Part Four: Catalogue of Houses (Swesteren, Lollards, Beghards)

Introduction

1Information about the settlements of lollards and swesteren is difficult to find. Since many of them did not survive into the modern age, any records they collected are usually lost (of course, being “poor”, they may have had few archives to begin with). Consequently, local or regional monographs of history and religion often ignore or misidentify them. Houses of beghards have fared better in this regard (the archival funds of those of Bruges and Antwerp are actually very large) but reliable scholarship on their history is still limited. On the whole, most information on the early history of all of these houses comes from indirect sources (wills, financial or administrative records of other institutions) that require labor-intensive archival research to explore, which I have not (yet) completed for every locality. In other words: this checklist can almost surely be improved.

2Gerrit Vanden Bosch, Monasticon van Zwartzusters-Augustinessen in België, Brussels, Algemeen Rijksarchief, 1998 and Pierre-Jean Niebes, Les frères cellites ou alexiens en Belgique, Brussels, Archives générales du Royaume, 2002 are guides to extant archives (in the modern state of Belgium) of the convents of “Black Sisters” / Cellite Sisters and Cellite/Alexian Brothers, the successors of (some of) the swesteren and lollard houses of the middle ages. While their historical information about the earlier period is limited and sometimes less reliable, they do provide a useful orientation for further research.

Abbreviations

4See Part One, note 1, for abbreviations used throughout this series of essays.

5Other abbreviations used here are:

6AB1, AB2, AB3: Johannes Asen, “Die Beginen in Köln”, AHVN, 111, 1927, p. 81–180; 112, 1928, p. 71–148; 113, 1928, p. 13–96.

7GP: Joseph Greving, “Protokoll über die Revision der Konvente der Beginen und Begarden zu Köln im Jahre 1452”, AHVN, 73, 1902, p. 25–77.

8KAB: Kerkelijke Archieven Brabant.

9“First Record” indicates the date of the first recorded reference to the house; that is rarely a “foundation” document, and the house may be older. I have added notes on important changes to the community if they occurred within the fourteenth century, but have made no attempt to systematically discuss their later history.

Checklist

Place	First Record	Change (if before 1400)
Aachen, beghards	1315	Became Tertiaries before 1333
Aachen, lollards	1334	Temporarily closed 1370
Aachen, swesteren	1317	Temporarily closed 1370
Aarschot, beghards	1283?	Became Tertiaries in 1325?
Antwerp, beghards	1296	Became Tertiaries between 1312 and 1321
Antwerp, lollards	1345
Antwerp, swesteren	1345
Bruges, beghards	1252	Became Tertiaries between 1374 and 1376
Bruges, lollards	1348
Bruges, swesteren	1348
Brussels, beghards	1277	Became Tertiaries in 1359?
Brussels, swesteren	1348/50–1360
Cologne, beghards	1291	Became Tertiaries in 1328
Cologne, lollards (a)	1306
Cologne, lollards (b)	1317 (1302?)	Not mentioned after 1317
Cologne, swesteren (18 convents)	1291–1299
Diest, beghards	1257	Became Tertiaries between 1318 and 1328
Douai, beghards	1246	No later mention
Ghent, beghards	1291
Ghent, lollards	1321
Ghent, swesteren (min. 3 convents)	1346
‘s-Hertogenbosch, beghards	1332	Became Tertiaries before 1335
‘s-Hertogenbosch, swesteren (2 conv.)	1335	Merged after 1361, probably before 1400
Hénin-Liétard, beghards	1298	Not mentioned after 1298
Liège, beghards	1325	Tertiaries when first mentioned
Louvain, beghards	1280	Became Tertiaries in 1318
Louvain, lollards	1345
Louvain, swesteren	1333
Maastricht, beghards	1265?	Became Tertiaries between 1316 and 1328
Maastricht, swesteren (5 convents)	1294?	3 convents closed by 1377–80?
Mechelen, beghards	1284	Became Tertiaries in 1320
Middelburg, beghards	1271	Became Tertiaries before 1346
Mons, swesteren	1351
Nivelles, beghards	1272	Hermitage by end of 14th c.
Roermond, beghards	1322	Became Tertiaries before 1346
Saint-Omer, beghards?	1346	Tertiaries at first mention
Saint-Omer, lollards	1332
Sint-Truiden, beghards	1284	Became Tertiaries before 1323
Tienen, beghards	1277	Became Tertiaries before 1346
Tienen, lollards	1340
Tournai, beghards	1298	Not mentioned after 1304
Veurne, lollards	1353
Ypres, beghards	1297/1298	Closed c. 1400
Zierikzee, beghards	1311	Became Tertiaries before 1346
Zoutleeuw, beghards	1290	Became Tertiaries before 1327

Comments and References

Aachen, beghards

10Webbegarden. NK, vol. 1, p. 195-202 refers to all relevant primary sources.

Aachen, lollards

11Brotbegarden. I agree with NK, vol. 1, p. 23, that the “poor beghards” (pauperibus becgardis) mentioned in the oldest (fragmentary) city accounts, starting with those of 1334, must have been “begging” beghards, distinct from the Webbegarden established in Aachen before 1315; they were called Brotbeggarden up Scharportzgrave (the later Alexianergraben) in 1391. See J. Laurent, ed., Aachener Stadtrechnungen aus dem XIV. Jahrhundert, Aachen, P. Kaasser’s Verlag, 1866, p. 104 (1334), 119 (1338), 147 (1344), 176 and 179 [with “students”] (1346), 203 (1349), 386 (1391). However, unlike NK, vol. 1, p. 23 and Huyskens, “Die Anfänge”, p. 201-205, I think the sources edited by the same Huyskens suggest that the brothers, along with “students” living with them, were indeed targeted by the inquisitorial investigations of 1369-1370 and their house was temporarily closed. The community became a Cellite convent in the late fifteenth century.

Aachen, swesteren

12Mentioned in a will of a Cologne citizen, Adolf de Revele, of 21 April 1317, as benevolis pauperibus puellis in Colonia et in Aquis; elsewhere in the will they are perhaps cited among the communibus pauperibus benevolis, scilicet swestris et becgardis, although in this case the reference may be to the swesteren of Cologne alone (ed. EQ, vol. 4, p. 32-35, nr. 35). At some point before 1332, this community of swesteren at Aachen was the home of Adelheid, one of the “hooded sisters” interrogated in that year by an inquisitor at Świdnica, Silesia (see Part Two, note 60). Gałuszka and Kras, The Beguines of Medieval Świdnica, p. 111, note 20, erred in identifying this house as St Stephen in Aachen, which was not a swesteren convent but rather a “traditional” beguinage (see Simons, Cities of Ladies, p. 260, nr. 1B). The swesteren were probably the “poor beguines” mentioned in the city accounts of 1334 and 1338 (Laurent, Aachener Stadtrechnungen, p. 104 and 119), although there is a small chance the latter were residents of the “Margareta-convent” established in the city in 1315 (for that convent of “poor beguines”, not treated in NK, see R. Pick, “Der St. Margarethenkonvent im Beginenwinkel zu Aachen”, in AHVN, 46, 1887, p. 179-181), or (for the accounts of 1338) the begine seu Christi pauperes of the convent under den Linde founded by Arnold, lord of Breidenbent, in 1335 (also not in NK; see Huyskens, Regesten, vol. 2, p. 262-265, nrs. 572 and 574). The swesteren mentioned in 1317 were called Schwestern die zu Aachen auf dem Graben wohnen in 1362 (NK, vol. 1, p. 37-41 at p. 37). My reading of the evidence presented in Huyskens, “Die Anfänge”, p. 200, note 1, and p. 201, note 1, implies that they came under suspicion of inquisitors in 1369-1370 and their house was closed for some time. The women became Cellite nuns locally known as Christenserinnen in the late fifteenth century (NK, vol. 1, p. 38-39; Bruno Gossens, Die Genossenschaft der Christenserinnen zu Aachen, Aachen, La Ruelle’sche Accidenzdruckerei, 1933, p. 11-30).

