Egmond: Adelbertusabdij

Benedictine abbey, dedicated to St Adelbertus, whose veneration started with his death and burial ca 740 in Egmond. On his grave a church was built, and Egmond developed into a place of pilgrimage. In the early 10th century his relics were transferred (by count Dirk I) to a women's abbey nearby, where a new chapel was built. Ca 950-975 the nuns were replaced by monks coming from St. Pietersabdij in Gent (or was it Baafsabdij? See Ganda et Blandinium p. 32). The founders of the abbey were Count Dirk II and Countess Hildegard and it was property of the counts ('grafelijk eigenklooster'). See for the year of foundation Gumbert, pp. 34-36.

During the 11th and early 12th centuries the Adelbertusabdij was an important centre; later on its power reduced. However, the abbey was not very large and it never housed more than ca 35 monks.

In 1130 the consuetudines of Cluny were imposed by abbot Wouter, coming from the Pietersabdij Gent. In 1140 the abbey was placed directly under papal authority.
In 1491 it was forced to join the Bursfelder Congregatie. It was disbanded in 1573 during the 'Beleg van Alkmaar'.

Many relics were preserved in the abbey. The most important of these were those of St Adelbert and St Jeroen (Hieron); there were also many smaller relics (see: Hof, pp. 239-242).

In the 20th century the Adelbertusabdij was refounded on the same place, in 1935 as a priory, from 1950 onwards as an abbey.

Manuscripts

* NL-DHk 76 F 1, Evangeliarium, 3rd quarter 9th century
* Haarlem, RA (olim Den Haag, ARA), Egmond, inv. 826, Ordo, written by the armarius Hendrik van Son, 1489-1490
* F-Pn lat 13925, Ordinarius de observantia Bursfeldensis, 1502
* NL-Hs 165 A 10 (in loan by Egmond abbey), printed missal for the Unie van Bursfeld, extended with some proper feasts of Egmond abbey, 1518

Three manuscripts have been attributed to the Adalbertusabdij in the past, but it turned out that they have belonged to the Abdij Rijnsburg (Egmond of Rijnsburg? in: De abdij van Egmond. Geschreven en beschreven):

* NL-DHk 71 J 70, Hymnal, 15th century
* NL-DHk 73 E 8, Antiphoner summer part, 2nd half 15th century
* B-Br II 3825, Graduale, 2nd half 15th century

A sequentiary fragment, Leuven, CB, 12th century, containing a sequence for St. Adelbertus, may have belonged to Egmond abbey or its surroundings, or to Abdij Rijnsburg.

In Boeren, Catalogus ..., p. 52, some more Egmond manuscripts are mentioned; see also Hof pp. 215-239 on the liturgy and the liturgical sources.

The flyleaves of NL-Hs 165 A 10 may be from an Egmond breviary.

Literature

Egmondse Studiën

* Heiligenlevens, Annalen en Kronieken (Egmondse Studiën 1)
* Egmond tussen kerk en wereld (Egmondse Studiën 2)
* In het spoor van Egbert (Egmondse Studiën 3)
* De abdij van Egmond. Geschreven en beschreven (Egmondse Studiën 4)

And further

* Hof: De abdij van Egmond (with bibliography)
* P.A. Meilink e.a.: Het Archief van de abdij van Egmond ('s-Gravenhage, Algemeen Rijksarchief, 1951)

and much more.

NB: The archive of Egmond has been transferred from the Algemeen Rijksarchief Den Haag to the Rijksarchief Haarlem. Microfilms are in the ARA Den Haag.

The present abbey's library

The abbey does not possess any manuscripts, but it holds for loan an Egmond missal: NL-Hs 165 A 10, printed missal, 1518.


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Last change: Thu 13 March 2003