Saint Bavo's Abbey

Saint Bavo's Abbey (Dutch: Sint-Baafsabdij) is a former abbey in the currently Belgian city of Ghent. It was founded in the 7th century by Saint Amand, who also founded Saint Peter's Abbey, Ghent, near the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers. Originally, the abbey was also called Ganda, a name of Celtic origin, meaning "river mouth", referring to the Leie river debouching into the Scheldt river.

Saint Bavo's Abbey on a map dated 1534, not long before the demolition

Painting of Lucas de Heere. The view of the city of Ghent in 1540. In front we see the Saint Bavo's abbey which was destroyed by Charles V.^[1]

In the 9th century, the abbey was raided twice by Vikings, which made the monks flee to Laon. After an absence of nearly 50 years, they came back to Ghent and re-established the abbey. The German emperor Otto II saw the abbey as a strategic defense point on the Scheldt river (the former border between the Holy Roman Empire and West Francia) in his eternal conflict with Louis V of France.

Saint Bavo Church in Aardenburg, Netherlands, was founded by monks of the abbey in 959. John of Gaunt, the fourth son of Edward III of England and father of Henry IV of England, was born in the abbey in 1340.

Raphael de Mercatellis was abbot of the abbey from 1478, and used money from the abbey to commission lavish illuminated manuscripts.^[2]

In 1540, Charles V ordered the destruction of the abbey.^[3] A coercion castle, with its cannons directed at Ghent, was built on the location of the abbey.

References

1. "Zicht op de stad Gent, de toestand voor 1540 weergevend, gemaakt voor de Proost van Sint-Baafs Viglius ab Aytta in 1564.Gemaakt voor 60 fl. door Lucas d'Heere; hersteld in 1677 door J.B. Herqueau. Zicht genomen van een plaats tussen de Dendermondse en de Antwerpse Poort". lib.ugent.be. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
2. Arnould, Alain (1988). "The Iconographical Sources of a Composite Manuscript from the Library of Raphael de Mercatellis". Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. 51: 197–209. doi:10.2307/751276. JSTOR 751276. S2CID 195012366. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
3. Arnade, Peter (2018-09-05). Beggars, Iconoclasts, and Civic Patriots: The Political Culture of the Dutch Revolt. Cornell University Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-5017-2671-2.

 

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