Aarschot, beghards

13Our only information prior to the mid-fourteenth century comes from Cornelius van Gestel, Historia sacra et profana archiepiscopatus Mechliniensis, The Hague, Christianus van Lom, 1725, vol. 1, p. 243, with the dates entered here, which seem plausible but are impossible to verify.

Antwerp, beghards

14The convent received a letter of protection from Duke John II of Brabant on 20 July 1296 (AA, Klooster Bogaarden Antwerpen, nr. 1, charter at date, ed. Vannérus, “Documents … Anvers”, p. 567-568, nr. 1). The brothers are called beghards in city records until 1312; the first mention of the Third Order dates from 1321, see J. De Leu, “Begarden te Antwerpen, 1296-1474”, Franciscana, 34, 1979, p. 21-60 at p. 28-30, with references. De Leu argues that the transition took place in 1319, since the convent’s archives contain an original expedition of Pope John XXII’s Etsi apostolice sedis of 23 February 1319, with the dorsal note bulla exemptionis fratrum tertii ordinis a condemnatione concilii Viennensis, as well as a vidimus of Supra montem, the Rule of 1289, issued at Avignon on 12 March 1319 (AA, Klooster Bogaarden Antwerpen, nr. 1, charters at those dates), but both of these may have come into possession of the convent only after its association with the so-called Kapittel van Zepperen in 1472.

Antwerp, lollards

15Founded on 1 October 1345 by Henry (Hendrik) Zuderman as a house for matemanne die men heet lollaerde: Antwerp, Kathedraalarchief (UFSIA), Capsa 18 dom., nr. 101bis (vidimus 29 December 1354), ed. Van den Nieuwenhuizen, Oorkondenboek van kerkelijke instellingen, p. 355-356, nr. 1. Three years later we learn that the house of the lollaerde abutted that of the local beghards/tertiaries: AA, Klooster Bogaarden Antwerpen, nr. 1, charter at date 13 May 1348, ed. ibidem, p. 314-315, nr. 45. They were called fratribus celle in 1349 and broederen van de celle in 1350: AA, Klooster Bogaarden Antwerpen, nr. 1, charters at dates 22 May 1349 and 23 November 1350, ed. ibidem, p. 318-322, 326-329, nrs. 48 and 51. The lollards took formal vows as Cellites according to the Rule of St Augustine in 1461 (Niebes, Les frères cellites, p. 37-65).

Antwerp, swesteren

16Founded on 1 October 1345 by Hendrik Zuderman, as a house of matenwiven die men heet swesteren, see Antwerp, Kathedraalarchief (UFSIA), Zwartzusters, nr. 101, B 1 (vidimus 17 August 1346), ed. Van den Nieuwenhuizen, Oorkondenboek van kerkelijke instellingen te Antwerpen, p. 359-360, nr. 2. They were called sororibus celle in 1349 and swesteren in 1350 (see the charters of 22 May 1349 and 23 November 1350 mentioned above, under Antwerp, lollards). The sisters took vows according to the Rule of St Augustine in 1461: Vanden Bosch, Monasticon, p. 60-86.

Bruges, beghards

17For references and discussion of the sources, see Simons, Bedelordekloosters, p. 166-170. From c. 1266 until 1296 (at the latest) there were two beghard communities located in close proximity to each other: one confessed with the Franciscans, the other with the Dominicans; the latter, probably smaller community, disappeared shortly after 1296.

Bruges, lollards

18Earliest mention in a charter of 9 July 1348, marking a property division between the land of Jan van Staden and the “house” (huus) of “the brethren of the willing poor” (de broeders van den willighen haerme) on the westside of a street connecting the Oude Gentweg and Groeninge, i.e. the current Driekroezenstraat, very close to the house of female “willing poor”, discussed below (Bruges, Stadsarchief, Reeks 438, oorkonden 2de reeks, nr. 147). There are no other documents about this house. A convent of Cellite brothers, founded just south of the Oude Gentweg more than a century later, in 1470, may not be connected to the community (Niebes, Les frères cellites, p. 67-86; at p. 67; Niebes claims the Cellite convent is mentioned in 1385 with reference to L. Gilliodts-van Severen, Mémoriaux de Bruges, vol. 3, Bruges, Louis De Plancke, 1913, p. 124, but the source discussed there deals solely with the sixteenth century).

Bruges, swesteren

19A property partition on 23 march 1348 mentions a “convent of maidens called the willing poor” (covent van ioncvrouwen de welke men heet de ghewillighe aermen), neighbors of an almshouse for poor widows; the ghewillige aermen were called zwestren in a charter of 1356 (Bruges, Zwartzusterkloooster, Archief, inv. nr. 1/1, ed. Antoon Viaene, “Een ‘convent van ghewillighe aermen’ in Brugge 1348”, Biekorf, 74, 1974, p. 407-410 at p. 409-410, and Bruges, Rijksarchief, Oorkonden met blauwe nummers, nr. 4564, 27 March 1356). Located along the Nieuwe Gentweg close to the house for men discussed above, the swesteren were ancestors of the Castaegneboom-sisters, who took vows as Cellites (Zwartzusters) in 1461. The account of the early history of the convent in F. Van den Berghe et al., De Zwartzusters van Brugge, Diksmuide, Oostende, Veurne en Brazilië, Bruges, Marc Van de Wiele, 1986, p. 18-27, has been corrected by C. D’Hooghe, “De zwartzusters te Brugge. Ontstaan en situering van 1356 tot 1580”, Handelingen van het Genootschap voor Geschiedenis, 124, 1987, p. 35-46 (who appears to reject the identification of the ghewillige aermen and Zwestren, for reasons that are unclear to me) and Simons, Bedelordekloosters, p. 163-165. For the later history of the house, see Vanden Bosch, Monasticon, p. 116-149.

Brussels, beghards

20See Guillaume des Marez, “Les bogards dans l’industrie drapière à Bruxelles”, in Mélanges Paul Fredericq, Brussels, H. Lamertin, 1904, p. 279-287. The Brussels convent may have been a signatory to the cooperation agreement signed by eighteen houses of male Tertiaries in 1346 (see Part Two, note 28), in which case we must assume it had joined the Franciscan Third Order by that date; however, according to a charter cited by des Marez, “Les bogards” p. 281, the city of Brussels allowed them to become members of the Third Order as weavers only in 1359. It is therefore more likely that the Brussels convent represented in the 1346 agreement was that of the “Brethren of the Wolfsgracht”, a small community of the Third Order known to have been formed in Brussels around that time, although documentary evidence does not go further back than 1364, see Placide F. Lefèvre, L’Organisation ecclésiasiastique de la Ville de Bruxelles au Moyen Âge, Louvain, Bibliothèque de l’Université, 1942, p. 114.

Brussels, swesteren

21A convent of Zwesteren or Suestriones, attested with certainty along the city walls in de Oude Borchstrate in 1360, may have originated in 1348-1350, according to materials in the archives of the Brussels Zwartzustersklooster, which I have not seen: Vanden Bosch, Monasticon, p. 150-178 at 151 and 158; see also Lefèvre, L’Organisation, p. 116.

