Antwerp's St Andrew's Church, a revelation.
A monument throughout history...
| GENERAL HISTORY | DATE | HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ST ANDREW | |
| R
O M E |
birth of Jesus in Bethlehem | 4 BCE | |
| Jesus crucified in Jerusalem | 33 | ||
| the apostles spread Jesus’ message | |||
| martyrdom of Andrew in Patras | 66 | ||
| Edict of Milan: religious freedom for Christians | 313 | ||
| M
I D D L
A G E S |
Christianisation of the Low Countries | 7th century | first Antwerp parish church, dedicated to St Peter and Paul (in the vicinity of today’s Sint-Michielskaai (Quay of St Michael)) |
| Norman invasion | 837 | church restored and dedicated to St Michael | |
| 1124 | Chapel A small church that is not a parish church. It may be part of a larger entity such as a hospital, school, or an alms-house, or it may stand alone. An enclosed part of a church with its own altar. of Our Lady becomes (only) parish church Church of St Michael becomes abbeyA set of buildings used by monks or nuns. Only Cistercians, Benedictines, Norbertines and Trappists have abbeys. An abbey strives to be self-sufficient. church of the Norbertines |
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| 1470 | Mint building established on Oever-Muntstraat (Mint Street) | ||
| privileges for foreign merchants: start of Antwerp’s Golden Age | 1488 | ||
| M
O D E R N
P E R I O D |
Christopher Columbus in America | 1492 | |
| ca.1512 | Augustinian settlement on Boeksteeg-Augustijnenstraat | ||
| 1514 | start of construction monasteryComplex of buildings in which members of a religious order live together. They follow the rule of their founder. The oldest monastic orders are the Carthusians, Dominicans, Franciscans, and Augustinians [and their female counterparts]. Note: Benedictines, Premonstratensians, and Cistercians [and their female counterparts] live in abbeys; Jesuits in houses. church | ||
| Martin Luther publishes his theses in Wittenberg | 1517 | Antwerp Augustinians study in Wittenberg | |
| 11/10/1522 | expulsion of Augustinians; closure of church and monastery | ||
| 01/07/1523 | two Augustinians are burnt at the stake in Brussels | ||
| 1523 | Pope Adrian VI approves establishment of parish | ||
| 29/05/1529 | establishment of St Andrew parish | ||
| 06/06/1529 | inauguration of church, churchyard and main altarThe altar is the central piece of furniture used in the Eucharist. Originally, an altar used to be a sacrificial table. This fits in with the theological view that Jesus sacrificed himself, through his death on the cross, to redeem mankind, as symbolically depicted in the painting “The Adoration of the Lamb” by the Van Eyck brothers. In modern times the altar is often described as “the table of the Lord”. Here the altar refers to the table at which Jesus and his disciples were seated at the institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper. Just as Jesus and his disciples did then, the priest and the faithful gather around this table with bread and wine. | ||
| 1530 | consecrationIn the Roman Catholic Church, the moment when, during the Eucharist, the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, the so-called transubstantiation, by the pronouncement of the sacramental words. of eight side altars | ||
| CouncilA large meeting of ecclesiastical office holders, mainly bishops, presided by the pope, to make decisions concerning faith, church customs, etc. A council is usually named after the place where it was held. Examples: the Council of Trent [1645-1653] and the Second Vatican Council [1962-1965], which is also the last council for the time being. of Trent | 1545-1563 | ||
| 1555 | construction of transepts (and aisles?) | ||
| 1557 | Philip II attends massThe liturgical celebration in which the Eucharist is central. It consists of two main parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The main parts of the Liturgy of the Word are the prayers for mercy, the Bible readings, and the homily. The Liturgy of the Eucharist begins with the offertory, whereby bread and wine are placed on the altar. This is followed by the Eucharistic Prayer, during which the praise of God is sung, and the consecration takes place. Fixed elements are also the praying of the Our Father and a wish for peace, and so one can symbolically sit down at the table with Jesus during Communion. Mass ends with a mission (the Latin missa, from which ‘Mass’ has been derived): the instruction to go out into the world in the same spirit. | ||
