There is much uncertainty about the foundation date of the beguinage ter Hoyen. There was probably a group of women at the site where the beguinage now stands as early as the 13th century. The women obtained their own chapel with a cemetery and a priest. This was essential for the process of independence. Hooie or Hoye is the name of the meadow on which the beguinage was built. Devoted to Mary, the name Our Lady ter Hoyen naturally followed.
Throughout its history, the Beguinage faced many threats, including the Iconoclasm of 1566, the Calvinist Republic of Ghent and French rule after the French Revolution. Yet the court managed to withstand these threats. In the 17th century, the beguinage experienced its greatest period of prosperity. The Catholic Church then did everything possible to restore the faith after the Reformation. At the end of the 18th century, the beguinage declined. There were not enough revenues to maintain the beguinage. As a result, the German Duke of Arenberg bought the beguinage in 1862. After World War I, all the duke's possessions were sold as he was a German national. Meanwhile, the beguines in ter Hoyen had plans to purchase the beguinage themselves. This took place in 1924. The beguinage set up its own non-profit organisation and proceeded with the purchase. After the Second World War, the gradual decline of the beguinage could no longer be halted. In 1963, the beguinage was protected through a Royal Decree. Restoration began in the 1990s, during which the restored houses, mostly from the 17th century, were painted red. Since 5 December 1998, the beguinage has been declared a World Heritage Site, recognised by UNESCO. Meanwhile, the convents and the houses were given new functions. In September 2004, the last Beguine Hermina Hoogewijs († 2005) moved to the convent of the Apostle Sisters in Wetteren due to health problems. With this, beguine life in ter Hoyen was extinguished for good. Today, the cottages and convents are leased or rented out. The traces we see today are those of the 17th-century beguinage. The beguinage comprises the church, the grand house, the infirmary, the Godelieve chapel, the presbytery and sub-presbytery, ninety houses and seven convents.
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Beguines first appeared shortly after 1200. With the rising popularity of religiosity, new forms were sought to live a religious and pious life. Numerous new monasteries sprang up. Also new was a life as a beguine.
Initially, beguines lived scattered in the city. Later, they started living together, preferably near a church or a chapel. Gradually, this community of women grew into a small town within a larger city. At first, the church reacted suspiciously to this women's movement. Thanks to the mediation of the French bishop Jacques de Vitry, Pope Honorius III exceptionally allowed the beguine movement in the Low Countries. Only beguines who voluntarily went to live together under the supervision of a male monk or a secular priest were tolerated. So women were not separate from the church hierarchy.
All houses and convents have a continuous wall with an entrance gate. A convent was a communal dwelling where less affluent Beguines and aspiring Beguines lived. They were led by a convent mistress.
There are seven convents in total in the beguinage, situated around the courtyard. Most of the convents were rebuilt in the 17th century in the Gothic style. In addition to the communal kitchen, refectory, study, and parlor , each beguine had her own cell as a bedroom. The number of resident beguines per convent varied from six to thirty. Often, beguines who were relatives or from the region lived in the same convent.
Since the Beguines were self-sufficient, they had no choice but to roll up their sleeves daily. They made sheets, made or spun lace, and sewed and mended clothing. In 1793, they even sewed shirts for the French army. Nursing sisters worked in the infirmary but could also offer their services outside the court to family or acquaintances. In addition, some Beguines taught.
The Houses
The beguinage had a total of 89 houses, the oldest of which date back to the 17th century . Some houses were very spacious. Anyone with sufficient capital could apply for a house. Upon death or resignation, the house reverted to the beguinage's patrimony without compensation. Some beguines were assisted by a maid .
The Church
The medieval church has disappeared today. In 1657, Grand Master Philipotte Dysembaert decided that the old building had to be demolished to make way for a completely new church in the (Flemish) Renaissance style .
Due to a lack of financial resources, construction stopped in 1660 and the church was then closed off with a wooden facade.