Cologne, beghards

22Convent zum Olvunde (or Ulvunde, ad Olivas, ad Olivant) in the Streitzeuggasse, parish of St. Columba, founded in 1291, see ABS, p. 172, with source references. Asen’s account is often confusing, and some of his assumptions are unfounded; on p. 167, he lists the foundation date as “1299”, clearly a misprint for 1291 (compare p. 172), but replicated in Eva Gertrud Neumann, Rheinische Beginen- und Begardenwesen. Ein Mainzer Beiträg zur religiösen Bewegung am Rhein, Meisenheim am Glan, Anton Hain, 1960, p. 135 and Johag, Beziehungen, p. 101. In 1309-1310 a chapel was added, dedicated on 22 November 1310 (Kisky, Regesten, vol. 4, p. 120-121, nr. 577; Joseph Greving, Steuerlisten des Kirchspiels S. Kolumba in Köln vom 13.-16. Jahrhundert, Cologne, 1902, p. 151). A magister (beghard master) is mentioned in 1315, but then records on the house are lacking until 1328, when it is owned by a confraternity, St Margarethen, which transferred it to the Franciscan Third Order (ABS, p. 173). Brothers who lived and worked at Olvunde after that date were Tertiaries (see for instance Toni Diederich, ed., Regesten zu den Urkunden des Amtleutearchivs St. Columba in Köln, Düsseldorf, Droste Verlag, 2009, p. 267-268, nr. 67). This must be the Cologne convent that signed the cooperation agreement with male Tertiaries of the Low Countries in 1346.

Cologne, lollards (a)

23Convent zur Lunge (originally: Erkelenz), in the Lungengasse, parish of St Aposteln, founded by a beghard priest (beggardus sacerdos), John of Krefeld, on 3 August 1306, “for the use of beghards of voluntary poverty” (ad usus beggardorum voluntarie paupertatis; see ABS, p. 176-177, with more data on the first inhabitants of the convent and references). According to Paas, Alexianerkloster, p. 8-9, the men had been living in two other locations in the city since the late thirteenth century, but that information may be legendary. Zur Lunge is probably one of at least two convents for “begging beghards” to whom Adolf de Revele left sixty marks in his will of 1317 (item do pauperibus becgardis mendicantibus in Colonia 60 marcas pagamenti, partem ipsius pecunie convertendam circa meliorationem domuum suarum et partem ad eorum expensas, ed. EQ, vol. 4, p. 32-35, at p. 33; at p. 35, in a later passage the will refers to communibus pauperibus benevolis, scilicet swestris et becgardis). A notarial document of 1358 still refers to them as “brothers of Cologne called beghards who demand ‘Brodt um Gott’” (brueder von Cölln, die man heischt Backerde, und brodt um Gott heischen: Karl Heinrich Schaefer, “Inventare und Regesten aus den Kölner Pfarrarchiven”, AHVN, 71, 1901, p. 1-215 at p. 137, nr. 25; ASB, p. 176-177 erroneously claims there are no references to the convent between 1347 and 1428). A report by two agents of the archbishop of Cologne about the orthodoxy of the brothers, of 10 December 1382, calls them “the poor” (pauperes persone), adopting the terminology of Pope Gregory XI’s Ex iniuncto nobis of 7 April 1374, see Huyskens, “Die Anfänge”, p. 207-208, and Paas, Alexianerkloster, p. 19, citing a notarized copy of 1416 in the Archive of the Cologne Alexian Brothers. The brothers took vows as Cellites according to the Augustinian rule in 1468 (Paas, Alexianerkloster, p. 31-33).

Cologne, lollards (b)

24There must have been at least two convents of “mendicant beghards” in 1317, when Adolf de Revele made his will, see above, Cologne, Lollards (a). One must have been zur Lunge; the other may have been the house “near St Stephen in novo civitate”, where John of Brünn became a “beghard” (see Part Three, notes 3-8), but the reference is cryptic. Possibly there was a third house about which nothing is known.

Cologne, swesteren

25At least eighteen convents of swesteren can be identified in the city before the middle of the fourteenth century (see also Part One, note 5, for important secondary sources used here):

a) Convent in the Drususgasse

26Named after its founder, Herman of Mainz, who donated his house for the use of poor beguines on 24 July 1282 (EQ, vol. 3, p. 190, nr. 220; AB1, p. 169-170). We do not know when the residents became known as “swesteren”, but on 20 October 1383 John de Cervo, archiepiscopal official of Cologne, included it, with nine other “convents or houses of sisters”, in his public acquittal of the house, declaring it not guilty of the doctrinal errors mentioned in Pope Gregory XI’s Ad audientiam nostram of 2 December 1377; see the edition of the document in the archives of the Cellite Sisters of Cologne, in Paas, Das Cellitinnenkloster, p. 133-136, at p. 135: item Mencze convent. It still existed as a house with five sisters in 1452 (GP, p. 55. Nr. 86).

b) Convent at the end of the Marzellenstrasse

27Founded in 1291 by Odelindis dicta de Piritz (Pyrzyce), who purchased a house at the end of the Marzellenstrasse for herself as magistra and eleven “poor beguines” who should be chaste, of a good reputation and rightful way of life (caste vite, bone fame et conversationis honeste: Gabriel M. Lohr, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Kölner Dominikanerklosters in Mittelalter, vol. 2, Leipzig, Otto Harrassowitz, 1922, p. 51-52, nr. 96; 23 March 1291). It was expanded in 1339, 1349, and 1355 so that by the latter date it encompassed a “stone house” (domus lapidea), and by 1379 it had its own chapel (AB2, p. 145-147; Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 42-45 and, for the edition of the document on the chapel from the archives of Cologne Cellitinnen, p. 132-133). The women were called swesthere … in platea sancti Marcelli in a will of 21 April 1323, conventui Beghinarum appellato zu der Eyninghen in plateo Sancti Marcelli in another will of 1343 (Lohr, Beiträge, p. 110, 182-183, nrs. 110 and 479). John de Cervo’s public rehabilitation of ten “convents or houses of sisters” after suspicion of heresy, on 20 October 1383 (above, under (a)), referred to the convent twice, first with its vernacular name, der Eynungen convent, and then with the Latin phrase in conventu Unionis in platea sancti Marcelli (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 135). The sisters took vows to the Rule of St Augustine as Cellite Sisters in the late fifteenth century (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 46-47). For more on this important house, see Part One, notes 4, 93, 103; Part Two, note 60, and Böhringer, “The Swesteren of Odelindis of Pyrzyce”.

c) Convent in the Komödienstrasse

28Convent founded between 1294 and 1298 by Gobelinus Voisgin and initially called Voisgin or Weranz convent, after the founder or his father, Werandus (AB3, p. 58–59, with references to donations in the first half of the fourteenth century). Little is known about its membership but it appears under the name of Holtzwiele convent on the list of suspect houses in the “rehabilitation” document of 1383 (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 135; see also AB1, p. 108, where Asen states that the residents were called “Swestrionen” in 1320). It still existed in 1452 (GP, p. 48, nr. 41: Houltzwilre).

d) Convent in the Kupfergasse

29Founded in 1299 by Eva de Küntzwilre, beggina, soror que swester dicitur, who bought the house for sororibus benevole pauperibus que suester dicuntur; it moved to the Kattenbug, across from the Ipperwald hospital, in 1335 (GP, p. 27, note 1; AB2, p. 76; Johag, Beziehungen, p. 345, nr. 1, with source references). Between 1343 and 1382, the convent probably merged with that of Zur Hand, founded in the same street in 1343 (see below, under (r)).