| establishment of Antwerp diocese | 1559 | completion of tower; bells, carillon | |
| 1559 | pulpit (by Filip Terrewin) donated by the Fugger family | ||
| Iconoclastic Fury | 1566 | destruction of church interior | |
| 1567 | reconsecration of church | ||
| Antwerp under Calvinist Rule | 1577-1585 | ||
| 1578 | division of church space through use of partition: ‘purified nave’ for Calvinists, transeptThe transept forms, as it were, the crossbeam of the cruciform floor plan. The transept consists of two semi transepts, each of which protrudes from the nave on the left and right. space for Catholics |
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| Catholic services ‘suspended’ | 1581 | expulsion of Catholics; demolition of transept and choirIn a church with a cruciform floor plan, the part of the church that lies on the side of the nave opposite to the transept. The main altar is in the choir. | |
| Farnese reconquers Antwerp for Spain | 11/09/1585 | church reconsecrated for Catholic worship | |
| decapitation of Mary Stuart | 1587 | ||
| 1593 | Philip II donates for the new main altar | ||
| 1599 | Martyrdom of St Andrew (by Otto van Veen) | ||
| 1601 | triptych for the minters’ altar (by Maerten de Vos) | ||
| 1603 | Calvary Holy Cross altar (by Frans Francken the Elder) | ||
| 1611, 1614 | baptismThrough this sacrament, a person becomes a member of the Church community of faith. The core of the event is a ritual washing, which is usually limited to sprinkling the head with water. Traditionally baptism is administered by a priest, but nowadays it is often also done by a deacon. of Rubens’ first children: Clara and Albert | ||
| 1620 | epitaph of Mary Stuart’s ladies-in-waiting | ||
| After 1658 | epitaph statue for Peter Saboth († 1658) (by Artus Quellinus the Elder) | ||
| 1659-1661 | vaulting of the naveThe rear part of the church which is reserved for the congregation. The nave extends to the transept. | ||
| 1661-1663 | construction of the transept | ||
| 1663-1664 | construction of the choir; relocation of the main altar to the choir | ||
| 1664-1665 | Holy Cross altar (by Cornelis van Mildert) | ||
| 1666-1683 | construction of the Venerable Chapel | ||
| 1667 | Holy Guardian Angel (by Erasmus Quellinus II) | ||
| 1671-1672 | sanctuary of the Holy Cross altar (by Jan and Jan-Anthoni Van den Cruyce) | ||
| 1673-1674 | altar of St Anne (by Jan Van den Cruyce) | ||
| 1678-1683 | construction of the Mary Chapel | ||
| 1679 ff | Venerable Altar (by Lodewijk Willemsens ?) | ||
| 1685-1686 | vaulting of the transept | ||
| 1687 | Last Supper Venerable Altar (by P. IJskens) | ||
| 1689 | *Fraternity of Our Lady of Sustention and Victory | ||
| Ca. 1691 | design sketches for the main altar (by Hendrik Frans Verbruggen) | ||
| 1720 | sanctuary of altar of St Anne (by Michiel Van der Voort I) | ||
| 30/05/1755 | Tower collapsed onto the south aisleLengthwise the nave [in exceptional cases also the transept] of the church is divided into aisles. An aisle is the space between two series of pillars or between a series of pillars and the outer wall. Each aisle is divided into bays. | ||
| 1756-1763 | construction of baroque tower (by Engelbert Baets) | ||
| 1761 | construction of sacristyThe room where the priest(s), the prayer leader(s) and the altar server(s) and/or acolyte(s) prepare and change clothes for Mass. (current sacristy annexes) | ||
| 1765-1769 | expansion of choir and presbytery | ||
| marriage of the princess of Salm-Salm | 1769 | blue cloak of statue of Our Lady of Sustention and Victory | |
| 1773-1776 | wainscoting and confessionals in the south aisle (by Willem Roefs and Michel Ignatius D’Heur) | ||
| 1782-1785 | wainscoting and confessionals in the north aisle (by Willem Roefs) | ||
| Joseph II of Austria: prohibition of burials in churches and cities | 1784 | burial grounds of St Andrew parish moved to Kiel;
henceforth only memorials inside the church |
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| abolition of the Brabant minters’ guild | 16/11/1786 | abolition of minters’ altar of St Eligius | |
| L
A T A E
M O D E R N
P E R I O D |
French Revolution | 1789 | |
| Southern Netherlands occupied by France | 1794 | sale of church silver for war taxes | |
| Southern Netherlands annexed by France | 1795 | ||
| anti-Catholic law in effect | 28/09/1797 | nationalisation and closure of churches | |
