Proveniershuis

The Proveniershuis is a hofje and former schutterij on the Grote Houtstraat in Haarlem, Netherlands.

The complex of buildings surrounds a rectangular garden taking up a city block that is on the Haarlem hofje route. Unlike hofjes that were meant for poor elderly women, the homes around this courtyard are much larger, and the garden itself is about twice the normal size. The reason is because these inhabitants were men who actually paid rent to live there, as opposed to hofje inhabitants who had no income to spend on rent. Most hofjes were for women, because they were able to run their own modest household, usually as a member of a "hofje team" in various responsible roles. Men were generally less able to take care of themselves and were thus dependant on the "preuves" in the form of simple meals and services that were paid for from rents.

This home for Haarlem proveniers was founded in 1707 by the city council to house elderly men. The main buildings are much older than that. The entire site was once a nunnery, called the St. Michielsklooster, from the 14th century up to the Protestant Reformation, when all church lands reverted to the city council. The Haarlem archives still have a first-hand account of one of the original nuns, Elisabeth Verhagen, who was moved to a house on the Begijnhof after the reformation. She complained of the plundering of her old cloister and the fact that all the sisters were split up and sent to live elsewhere. They had to make room for the St. Joris Doelen, or St. George Militia.

In 1577, the city council refurbished the main buildings to house the Haarlem schutterij called the "Oude schuts", and since before the reformation they had been a guild with patron saint St. Joris, or St. George, this was called the St. Jorisdoelen, or St. George militia target field. The garden was converted to include two shooting lanes; one for bow and arrow, and one for the blunderbuss. The fancy St. Joris militiamen, who during the course of the 17th-century met more often together for shooting practise than for fighting or policing the streets, were painted several times in schutterstukken, most notably by militia member Frans Hals.

...
Wikipedia