e) Convent of Zederwald

30Established on 2 April 1302 in de Komödienstrasse by Lufredus de Foro Lignorum and his wife Elizabeth for voluntarie pauperes scilicet beggine, called pauperes beghine que dicuntur swesteren in 1315; in 1317 it is a “convent of poor beguines now called Swesteren” (conventiculo beghinarum pauperum […] que nunc dicuntur swesteren: AB3, p. 59-62; Stein, Religious Women, p. 261; Johag, Beziehungen, p. 346, nr. 3; and Böhringer, “Merging”, p. 182, with references to sources; more on the early history of the house in Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 14-31 and on p. 125-127, an edition of a 1307 will from the Cellite sisters’ archives). The public rehabilitation announcement of 1383 by official John de Cervo (see above, under (a)) calls it the Groissen convent (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 135), similar to its name in the 1452 Protokoll (GP, p. 48, nr. 39: die groisse enynghe; I disagree with AB1, p. 108). The sisters took vows according to the Rule of St Augustine as Cellite sisters between 1487 and 1496 (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 18; AB3, p. 61).

f) Convent in the Röhrergasse

31Founded in 1303, near Mariengarten, by Fredericus Loyf and his wife Methildis, for ten sorores que swestere vocantur. The sisters became Tertiaries before 1452 (GP, p. 52, nr. 67; AB2, p. 91-92; Stein, Religious Women, p. 261 with references).

g) The Gosel Convent

32Founded in 1306 in the same Röhrergasse, by Sophie Güyslin or Goslyn (possibly from Gemmenich, between Liège and Aachen), for pauperes que swesteren vocantur (AB2, p. 94-95; Johag, Beziehungen, p. 346, nr. 5; I disagree with AB1, p. 108, who believed Gosel was mentioned in the “rehabilitation” document of 1383 as großer Konvent; Gosel was always very small and cannot be meant here. For the correct identification, see above(e)). The convent still existed in 1452 (GP, p. 55, nr. 82).

h) Convent neben dem Pütz auf dem Hunnenrücken

33In the parish of Maria Ablaß, recorded for the first time in 1306, described as a “house of the poor, called Schwestern” (AB2, p. 143 and Johag, Beziehungen, p. 346, nr. 6, with references). The 1452 Protokoll calls it dat suysterhuys by dem Spegell (GP, p. 46, nr. 27). It is not clear whether this convent, or the one listed below, under (i), is referred to in the rehabilitation document of 1383 as zum Huncsrugghe (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 135 (see also above, under (a))

i) Another convent auf den Hunnenrücken

34Created before 1307. In 1337 the beguine Alewisis, speaking for the “beguines, voluntary poor of Christ” (nomine beginarum voluntarie Christi pauperum), testified that she and the other sisters had owned their house for five to more than thirty years (AB2, p. 141-142; Johag, Beziehungen, p. 345, nr. 2, with source references), which would place its inception before 1307. It still existed in 1452 (GP, p. 46, nr. 32). As mentioned above, under (h), we do not know if this is the convent listed in the “rehabilitation” document of 1383 as zum Huncsrugghe (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 135).

j) A convent in the Antoniterstrasse

35Established in 1311 for twenty-four beguines, called Schunde or Asschunen after the founding family (AB3, p. 75-76 has references to a few early donations). It was considered a swesteren house by 1383, when it was named among the convents suspected of heresy in John de Cervo’s “rehabilitation” document of 1383 (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 135: item in Azonnen convent).

k) The “Keppler” convent on the Kattenbug.

36Founded in 1315 by Gerard, capellarius of the Dom for beghinas sive swestrices pauperes et bone et honeste vite; the community was led by Hadewig Rapyn, who is called a begina in 1311 and a swestrix in 1312 and 1315 (AB3, p. 56; Stein, Religious Women, p. 261, and Johag, Beziehungen, p. 346, nr. 7, with references). It still existed in 1452 (GP, p. 47, note [a] and p. 48, nr. 44).

l) The “Zelle” convent in the Komödienstrasse

37Originally a house established in 1316 for two beguines, which then expanded into a convent of pauperum suestrionum, as they were called in 1333 (AB3, p. 62-63 has the source references). The “rehabilitation” document of 1383 mentions Ad Cellam at the top of the list of houses of suspected “sisters” (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 135). The sisters took vows to the Rule of St Augustine as Cellites in the early sixteenth century (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 34; AB3, p. 63).

m) A convent “behind the Allerheiligen hospital” in the Maximinstrasse.

38The hospital was founded by Herman de Ederne and Adolfus de Reven (Revele) in 1308-1311; in 1316, the brothers Wedekindus (a priest) and Adolfus de Revele established a convent behind it for beghine voluntarie pauperes, bone fame, Deo deservientes. They are probably among the benevolis pauperibus puellis in Colonia and Aquis and communibus pauperibus benevolis, scilicet swestris et becgardis, to whom Adolf left payments in his will of 1317. The convent still existed in 1452 (EQ, vol. 4, p. 32-35, nr. 35; GP, p. 27, note 1 and p. 46, nr. 34; AB2, p. 111; Johag, Beziehungen, p. 159-160).

n) The convent Gronewald auf dem Perlenpfuhl

39Founded in 1323 by Cristina de Walde for the use of three female relatives as beguines. A year later, Cristina determined that after her death it would become a home for seven pauperes puelle (AB2, p. 85). This must be the convent zume Gronenwalde that appears on the list of suspected houses of sisters, acquitted of the accusations of heresy, on 20 October 1383 (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 135; I doubt that the hospital of Allerheiligen, sometimes also called zum Gronenwald, can be meant here)

o) The Reinken or Reynkens convent

40Founded by three sisters in the Elstergasse, in 1323, for twelve pauperibus puellabus bonis et honestis (Greving, Steuerlisten, p. 161, nr. 93). Documents of 1348 and 1369 call it a swesteren convent (AB1, p. 174, Johag, Beziehungen, p. 346, nr. 8, and Böhringer, “Merging”, p. 182, with references). Before 1484, the sisters became Tertiaries (AB1, p. 174).

p) The Wassenberg convent in the Streitzeuggasse

41Created in 1329-1330 for twelve beguines, called swestriones in 1349 (Greving, Steuerlisten, p. 152; AB2, p. 103-104 and Johag, Beziehungen, p. 346, nr. 11, with source references. They were Tertiaries by 1452 (GP, p. 57, nr. 96).

q) The Spitze convent

42Founded in the Mariengartenstrasse in 1339 for puellis pauperibus propter Deum pro pane suo euntibus. The sisters became Tertiaries before 1452 (EQ, vol. 4, p. 250, nr. 232; Greving, Steuerlisten, p. 166, nr. 98 and GP, p. 53, nr. 71).

r) The convent der Hand

43Founded in 1343 in the Kattenbug by Aleydis and Ida, sisters of the plebanus of Vettweiß near Düren, who left their house across from the Ipperwald hospital after their death to six women “who wish to serve God through their life and conduct” (deo servire volentium vita et moribus: EQ, vol. 4, p. 273–274, nr. 261). The house probably merged with the community originally formed in the Kupfergasse (see above (d)). John de Cervo included it among the suspected houses of sisters whom he acquitted from the accusations made against them in 1383 (Paas, Cellitinnenkloster, p. 135: zu der Hant); like many houses of swesteren, it was called an einung in 1405 (AB1, p. 108; see also AB3, p. 55-56).