In 1710, the new Grand Master Isabelle Françoise van Hoorebeke resumed construction. She wanted to finish the church in the Baroque style , rather than in the original Renaissance style. The new plans met with resistance from the clergy, who considered a more austere style more appropriate. Van Hoorebeke, however, stood her ground and, after much wrangling, was given the responsibility to build the church as she saw fit. It became a richly decorated church.
Although the church is the result of two construction campaigns, it appears to have been completed in a single blow. A statue of the Virgin and Child adorns the facade centrally. The large niches on either side contain statues of Saint Aya and Saint Godelieve . The second section has a round-arched window between pilasters and a crowning curved pediment on cherub heads; the corner pedestals bear decorative vases. In the bell-shaped attic, a dated cartouche " 1725 " and decorative vases with flames adorn the corners.
The church houses the large polyptych painted by Lucas Horenbault in 1596 .
On the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple, or the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, the Church celebrates the moment Mary's parents presented her in the Temple. In this way, the Church celebrates that Mary, filled with the Holy Spirit, was completely consecrated to the Lord from her Immaculate Conception.
The festival is not based on biblical texts but on the Proto-Gospel of James. It recounts that Joachim and Anna, out of gratitude for her miraculous birth, dedicated Mary to God in the temple, where she remained until puberty.
In the Catholic Church, it is a memorial day celebrated on November 21st . In the Orthodox Church, it is one of the 12 Great Feasts, where it is called the Presentation of the Mother of God in the Temple. It has been celebrated in the East since the eighth century. Later, clergy from Constantinople introduced the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary to the West.
The Polyptych
The large polyptych "The Fountain of Life" was painted by Lucas Horenbault in 1596. The inscriptions below and on the polyptych are in Dutch instead of the usual Latin. The choice of Dutch was undoubtedly out of respect for the uneducated Beguines.
The blood from Christ's five wounds flows into the upper basin of The Fountain of Life, which is centrally visible in the painting. The celestials hold their golden chalices of blood in their hands. The martyrs add their blood to that of Christ. Below, the kneeling faithful, led by the pope, offer their hearts to receive drops of blood. In the lower left corner are the heads and hands of the souls in purgatory. In the right corner of the central panel are the kings and the scholars. They kneel with their backs to the fountain. They are the unbelievers and heretics who reject the dogmas of the Catholic Church. In the outer wings, the Old Testament is depicted on the left and the New Testament on the right. The dogmas and the core of the Catholic faith are depicted. The Catholic faith is the only source of grace. Heresies lead only to hell.
(Photo: Peter Van Lancker)
The Godelieve Chapel
The chapel at the infirmary assumed an important role from the mid-16th century onward. At that time, a small amount of the petrified blood of Saint Godelieve was donated to the beguinage. In 1659, Pastor Rochus de Scheemaecker and Grand Mistress Philipotte Dysembaert gave a significant boost to the celebration of Saint Godelieve.
The blood relic was then exchanged for a piece of the skull. Veneration increased so much that the infirmary chapel was named the Godelieve Chapel. Due to the large influx of devotees, the chapel was enlarged around 1725. It became a popular pilgrimage site for eye and throat ailments. At the end of the 18th century, the chapel assumed its current form.
The beguine movement should not be confused with a monastic order. Nuns took a perpetual vow of obedience, chastity and poverty. The Beguines declared to live soberly and in chastity for a certain period of time.
So they did not take a vow of poverty. Within the beguinage, women kept their possessions and consequently continued to live according to their rank. On the other hand, a beguine had to provide for her own livelihood. The beguines combined work and church. The beguines were free to leave the beguinage at any time, even to marry. In the béguinage, women of different ages, unmarried or widowed, lived together according to the principles of the Rule that they had to respect as beguines. All aspects of daily life and social relations were carefully defined in the Rule. These precepts were read aloud twice a year in each convent in the presence of all the beguines and aspiring beguines.
