Tongerlo Abbey is a Premonstratensian monastery at Tongerlo [1] in Westerlo near Antwerp, Belgium. [2]
Tongerlo Abbey is a Premonstratensian monastery at Tongerlo [1] in Westerlo near Antwerp, Belgium. [2]
It was founded in 1128 in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Giselbert of Kasterlee, who not only gave the land, but also himself became a lay brother in the new community. The first monks were sent from St. Michael's Abbey, Antwerp, under Henry, who had come with Saint Norbert, founder of the Premonstratensian Order, to Antwerp to extirpate the Tanchelmite heresies. The charter of its foundation was signed, amongst others, by Bernard of Clairvaux and by Waltman, first abbot of Antwerp. The Bishop of Cambrai granted synodal rights to the abbots. [2]
From small beginnings the abbey became influential in the district called Campine, now in north-east Belgium and the south of the Netherlands, then a wild area. The bishops of Cambrai, the chapters of Liège and Maastricht, and several landowners entrusted the charge of parishes, with the right of patronage, to the abbey. In time the abbey had to provide priests for some forty parishes in these parts.
With the erection of new dioceses (1559–60) in Belgium and the Netherlands, heavy burdens were cast on the abbey, for not only had it to provide funds for the new diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch, but the new bishop was put at its head as abbot. This state of affairs lasted until 1590, when, to obtain its independence, the abbey had to give up much property in support of the new diocese. The abbey was a centre of education. It possessed one of the largest libraries, and was able to take up the work of the Bollandists.
The rise of Calvinism in the Netherlands caused conflict. Three monks of Tongerlo became Catholic martyrs: Arnold Vessem and Hendrik Bosch in 1557, and Peter Janssens in 1572. In the seventeenth century Francis Wichmans of the abbey rallied local Catholics.
Adrianus Stalpaerts (1563–1629) was the 41st (according to other sources the 36th) abbot of Tongerlo, from 1608 until his death. Stalpaerts encouraged the pursuit of academic scholarship in the monastery. [3] From 1725 to 1732 Willem Ignatius Kerricx worked as an architect, sculptor and painter on the decorations for the Tongerlo Abbey and designed the new the abbot's residence.
The abbey's property was confiscated and sold by the French occupying forces in 1796, but in 1840 was bought back under its post-revolutionary re-founder, Peter Hubert Evermode Backx.
In 1899, under abbot Thomas Louis Heylen, a filiation was made to Manchester as Corpus Christi Priory. [4]
The abbey is also the site of a Leonardo da Vinci Museum, which contains a 16th-century copy on canvas of Leonardo's Last Supper , in approximately original size. The copy reveals many details that are no longer visible in the original fresco due to deterioration.
Norbert of Xanten, O. Praem (Xanten-Magdeburg), also known as Norbert Gennep, was a bishop of the Catholic Church, founder of the Premonstratensian order of canons regular, and is venerated as a saint. Norbert was canonized by Pope Gregory XIII in the year 1582, and his statue appears above the Piazza colonnade of St. Peter's Square in Rome.
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons, is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church founded in Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Norbert of Xanten, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg. Premonstratensians are designated by OPraem following their name.
A territorial abbey is a particular church of the Catholic Church comprising defined territory which is not part of a diocese but surrounds an abbey or monastery whose abbot or superior functions as ordinary for all Catholics and parishes in the territory. Such an abbot is called a territorial abbot or abbot nullius diœceseos. A territorial abbot thus differs from an ordinary abbot, who exercises authority only within the monastery's walls or to monks or canons who have taken their vows there. A territorial abbot is equivalent to a diocesan bishop in Catholic canon law.
Evermode, or Evermod, was one of the first Premonstratensian canons regular, and became the lifelong companion of Norbert of Xanten, who founded the order in France in 1120.
Prémontré Abbey was the mother house of the Premonstratensian Order and was located at Prémontré about twelve miles west of Laon, département of Aisne, France.
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Postel Abbey is a Premonstratensian abbey in the Belgian municipality of Mol in the province of Antwerp.
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Bonne-Espérance Abbey was a Premonstratensian abbey that existed from 1130 to the end of the 18th century, located in Vellereille-les-Brayeux in the Walloon municipality of Estinnes, province of Hainaut, Diocese of Tournai, in present-day Belgium.
The Diocese of Antwerp is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. The diocese was restored in 1961. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. Its cathedra is found within the Cathedral of Our Lady.
Francis Wichmans (1596–1661), in religion Augustinus, was a Premonstratensian spiritual author, missionary, and abbot of Tongerlo Abbey. In the last capacity he sat in the First Estate of the States of Brabant.
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Newsham Abbey was an abbey in Newsham, a small hamlet north of Brocklesby village in Lincolnshire, England, and one of nine within the historical county. Founded by Peter of Gousla in 1143, Newsham was a daughter house of the Abbey of Licques, near Calais, and the first Premonstratensian house established in England.
Daylesford Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery of Canons Regular of Premontre, located in Chester County, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles west of Philadelphia. The Abbey is named after Daylesford, Pennsylvania, where the Norbertine Fathers established the foundation that developed into the Abbey.
Thomas Louis Heylen OPraem (1856–1941) was a Belgian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the twenty-sixth bishop of Namur in Belgium (1899–1941). He also served as President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.
Tongerlo is a village and deelgemeente (sub-municipality) of the municipality of Westerlo in the province of Antwerp, Belgium. The village is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south-east of the city of Herentals. Tongerlo is best known for Tongerlo Abbey founded in 1128 which became one of the most important abbeys of Belgium.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abbey of Tongerloo". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. 51°06′19.04″N4°54′22.95″E / 51.1052889°N 4.9063750°E
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