Diest, beghards

44Earliest mention in a charter of September 1257 (Fratres obedientes dicti beggardi de Dist), ed. Raymaekers, Het kerkelijk en liefdadig Diest, p. 305-306, note 2. Transition to the Third Order: see LA, KAB, nr. 13597 (charter of 20 October 1318), referring to the beghards, and nr. 13598 (charter of 25 February 1328) identifying the superior as minister fratrum tertii ordinis sancto Francisci domus de Dyst; nr. 13600 (an eighteenth-century chronicle), fol. 67r, gives the date of transition as 10 August 1319, which may be correct. A bruder Marcilise Keysere van Beckenvort, bruder van der derder ordenen is mentioned in Diest in 1324 (Rob Weckx, “De Nederlandstalige schepenakten van Diest van 1306 tot 1325, berustend in het Stadsarchief te Diest”, BCRH/HKCG, 170, 2004, p. 5-167, at p. 146, nr. 169).

Douai, beghards

45ADN, 1 G 91/212. The convent may have disappeared soon after 1246 (see also below: Hénin-Liétard, Beghards).

Ghent, beghards

46First mentioned in a charter of 26 February 1291, about the original location of the convent on the “Poortakker”: Ghent, Stadsarchief, Reeks LXXX, charter nr. 7, ed. Gysseling and Pijnenburg, Corpus, I, vol. 3, p. 1522-1523, nr. 998. On the second location, near the current “Zandpoort”, see Marie Christine Laleman et al., “De stadsversterking bij de Zandpoort”, Stadsarcheologie, 9:2, 1985, p. 16-41. The beghards never joined the Third Order, although other weavers of Ghent did.

Ghent, lollards

47From 1321 until 1324, a broeder Jacob de Bake, lollaert, received funds from the Poor Table of the parish of St Nicolas in Ghent (Ghent, Rijksarchief, Bisdom Gent, S 501, 502, 503). The city accounts for 1342–1343 list an issue payment (a tax on property leaving the jurisdiction of the city, usually because of inheritance by a non-citizen) received for “an heir of a lollard” (item van een lollards hoire, 3 lb : Napoleon de Pauw and Julius Vuylsteke, eds., De rekeningen der stad Gent. Tijdvak van Jacob van Artevelde 1336-1349, vol. 2, Ghent, Ad. Hoste, 1885, p. 163). In 1346 their convent was located along the Houtlei, in the parish of St Michael (ten broedren up de veste, in a will of 13 January 1346, ed. Victor Van der Haeghen, Het klooster ten Walle en de abdij van den Groenen Briel. Stukken en oorkonden, Ghent, C. Annoot-Braeckman, 1888, p. 59-70, nr. 33; see also Ghent, Stadsarchief, Reeks 330, nr. 1, fol. 90r: den broeders up de veste bi der Thurepoerten die men heet lollarts, 19 January 1352). We can thus assume that, if lollards formed a convent prior to 1346, it was most likely in the St Nicolas parish, possibly close to the convent of the male Tertiaries in the Heilige Geeststraat (attested in 1312-1344) and the latter’s weaving workshop in the Clopsteghe (attested since 1329; see Simons, Bedelordekloosters, p. 156-158). The lollards took vows as Cellite brothers in 1461 (Niebes, Les frères cellites, p. 141-162, unfortunately less reliable for the fourteenth-century history of the house).

Ghent, swesteren

48Scattered references to at least three communities of zustren/zwestern can be found in Ghent records around the middle of the fourteenth century, but there may have been more:

a) A house of zustren in de Borchstrate (current Burgstraat)

Mentioned in a will of 15 January 1346 and abandoned before 1376.

b) A house of zustren in Ingheland

Named in the same will, located in a neighborhood called “England”, close to the Dominican convent. The residents were known as zwestern in 1356, 1372, 1376, and 1377, and as “sisters of St Catherine” in the second half of the fifteenth century, when they had joined the Franciscan Third Order. They became Annunciade nuns in 1624.

c) Zwestern die wonen bi Portackere

Close to the small beguinage of Poortakker, are mentioned in 1354 but disappear from the record afterwards.

49Additional information and source references: By 1372, there were also zwestren voer de Jacopine, probably the later Cellite sisters on the corner of Onderbergen and the current Zwarte Zustersstraat, as well as zwestren bachten Sanders Conte (a city receiver) in an unknown location, to which we can add the zwestren bider Biloke recorded in the city accounts for 1376, 1377, and 1386. Two more ephemeral convents of sisters (or beguines?) are recorded in Onderbergen in the 1360s. Yet all of these should be distinguished in turn from two houses of female Tertiaries that existed in the second half of the fourteenth century in the Erpelstege and in the Tonnekensteeg. For sources, see Frans de Potter, Gent, van den oudste tijd tot heden, vol. 8, Ghent, C. Annoot-Braeckman, 1882-1933, vol. 8, p. 132-133; Simons, Bedelordekloosters, p. 173-175, 183-185; Julius Vuylsteke, ed., De rekeningen der stad Gent. Tijdvak van Philips van Artevelde 1376-1389, Ghent, Ad. Hoste, 1891, p. 17-18, 75, 374, 404-405; David Nicholas and Walter Prevenier, eds., Gentse stads- en baljuwsrekeningen (1365-1376), Brussels, Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis/Commission royale d’Histoire, 1999, p. 109, 130; and Marc Carnier, De communauteiten van Tertiarissen van Sint-Franciscus. Monasticon. I. De grauwzusters, Brussels, Algemeen Rijksarchief, 2002, p. 233-236, 245-254.

Hénin-Liétard, beghards

50A register of rents of 1298 (ADN, B 13589, fol. 138r, examined by Bernard Delmaire, Le diocèse d’Arras de 1093 au milieu du XIV^e siècle, Arras, Commission départementale d’Histoire et d’Archéologie du Pas-de-Calais, 1994, vol. 1, p. 338, note 196, reveals the presence at Hénin-Liètard (now Hénin-Beaumont), in the rue des Truans (!), of two (or more?) maisons les begins; a rent paid by a certain Estevenes (“Étienne”) li begins […] pour les mez les begins (fol. 139v), and the name of the street may suggest the beghards went out begging, as Delmaire notes. A connection to the beghard convent of Douai, seven miles to the east of Hénin and not mentioned after 1246, seems plausible.

‘s-Hertogenbosch, beghards

51KL ID nr. 60 has the relevant references.

‘s-Hertogenbosch, swesteren

52In 1335, a certain Wunna of Utrecht (Wunna de Trajecto Inferiori) bought a house in the Weverhuls, close to the beguinage of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, “for her use and that of her companions” (ad opus ipsius Wunne et suarum in hoc sociarum). Wunna was later commemorated as “the first sister” of this convent of Zwesteren (prima soror Wunna de Traiecto Inferiori, primum domum Zwestricum, in a fourteenth-century dorsal note on the charter of 1335) which bought an adjacent house in 1348. By 1359, a second community of “sisters called Zwesteren, voluntary poor” (sororum appellatorum Zwesteren voluntarie pauperes) existed not far away, in the Triniteit. The two houses had their own martha or leader in 1361, but they merged some time after that date (HBHIC, Zwartzusters Den Bosch, inv. nrs. 26 [30 March 1335], 27 [24 April 1348], 28 [16 October 1359] and 38 [10 February 1361]). The sisters adopted the Rule of St Augustine as Cellites in or around 1464; a convent of male lollards is attested in the city starting in 1404 (Jan Sanders, “Verkloosterlijking in het vijftiende-eeuwse ‘s-Hertogenbosch”, Noordbrabants Historisch Jaarboek, 33, 2016, p. 76-110 at p. 84-85, 99).