| 1798 | statue of St Peter (by Artus Quellinus the Elder) and minters’ triptych (by Maerten De Vos) confiscated for the École Centrale | ||
| 05/08/1798 | church reopening through the efforts of Jan-Michiel Timmermans (priestIn the Roman Catholic Church, the priest is an unmarried man ordained as a priest by the bishop, which gives him the right to administer the six other sacraments: baptism, confirmation, confession, Eucharist, marriage, and the anointing of the sick. swearing allegiance to the state) | ||
| 1799 | confinement and escape of priest Alexander Van der Stallen | ||
| Concordat Pius VII – Napoleon Bonaparte | 1801 | ||
| abolition of Antwerp diocese | 06/08/1802 | church officially reopened and available for services | |
| 1802 | donation of the relics of 36 Saints (from the Abbey of Pieter Pot) | ||
| 02/05/1803 | priest Alexander Van der Stallen is reinstated | ||
| 1803 | St Peter’s statue returned to the church | ||
| 1805-1809 | placement of main altar from the Abbey of St Bernard (Hemiksem) | ||
| 03/12/1812 | baptism of Hendrik Conscience [Flemish author] | ||
| Dutch Rule | 1814 | ||
| 1821-1825 | baroque pulpit (by Jan Frans Van Geel and Jan-Baptist Van Hool) | ||
| 1828-1829 | classicist-baroque rood screenA (usually decorated) screen that separates the choir or chancel from the transept and the nave. This makes the chancel an enclosed chapel within the church. On the rood screen there is usually a triumphal cross and sometimes an organ. In Antwerp, St. James’s still has such a rood screen and a little further away, in Lier, St. Gummarus’s church. | ||
| Belgian independence | 1830 | ||
| shelling of St Andrew’s quarter | 07/10/1830 | tower hit during bombardment | |
| Dutch occupation of the Zuidkasteel | 1830-1832 | tower used as Belgian observation post, a.o. by King Leopold I | |
| 1838 | silver apron of Mary statue (by Jan Verschuylen) | ||
| 1845 | relicA remnant of the body of a saint or a (part of) an object that has been in contact with a saint, Jesus, or Mary. The very first sanctuaries were built on graves of saints. Remnants of these saints were distributed to other churches and chapels. The first altars were usually the sarcophagi of the saints. Hence the custom of placing relics under the altar stone. Relics are also kept in shrines, and sometimes displayed in reliquaries. shrineA decorated casket in which a relic is preserved. of 36 Saints (by Jan Verschuylen) | ||
| 1845-1857 | Calvary (by 12 painters) | ||
| 1851-1852 | construction of presbytery (by Pieter Paul Stoop) | ||
| 1855 | first neo-gothic stained glass window (by Jan-Frans Pluys) | ||
| 1863 | pageantry cloak of Mary statue (by studio Remigius Orban) | ||
| 1863 | upper nave windows, with balcony | ||
| 1866 | sacristy (J. Van Hall) | ||
| 1863-1892 | neo-gothic stained glass windows (by Capronnier, Dobbelaere, de Béthune, Stalins-Janssens, and De Craene) | ||
| explosion of the Corvilain powder mill | 26/09/1889 | shattering of the stained glass windows of the north aisle and of the Mary Chapel | |
| 1870-1874 | construction of Sunday school in Augustijnenstraat (by L. Baeckelmans) | ||
| First World War | 1914-1918 | ||
| 1920 | south transept stained glass window St Andrew (G. Barry) | ||
| 1922 | monument for the fallen of WW I | ||
| 1929 | 400 year jubilee: electric organ, tower concert, relic shrine Boat of Amalfi (by Jos Junes) |
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| 1938 | church becomes protected monument | ||
| Second World War | 1940-1945 | ||
| V-bombs after liberation: explosions on Vrijdagmarkt | 02/01/1945 | shattering of the stained glass windows of the north side | |
| reestablishment of Antwerp diocese | 1961 | demolition of the wooden tower lantern | |
| 1963-1966 | stained glass windows of north side, south aisle, presbytery (by Jan Huet) | ||
| 1968-1973 | restoration of tower and reconstruction of tower lantern | ||
| 1970-1975 | restoration of interior | ||
| 1983 | collapse of sacristy of Mary Chapel | ||
| 2001 | Mary’s robe (by Ann Demeulemeester) | ||
| 2001 | reconstruction of minters’ altar | ||
| 2002 2007 |
construction (by Jan Frateur) and opening treasury |
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| 2003 2004 |
relocation of Calvary, restoration of Purgatory |
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| 2003-2006 | rebuilding of basement and winter chapel as meeting-spaces | ||
| 2012 | What Is Truth? (by Alain Senez) |
