting-edge museum with ambitious plans for the future. The fact that the municipality of Dordrecht has supplied the funding demonstrates their courage and confidence – I am extremely grateful to the municipal executive and council for their support.

With its wealth of images, this book gives some idea of the fascinating story of Dordrecht, spanning almost 800 years of history. I hope many visitors from the city and beyond will come and experience it.

Peter Schoon Director

11

AUGUSTINIANS IN DORDRECHT

Herman A. van Duinen

THE AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY OF DORDRECHT 1275-1575 In the Middle Ages a monastery stood on the site of Het Hof. Parts of the original complex – the cellars, refectory and dormitory – can still be seen in the current building. This internationally renowned monastery meant a great deal for Dordrecht, a city on the rise – that is, until 1572, the year in which Dordrecht supported William of Orange in the Revolt against Spain, and Calvinism became the dominant religion.

17

HOW IT BEGAN Symbol of the Order of St. Augustine The symbol features a text

by St. Augustine: You [God] have pierced our hearts with the arrow of your love, and Your words that have penetrated my heart set me aflame (St. Augustine, Confessions)

The Order of St. Augustine was founded in 1256 under Pope Alexander IV. Its aim – alongside learning, hearing confession and spiritual care – was to preach the gospel in the cities that were emerging throughout Europe at that time. The Augustinian ideal was to lead the vita apostolica, the way of life of the Apostles and the first Christian community. In emulation of the Apostles, they renounced all worldly goods and lived as itinerant preachers. They adopted the Rule of St. Augustine. Aurelius Augustinus (354-430), the Father of the Church, had founded a monastery for laypeople at Hippo in North Africa in 391. The rule that he devised for them is among the oldest surviving monastic rules in the West.

Augustinians settled in Dordrecht in 1275, just nineteen years after the Order was founded. The city was developing rapidly. Thanks to its favourable location, it evolved in the second half of the 13th century to become a centre of international trade and one of the largest and most important cities in Holland.

The Augustinian monastery meant a great deal to Dordrecht’s urban community.

It provided them with a church, which they eagerly attended because of the diversity of preachers and confessors. People also wished to be buried there so that masses could be read for their own and their family’s salvation. They frequently expressed their gratitude by donating altars and stained glass windows.

Map of Dordrecht, 1545 (detail of map on p. 64) Copy (1674) after Jacob van Deventer (original lost). The monastery site was located inside the white boundary.

The monastery was built on an open block of land donated by Count Floris V, bounded by the Voorstraat, Steegoversloot, Nieuwstraat and Augustijnenkamp. The first building will have stood adjacent to the levee of the inland waterway, the present-day Voorstraat and Voorstraathaven.

In the 13th century the area along the levee was developed and brick houses were built. There was enough room between the houses for the monastery to be built.

18

THE REBUILDING OF THE MONASTERY In 1295, soon after the monastery church was built, a fire broke out and a new monastery was built on the site. Little is known about the monastery buildings during the 13th and 14th centuries. A 15th-century deed (1442) mentions the rebuilding of the monastery (die nyeuw tymering van den cloester). The church was also extended during that period. For its construction the Augustinians used material from the church of Eemkerk that had been submerged by floods in 1421.

South side of the Augustinian church, with the Jan van Drenckwaert and Willem van Drenckwaert chapels on the left and the Van Beveren chapel on the right

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) triptych, 1544 Maarten van Heemskerck Warsaw, National Museum Founder Jan van Drenckwaert is depicted on the left panel, his wife Margaretha de Jonge van Baardwijk on the right.

The monastery church, the construction of which began around 1440, replaced the former, single-nave church. The choir and nave of the new church were probably built on the foundations of the old church. A narrower aisle was built, separated from the nave by an arcade of stone columns with cabbage-leaf capitals. The extension was necessary because of the large crowds that flocked to the church, attracted by the Augustinians’ preaching.

Shortly after the church was completed, four family chapels were built against the south wall of the aisle. The chapels could be accessed from the church through large pointed arches.