Liège, beghards

53Nothing is known about this convent until their transition to the Franciscan Third Order, which must have taken place before 20 September 1325: H.J. Smit, ed., De rekeningen der graven en gravinnen uit het Henegouwsche huis, vol. 1, Amsterdam, Johannes Müller, 1924, p. 194. Paul Bertrand, Commerce avec dame Pauvreté. Structures et fonctions des couvents mendiants à Liège (XIII^e–XIV^e s.), Liège, Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l’Université de Liège, 2004, p. 143 refers to an individual Tertiary documented at Liège in 1315 but we do not know if a Third Order convent existed then. Voigt, Beginen, p. 196, note 826, writes about the dedication of a chapel of beghards in 1308 with the implied suggestion that it occurred in Liège, but the document really pertains to Maastricht (see below, Maastricht, Beghards).

Louvain, beghards

54First mention in a privilege granted to the city by Duke John II of Brabant on 16 August 1280, see Joannis Molani Historiae Lovaniensium Libri XIV, ed. P.F.X. De Ram, vol. 2, Brussels, M. Hayez, 1861, p. 1212-1213, nr. LXVI (see also p. 1218, nrs. LXXII and LXXIII). On 8 July 1318, a notary recorded the admission of eighteen named beghards of Louvain into the Third Order of St Francis: LA, KAB, nr. 10261/245; the beghards had been evicted from their house close to the church of St Quintin’s: LA, Commissie Openbare Onderstand Leuven, nr. 759.

Louvain, lollards

55According to Edward Van Even, Louvain dans le passé et dans le présent, Louvain, Auguste Fonteyn, 1895, p. 481, lollards appear in the city accounts of Louvain for 1345. Local historians have repeated that data point faithfully but as far as I can tell, they have never checked it (unfortunately I have not been able to do that either). Other information about the brothers in Louvain is extremely limited.

Louvain, swesteren

56A hitherto unknown house of swesteren existed in the Ham, just outside the Hampoort (also known as Minderbroederspoort), in 1333. It was established for the use of “poor sisters” (ad opus pauperum sororum) on 24 January 1333 by a certain Godefridus de Hovis dictus de Kokey, who rented it out to Katerina dicta Pauli of Herentals, probably the leader of the convent. That same Godefridus expanded their dwelling with an adjacent house for the use of these “sisters called Suestere” (ad opus ipsarum sororum dictarum Suestere) in 1334. The convent is mentioned again in 1335 (Ambrosius Erens, De oorkonden der abdij Tongerloo, vol. 3, Tongerlo, 1952, p. 270-271, 294-295, 309, nrs. 761, 778, 789). Although I did not find any trace of it later in the century, this community of susteren geheten de Swesteren was still there in 1428 (Louvain, Stadsarchief, Schepenbank Leuven, 1428-29, fol. 97v). The house was located in a grassy area developed around 1300 and populated by craftsmen, including weavers; a house owned and used by brothers of the Franciscan Third Order existed closeby, see Van Even, Louvain, p. 222. The house of Swesteren is to be distinguished from the convent of female Tertiaries (Grauwzusters) founded about seventy years later in the new “Ham”, the current Penitentienenstraat, further north, see Van Even, Louvain, p. 514-515 and Carnier, De communauteiten, p. 337-354.

Maastricht, beghards

57I disagree with KL, ID nr. M10, which gives 1268 as the earliest date of recorded mention and dates the transition to the Third Order to 1346 (or 1359). A reference to fratres living in Wyck, Maastricht’s neighborhood across the Meuse river, in a will of 1265 (MRHC, Kapittel van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw te Maastricht, inv. nr. 457, analyzed by Pierre Doppler, “Een testament te Maastricht uit 1265”, De Maasgouw, 17, 1895, p. 78-80) may be the earliest reference to a convent of beghards. A seventeenth-century collection of documents gathered for the Kapittel of Zepperen states that the bishop of Liège granted a forty-day indulgence to donors for the construction of the beghard house of Maastricht on 8 September 1268, and that Edmond, auxiliary bishop of Liège, dedicated its chapel in 1277 (Gabriele Andreozzi, “La congregazione belga o ‘Capitolo di Zepperen’”, Analecta Tertii Ordinis Regularis Sancti Francisci, 25, 1994, p. 397-455 at p. 407; the identity of the auxiliary bishop, Edmond de Werd, is confirmed by Ursmer Berlière, “Les évêques auxiliaires de Liège”, Revue bénédictine, 29, 1912, p. 60-81, 304-338, 438-464, at p. 308-311). The convent is mentioned again in 1285, probably still at Wyck. The brothers moved to a new location in the Witmakersstraat, where they built a new chapel in 1308 (MRHCL, Begaardenklooster te Maastricht, inv. nr. 8, fol. 30r-v, of 27 August-3 September 1285, and Kapittel van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw, inv. nr. 1841, of 22 February 1308). They were still “beghards” in 1315 and 1316 (Pierre Doppler, “Schepenbrieven van het kapittel van O. L. Vrouw te Maastricht (1283–1767)”, PSHAL, p. 60–63, 1924-1927 [offprint], p. 22-23, nrs. 27-28 of 10 September 1315 and 14 February 1316, and MRHCL, Klooster der Predikheren te Maastricht, inv. nr. 89 of 24 March 1316), but belonged to the Third Order on 11 February 1342 (Doppler, “Schepenbrieven … O. L. Vrouw”, p. 42, nr. 62, with an incorrect date), a document settling a conflict about the execution, by named Tertiaries of Maastricht, of the will of Johannes de Borsen, also a Tertiary; this John is cited as a beghard in the documents of 1315 and 1316 mentioned above, and died on 15 August 1328 (Pierre Doppler, “Jaargetijdenboek van het Klooster der Begaarden te Maastricht”, PSHAL, 63, 1927, p. 1-55 at 12). The transition to the Third Order thus likely happened between 1316 and 1328.

Maastricht, swesteren

58The city was home to several houses of swesteren that are difficult to trace because of numerous changes, particularly c. 1350-c. 1425. The following survey builds on the work of Th. J. van Rensch, “Het Hondertmarck- of Zeven-Weeën-Convent”, in Bonne et Servante. Uit de geschiedenis van de Maastrichtse vrouw, ed. Ingrid M.H. Evers et al., Maastricht, Gemeentelijke Archiefdienst Maastricht, 1986, p. 9-16 and especially Koen Goudriaan, “Het klooster Maagdendries en de Moderne Devotie in Maastricht”, PSHAL, 155, 2019, p. 57-121, with references to the literature and most relevant sources. In three of the five cases I come to different conclusions, however, on the basis of additional sources indicated below.

59In addition to the large beguinage of St Catherine (see Simons, Cities of Ladies, p. 288, nr. 66A) and a number of small beguine convents (e.g. the convent of Wingardsberghe, first attested in 1267, or that founded by Wieric Borneken in 1317; see also the reclusorium mentioned under (d)), I can identify the following convents of swesteren:

a) The “convent of Hondertmarck”.

