Begijnhof Chapel (Amsterdam)

The Begijnhof Chapel
Church of St John and St Ursula
The Begijnhof with the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam on the left and the Begijnhof Chapel on the right.
52°22′9″N 4°53′23″E / 52.36917°N 4.88972°E / 52.36917; 4.88972
Location	Begijnhof 30 1012 RM Amsterdam
Country	Netherlands
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	www.begijnhofamsterdam.nl
Architecture
Years built	1665 (date the schuilkerk was founded)
Administration
Parish	Amsterdam St Nicholas
Diocese	Haarlem

The Begijnhof Chapel, dedicated to Saint John and Saint Ursula, is a Roman Catholic chapel run by the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, in the St Nicholas Parish of Amsterdam. It is located in a former schuilkerk in the Begijnhof across from its original location, the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam. The Miracle of Amsterdam is commemorated yearly with a procession starting from this church.

Around 1150, a group of women came together to live in a religious community, primarily to look after the sick. These were the first 'Beguines’ although the name was not yet used. The women were not nuns and nor did they live in the seclusion of a convent. They had no founders nor did they make lifelong vows. They were unmarried women who made a vow of chastity and promised obedience to the parish priest, but since they were not expected to make a vow of poverty, they were free to dispose of their own possessions as they wished. They could renounce their vows at any moment and leave the Beguinage, for instance, to get married. We do not know exactly when the Beguinage was founded. According to the Amsterdam City Archives, the first time the word ‘beguines’ was used was in an official document of 1307 found in the accounts of the Bailiff of Amstelland. Another document, dated 31 July 1346, speaks of the Beghijnhuis (house of the Beguines) ceded to them by one Cope van der Laene on St Peter’s Eve.

As early as 1397 the Beguines had a small chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. On 17 October 1419, after the enlargement of the Beguinage, Matthias, titular Bishop of Biduane (a small town on the Adriatic), in his capacity as vicar-general of Frederic III, Bishop of Utrecht, solemnly consecrated a new chapel. This chapel, with its own burial ground, was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the apostle Matthew. The church was badly damaged during the two great fires of 23 April 1421 and 25 May 1452. After its restoration, it was re-dedicated. The Beguines themselves paid for the rebuilding and restoration. When a Beguine died, she was buried in the church, as was common at the time. There was, however, one special, well-known exception: Mistress Cornelia Arens. In her lifetime, the church had turned from a Catholic to a Protestant place of worship, and so she refused to be buried in it, asking to be placed in the ‘wide church path near the gutter’. Despite her wish, when she died on 14 October 1654, she was at first buried in the church and only on 2 May 1655 was she reburied against the church wall outside. Later on, because of work on this wall, her grave was moved to the edge of the bleaching field. Every year on 2 May, her grave is still adorned with flowers.