The first chapel, viewed from the Voorstraat, was founded in 1488 by the Schrijver regent family. It was followed by the rectangular chapels of Jan van Drenckwaert and Willem van Drenckwaert, founded before 1549 and 1488 respectively, the years in which their founders died. The adjacent chapel, founded in about 1460, originally belonged to the Queckel family, but was later acquired by the Van Beveren family. Each chapel had an altar, but these disappeared when Dordrecht turned to Calvinism in 1572. An altarpiece that had stood in the Jan van Drenckwaert chapel before the Reformation is now in the National Museum in Warsaw.

19

FIRE AND REBUILDING Drawing of part of the buildings after the fire of 1512 Albert van Engelenhoven, 2000

Fire broke out once again on 23 August 1512. There were no serious consequences for the church, although the timber roof structure was destroyed and had to be replaced. The monastery was harder hit. The Archbishop of Cologne, Philip II of Daun-Oberstein, granted an indulgence of eleven days to everyone who contributed to the rebuilding or who supplied stones and lime.

Also on pages 14-15: in the pavement of the courtyard, the location of the eastern cloister and lavatorium is marked.

What did the monastery look like after it was rebuilt? The square monastery courtyard (or quadrangle) and the rib-vaulted cloister surrounding it formed the central section. There was a well in the centre of the courtyard and a lavatorium, for washing, by the eastern cloister. The cloister led to the monks’ cells and offered shelter from the rain or heat. It was also a place for meditation; silence was obligatory.

Stee

gov

ersl

oot

The monastery garden The monastery garden lay behind the monastery buildings

Opposite the lavatorium was the small winter refectory (refter), which gave access to the large summer refectory and kitchen. Above the summer refectory was the dormitory, reached by a spiral staircase. Below it was the cellar, comprising four masonry rooms with barrel-vaulted ceilings. The winter refectory is now demolished, but the summer refectory, the dormitory and the cellars still exist. Although heavily remodelled in around 1972, they are – with the exception of the church – the oldest rooms that survive from the rebuild of the monastery after the fire in 1512.

On the northern side of the cloister, along the Steegoversloot, were the prior’s chamber, infirmary (sieckhuys), brewery and storerooms (loeven). Monks who were too weak or ill to carry out their daily duties were cared for in the infirmary. It is not clear where the library was located, or the chapter house, where the monks gathered on important occasions.

20

Behind the monastery buildings, between the Ganck ten Augustinen (‘Augustinian passage’, now the Hofstraat) and the Augustijnenkamp, was the monastery garden, surrounded by a canal, the Augustinengraft. It included a herb garden for the cultivation of plants with medicinal properties.

Medicines made from these plants were used to heal the sick in the infirmary.

The monastery garden also contained a vegetable garden (hortus) and an orchard. The most important monastery building was the church. It was where the Augustinian monks gathered seven times a day for the divine offices (scripture readings, psalms and prayer). And, as mentioned earlier, it was where people could be buried and where the souls of the dead were prayed for (the Requiem Mass).

Interior of the contemporary ‘Augustijnenkerk’

The Dordrecht monastery was part of the ecclesiastical Province of Cologne.

The monastery’s high standing is evident from the fact that the most im­ portant meeting, the Provincial Chapter, was held there on several occasions.

Representatives from all the monasteries belonging to the Province gathered there under the leadership of the Prior Provincial. For example, on 29 September 1489 the chapter fathers assembled in the monastery’s chapter house. The Dordrecht monastery also had a reputation as a centre of learning. After their preliminary education, young Augustinians would leave Dordrecht to study further at famous seminaries and universities abroad.

21

COLOPHON This issue was published at the

Photography

Translation

opening of Het Hof van Nederland,

Dordrecht Collection:

UvA Talen, Amsterdam

Dordrecht, 27th of April 2015.