60Probably founded by a member of the Hondertmarck family before 4 April 1294, when it is first mentioned (Hondertmarcs convent: MRHCL, Klooster der Predikheren, inv. nr. 147/2, ed. Gysseling and Pijnenburg, Corpus, I, vol. 3, p. 1996-1998, nr. 1323). In 1377, a register of rents of the chapter of Our Lady referred to it as conventum quondam swestrionum dictum Hondertmarcs (MRHCL, Kapittel van Onze Lieve Vrouw, inv. nr. 971, fol. 19r), but we do not know what the residents were called before that date. It was located behind the Franciscan convent along the Jeker. At some point after 1377, but before 1425, it was revived as an almshouse for women (Doppler, “Schepenbrieven […] O. L. Vrouw”, p. 211, nr. 307, 17 April 1425; for the later history of the house, see van Rensch, “Het Hondertmarck- of Zeven-Weeën-Convent”, p. 14-26).

b) A convent in the Cortenstraat

61Close to Hondertmarck but clearly distinct from it. The same register of 1377 mentions bona quondam swestrionum, pronunc autem dominorum Johannis de Echt et Petri de Breda presbiterorum and explains that the house was owned by Rutger, canon of the chapter of Our Lady, who gave it to his brother, John of Canne, for his lifetime, after which he bequeathed it to the chapter for the use of two of its “poorer” priests or chaplains (MRHCL, Kapittel van Onze Lieve Vrouw, inv. nr. 971, fol. 21r). Since John died in 1345 and Rutger in 1371 (see Pierre Doppler, ed., “Obituaire de l'église collégiale, libre et impériale de Saint-Servais à Maestricht, commencé vers 1294”, in PSHAL, 47, 1911, p. 261-325 at 312, note 2), the swestriones probably lived there at some point before 1377 (perhaps even before 1345?). I have not (yet) found a copy of Rutger’s will, to which the 1377 register alludes.

c) A convent in the vico Casei or Kesenstraat

62Now the Heggenstraat. Founded by Elizabeth de Molendino in or before 1350 and abandoned before 1408 (possibly before 1377). In the course of 1350, Elizabeth made testamentary provisions that resulted in four documents, three of which have survived: firstly, on 17 August 1350, a donation of rents to the chapter of St Servatius, for the celebration of anniversaries for her father Henry and mother Mechtildis, and for herself, preserved in the archives of the chapter (MRHCL, Kapittel van Sint-Servaas te Maastricht, inv. nr. 821); secondly, on 4 September 1350, a gift of the second chaplaincy at the altar of St Nicolas in the church of St Servatius, to her cleric, Christianus of Sint-Truiden, preserved by the confraternity of chaplains (MRHCL, Broederschap van de kapelanen van Sint-Servaas, inv. nr. 21); thirdly, on 29 September 1350, her will (MRHCL, Klooster der Predikheren, inv. nr. 94), the main subject of which was the foundation of a convent for thirteen to sixteen beguines (one of whom already living with Elizabeth), in her own residence ad molendinum anteriorem, i.e. in the front part of a former mill building that consisted of a “front mill” and “back mill”, like many other large mills in Maastricht. Because of an error made by G. D. Franquinet, Beredeneerde inventaris der oorkonden en bescheiden van het klooster der Predikheeren te Maastricht, Maastricht, Ter Provinciale Griffie, 1880, p. 54, nr. 36, all subsequent scholarship on religious houses in medieval Maastricht has located this mill in the Sulsruwe (currently the Begijnenstraat), thus confusing Elizabeth’s newly founded beguine convent with the swesteren house discussed below under (d) and initiating other misconceptions about religious women in late medieval Maastricht. In reality the two-mill complex, which gave its name to the prominent de Molendino family, extended along the Heggenstraat from the Pateelstraat (at the point across from the chapel of St Amor, now the Sint-Amorsplein) to the Bredestraat; the location can be identified on the basis of Pierre Doppler, “Schepenbrieven van het kapittel van Sint-Servaas te Maastricht”, PSHAL, p. 36-42, 1900-1906, nrs. 6, 35, 181, 248, 346, 348, 349, 351, 367, 368, 439, 518, 519. Elizabeth’s will briefly referred to a separate document, made before the will but not preserved, by which she had ceded the “rear mill” in the Heggenstraat for the use of swesteren as domus Swestrionum retro hospitium de Molendino in vico Casei. She explicitly demanded that, like her gifts to the chaplains of St Servatius and to her cleric, Christianus, all made in the prior months, the donation of the rear mill to the swesteren would remain fully valid and unaffected by the will. Five years later, the sisters were not mentioned when Elizabeth gave Christianus lease-ownership over the rear part of the mill (Doppler, “Schepenbrieven […] Sint-Servaas”, nr. 545; 24 July 1355), but the swesteren may have been there still; Christianus, who owned several houses by the time of his death in late 1389/early 1390, probably resided elsewhere in 1355 (compare the situation with Christianus’ ownership of a house on the Vrijthof, inhabited by another person in c. 1360–1373: P. L. Nève and G. A. M. Van Synghel, eds, Een veertiende-eeuws register van de cijnzen van de Brabantse hertog in Lenculen en Maastricht. Bron voor de historische topografie van Maastricht en omgeving, Maastricht, Koninklijk Limburgs Geschied- en Oudheidkundig Genootschap, 2017, p. 113, and for his other houses, Doppler, “Schepenbrieven […] Sint-Servaas”, nrs. 351, 368, 468, 469). We must assume that the will was still valid at the time of Elizabeth’s death, which occurred after 26 March 1356 (ibid., nr. 545) because it was preserved without alterations by the Dominicans of Maastricht, who were given ownership over the newly founded beguine convent in the front part of the mill after Elizabeth’s death and were charged with the execution of the will, along with two aldermen and two of Elizabeth’s relatives. By 1377, however, Christianus was living in the Heggenstraat on the property previously owned by Elizabeth (MRHCL, Kapittel van Onze Lieve Vrouw, inv. nr. 971, fol. 2v) and neither swesteren nor beguines were living at the two former mills in 1408 (Doppler, “Schepenbrieven […] Sint-Servaas”, nr. 519).

d) In ruella Suls molendinarii

63A register of rents of the chapter of Our Lady of 1377 cites from the will of Gertrude de Brecsloer, who left 11 s. for repairs of “a most poor home of Swestriones in the street of miller Suls” (item legavit .xi. s. ut cum illis servaretur quedam pauperrima domus Swestrionum sita in ruella Suls molendinarij in parietibus et tecturis et sic custodiretur a ruina: MRHCL, Kapittel van Onze Lieve Vrouw, inv. nr. 971, fol. 29v). Gertrude lived as a beggina in a reclusorium at the cemetery of St Hilarius (where beguines resided throughout the fourteenth century) around 1350; she died after 15 September 1357 (MRHCL, Kapittel van Onze Lieve Vrouw, inv. nr. 525, fol. 32v, nr. 971, fol. 16v, and nr. 2131). The house of pauperes swestrices is mentioned again in 1369 (MRHCL, Kapittel van Onze Lieve Vrouw, inv. nr. 979, 6 June 1369), but was destroyed, probably by fire, before 1380 (ibid., inv. nr. 1564, fol. 14v). On the same site, but apparently without any connection to the original swestriones, a convent of female Tertiaries arose before 1442 (des zwesteren convente van sinte Franciscus orde: Doppler, “Schepenbrieven […] O. L. Vrouw”, p. 268, nr. 394).

e) At Aldenhof

64When the main beguinage of St Catharine moved to a new location (the Nieuwenhof) in 1264, some of the women stayed behind at the original site, now known as the Aldenhof, gathering close to a chapel dedicated to St Andrew. Beguines are occasionally mentioned in that area in the first half of the fourteenth century (see for instance MRHCL, Klooster der Predikheren, inv. nr. 91; 16 August 1326; MRHCL, Broederschap der kapelanen van Sint-Servaas, inv. nr. 4, fol. 19v; 27 April 1328). We then lose track of them. In 1426 the women living at the chapel of St Andrew were called swesteren in an agreement with the guild of the kortspoelders about their weaving of linen, and in 1431 they were swesteren ende zuesteren des convents van sinte Andries geheyten die werkende zuesteren. They then moved to a new site on the Maagdendries, where the sisters adopted a cloistered life according to the rule of the Franciscan Third Order (for the fifteenth-century sources, the move, and later developments, see Goudriaan, “Het klooster Maagdendries”). How and when the fourteenth-century beguines became swesteren remains unknown.

