Abbey of Middelburg

Middelburg Abbey (The Abbey of our Lady)
Abdij van Middelburg (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe abdij)
The main surviving facade of Middelburg Abbey
Middelburg Abbey Location of Middelburg Abbey in Zeeland
General information
Town or city	Middelburg
Country	Netherlands
Coordinates	51°30′1″N 3°36′56″E / 51.50028°N 3.61556°E / 51.50028; 3.61556Coordinates: 51°30′1″N 3°36′56″E / 51.50028°N 3.61556°E / 51.50028; 3.61556

Middelburg Abbey (The Abbey of our Lady) is a former Premonstratensian abbey in Middelburg. At one time it was the centre of a large monastic complex.

Today parts of what survives are used for a museum and as offices. Located approximately 65 km (40 mies) west of Bergen op Zoom, Middelburg is the principal town and regional capital of Zeeland in the Netherlands.

The origins of the abbey go back to the early twelfth century or earlier. Premonstratensian monks arrived from St. Michael's Abbey, Antwerp in 1127, creating a monastery on the site of a former Carolingian stronghold. The monks established a large religious foundation, eventually incorporating two churches. The monastic foundation also held extensive lands on Walcheren (then an island) and in Zeeland.

In 1401 the abbey was brought under direct papal control. Many of the monastic buildings were destroyed in a fire in 1492. Another fire, in 1568 was focused on the two monastic churches. Today many of the surviving buildings from the monastic period (including the so-called "new church") are in the late Medieval Gothic style, and date from a rebuilding in the second part of the sixteenth century.

An important sixteenth century abbot was Nicolaas van der Borcht who in 1559 became the first bishop in the newly formed (and short-lived) .

Monastic life came to an end in 1574 when the Spanish defenders under Cristóbal de Mondragón capitulated to the (Protestant) Dutch separatists at the end of the two year Siege of Middelburg. While negotiating the surrender of the town William of Orange had given guarantees that the clergy would be left alone, but both the abbey and Roman Catholicism in Middelburg were nevertheless forcibly terminated.