Richard Boonstra, Marco de Nood,

Editor

Roel Weenink

Liesbeth van Noortwijk

Jeroen Musch

Graphic design

Interior and exhibition design

p. 2, 4, 6-7, 8, 10, 14-15, 16, 22, 23,

Jantijn van den Heuvel, Made

XPEX Experience Architects,

24, 27 (below), 30, 32-33, 34-35,

Amsterdam

36, 37, 38-39, 40-41, 42, 50, 52,

Publishing

54-55, 58-59, 60-61, 62, 74-75, 82,

WBOOKS, Zwolle, The Netherlands

Architect Mecanoo, Delft

Graphic design

94, 106, 118, 130, 142

Natwerk, Amsterdam Jantijn van den Heuvel, Made

Jeroen Niemeijer

Š WBOOKS / Het Hof van Nederland

p. 111, 112-113, 116-117 All rights reserved. Nothing in this Artifacts, photographs, books

Herman A. van Duinen

publication may be multiplied,

and documents depicted in this

p. 17, 18, 19, 85, 120

stored in an automated database,

book are part of the Dordrecht

or published, in any form or in any way,

Collection (Dordrecht museum,

Mascha Joustra

be it electronically, automatically,

Van Gijn House, Regional Archives,

p. 56, 57

through photocopying, recording

Monuments & Archaeology) unless otherwise provided.

or in any other way, without the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

publisher’s prior, written consent.

p. 86-87 ISBN National Archives of the

978 94 625 8092 3

Netherlands, The Hague p. 114-115 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam p. 88 Rob Hodselmans p. 129 Frank Peters

Het Hof van Nederland

p. 93 (above)

Hof 6 3311 xg Dordrecht

Rinie Boon p.93 (below)

www.hethofvannederland.nl www.wbooks.com

144

ENGLISH

In the historic heart of Dordrecht, on the site where Augustinians founded their monastery in the 13th century, we now present the history of Holland’s oldest city. A history that reaches far beyond the city’s boundaries. On more than one occasion Dordrecht has been the setting for key moments in Dutch history. In 1572, for instance, the First Assembly of the Free States was convened there. This was a key event, that laid the foundations for the independent Republic of the Netherlands, the predecessor of our current Netherlands. And in 1618-19, the city was host to the meeting of the Synod of Dordrecht. This major international ecclesiastical gathering set the course for the Protestant Church worldwide.

DORDRECHT

This book offers the reader a tour around Het Hof and tells the story of Dordrecht through historical objects, archaeological finds, archival records, paintings and prints from the Dordrecht Collection. Not only are the events of 1572 brought to life, but also Dordrecht’s golden age as a powerful trading centre, the devastating St. Elizabeth’s Day Flood, and Dordrecht’s metamorphosis from ‘city of wood’ to modern industrial city. And of course the history of the monastery itself. It is the fascinating story of Dordrecht, spanning almost 800 years of history.

H E T H O F VA N N E D E R L A N D

HE T HOF VAN NEDERLAND

H E T H O F VA N N E D E R L A N D D ORDRECHT

ENGLISH

ENGLISH

In the historic heart of Dordrecht, on the site where Augustinians founded their monastery in the 13th century, we now present the history of Holland’s oldest city. A history that reaches far beyond the city’s boundaries. On more than one occasion Dordrecht has been the setting for key moments in Dutch history. In 1572, for instance, the First Assembly of the Free States was convened there. This was a key event, that laid the foundations for the independent Republic of the Netherlands, the predecessor of our current Netherlands. And in 1618-19, the city was host to the meeting of the Synod of Dordrecht. This major international ecclesiastical gathering set the course for the Protestant Church worldwide.

DORDRECHT

This book offers the reader a tour around Het Hof and tells the story of Dordrecht through historical objects, archaeological finds, archival records, paintings and prints from the Dordrecht Collection. Not only are the events of 1572 brought to life, but also Dordrecht’s golden age as a powerful trading centre, the devastating St. Elizabeth’s Day Flood, and Dordrecht’s metamorphosis from ‘city of wood’ to modern industrial city. And of course the history of the monastery itself. It is the fascinating story of Dordrecht, spanning almost 800 years of history.

H E T H O F VA N N E D E R L A N D

HE T HOF VAN NEDERLAND

H E T H O F VA N N E D E R L A N D D ORDRECHT

ENGLISH