Mechelen, beghards

65See Vannérus, “Documents […] Malines”, p. 236-237, nr 1 (17 December 1284), and p. 246-249, nr. 7 (5 October 1320).

Middelburg, beghards

66KL ID nr. M33 has all available information.

Mons, swesteren

67With the help of Yolande of Elsloo, lady of Lens, two beguines set up a convent within the beguinage of Cantimpré in Mons before January 1351, when their foundation was given a more permanent footing through a deed issued by the main mistresses of the beguinage. At that time, the residents were Maroie de Maubier-Fontaine et Jehanne de Castiel et leur compaignes…povres volontaires, demandans pain pour l’amour de Dieu. The arrangement was confirmed in 1378 (Léopold Devillers, ed., Chartes du chapitre de Sainte-Waudru de Mons, vol. 2, Brussels, Kiessling, 1903, p. 294-296 and 585-586, nrs. 635 and 814). The sisters must be the forerunners of the women living in the same house who took vows as Augustinian Cellites in the late fifteenth century (see Vanden Bosch, Monasticon, p. 102-115, where the earlier history of the convent is not discussed).

Nivelles, beghards

68See Simons, “Worlds Apart?”, p. 116. By the end of the fourteenth century only a hermitage was left, which probably disappeared soon afterwards.

Roermond, beghards

69KL ID nr. R18 dates the earliest mention to 1346, since it was among the eighteen convents of the Franciscan Third Order joining a cooperation agreement on 29 September of that year, but the beghard convent existed already in 1322, see a charter of 6 April 1322 (ed. E.J. Harenberg et al., Oorkondenboek van Gelre en Zutphen tot 1326, The Hague, 1980, vol. 3, nr. 1322.04.06: camera…in opposito domus bachardorum sita).

Saint-Omer, beghards

70Only known from a charter recording a meeting of eighteen Tertiary convents in 1346 (see Part Two, note 28)

Saint-Omer, lollards

71Founded 17 November 1331 by Jakemes Foukiers, to house ly povre de volenté que on dist broot omme gode qui a present sont en le ville de Saint-Omer et cil qui apres y seront; in 1416-1417 they are locally known as povres freres Noolars. See A. Giry, “Analyse et extraits d’un registre des archives munipales de Saint-Omer, 1166-1778”, in Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de la Morinie, 15, 1874-1876, p. 65-317 at p. 88-89, nr. 28.

Sint-Truiden, beghards

72Individual beghards are attested in the city since 1253 (See Part One, notes 68 and 69). Historians have dated the foundation of a beghard convent to 1258, 1265 or 1274 (see for instance J. L. Charles, La ville de Saint-Trond au Moyen Âge. Des origines à la fin du XIV^e siècle, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1965, p. 206 and 277), without any evidence. The will of a beghard, Walter, leaving all his property to the poor of the beguinage of St Agnes in his city on 29 June 1275 (HA, Begijnhof Sint-Truiden, charter nr. 9) strongly suggests there was not yet a beghard convent at that time; it did exist, however, in October 1284, see the will of the beguine Katherina of Serkingen (ibid., nr. 13: beghardis in sancto Trudone ad communem pottum, .v. sol. lov., i.e. a gift to the common fund of the beghard house). The beghards adopted the rule of the Third Order by 11 March 1323, when their house was called conventu[s] fratrum penitentium de tertio ordine beati Francisci in sancto Trudone dictorum vulgo Beggarde; see also the codicil to the will of Otto Karoli, a priest of Sint-Truiden, of 4 March 1326, which refers to the fratribus quondam begardi nunc tertij ordinis beati Francisci (HA, Bogaarden Sint-Truiden, nr. 1, and Abdij Sint-Truiden, charter nr. 558, respectively).

Tienen, beghards

73According to a seventeenth-century reference in the archives of the Kapittel of Zepperen, the chapel of the local beghards was dedicated in 1277 (Andreozzi, “La congregazione”, p. 407, referring to dedications of the chapels of beghards in both Tienen and Maastricht, see above: Maastricht, Beghards). The convent is mentioned in Duke John II of Brabant’s charter for the city, of 24 February 1291, ed. P. V. Bets, Histoire de la ville et des institutions de Tirlemont, Louvain, C.-J. Fonteyn, 1860, vol. 1, p. 258-262, nr. 1; the convent’s continuous existence is confirmed in wills of 6 April 1312 and 25 February 1313 (LA, Dominikanenklooster Leuven, nrs. 416 and 417), but the earliest sign of membership in the Third Order comes only in 1346 (see Part Two, note 28).

Tienen, lollards

74The house is mentioned in a register of rents of the parochial Poor Table, written in 1340: in vico capelle Sancti Spiritus Thenensis… inter domos lollardorum et Franconis Gorst: Tienen, Stadsarchief, Armentafel, Cijnsboek 1340, fol. 18r. The brothers took vows as “Augustinian” Cellites in the 1460s. See Bets, Histoire…Tirlemont, vol. 2, p. 178.

Tournai, beghards

75See Michel Lauwers and Walter Simons, Béguins et Béguines à Tournai au Bas Moyen Âge. Les communautés béguinales à Tournai du XIII^e au XV^e siècle, Tournai and Louvain-la-Neuve, Archives du Chapitre Cathédral et Université Catholique de Louvain, 1988, p. 18.

Veurne, lollards

76On 6 June 1353, Steven Eglin and his wife Machtilt gave land with buildings in Veurne to the Poor Table of the St Denis parish, to be used by the “voluntary poor called lollards, who beg for their bread” (den ghewilleghe aermen lieden die men heet lollaerts, die hare broot bidden); if they were to leave again, the Poor Table was permitted to lodge other poor in it or rent it out, until the lollards returned to live there. A will of 1377 made bequests to both male and female lollards in Veurne (Item den lollaerds ende den lollighen elken twee scellinghen par). The house became a convent of Cellites who took vows to the Rule of St Augustine in the 1460s. All these data and further comments can be found in Van Acker, “Het ontstaan”, with edition of the 1353 charter on p. 155-156 (after Veurne, Stadsarchief, Oud Archief, Charters, nr. 56).

Ypres, beghards

77See Simons and Trio, “Begijnen, begarden en tertiarissen”, p. 138-139. The convent was abandoned around 1400 and taken over by male Tertiaries in 1407.

Zierikzee, beghards

78KL ID nr. Z12 has references to all the sources.

Zoutleeuw, beghards

79The convent is mentioned in a charter of Duke John II of Brabant for the city of Zoutleeuw, of 24 February 1291 (n.st.), ed. Jan Frans Willems, Rymkroniek van Jan van Heelu, Brussels, M. Hayez, 1836, p. 531-534, nr. CLXXVII (with a wrong date). The transition to the Franciscan Third Order occurred before 4 April 1328, when the brothers agreed to move to a new location (now the Bogaardenstraat), left to them by a priest, Renerus dictus de Colonia, presbiter de Lewis; there, they built a chapel dedicated to St Leonard: LA, KAB, nr. 14617.