The Our Lady’s Cathedral of Antwerp, a revelation.
How a monument follows history
| GENERAL HISTORY | HISTORY OUR LADY’S CATHEDRALThe main church of a diocese, where the bishop’s seat is. | ||
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Jesus is born in Bethlehem | 4 BC | |
| Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem Apostles spread Jesus’ message |
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| Edict of Milan: freedom of worship for Christians | 313 | ||
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Eloy, Amand and Willibrord act as missionaries in Antwerp | 7th century | First small church devoted to Saints Peter and Paul |
| Viking raids | 837 | Repaired church devoted to SaintThis is a title that the Church bestows on a deceased person who has lived a particularly righteous and faithful life. In the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church, saints may be venerated (not worshipped). Several saints are also martyrs. Michael | |
| Godfrey of Bouillon’s crusade | 1095-1099 | (later) legend of the Holy Prepuce | |
| 1e half 11th century |
(pre-Romanesque) Our Lady’s 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. |
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| 1124 | Foundation of Saint Michael’s AbbeyA set of buildings used by monks or nuns. Only Cistercians, Benedictines, Norbertines and Trappists have abbeys. An abbey strives to be self-sufficient. | ||
| Ca. 1130 | Our Lady’s Chapel becomes a collegiate parish church | ||
| 1275 | Construction of Romanesque Our Lady’s church | ||
| 1289 | A Gothic chapel is added | ||
| 1352-1413 | Construction of the Gothic church 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. | ||
| 1398 | Annual big procession on the Sunday after 15th August | ||
| Ca. 1420 | Foundations of the Northern tower | ||
| 1422 | Construction of the Northern tower; building site levelled up | ||
| Ca. 1430 | Foundations of the Southern tower; building site levelled up | ||
| 1455-1482 | Extension with a 5th and 6th 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..: Chapels of Our Lady and the parish | ||
| 1460 | Construction of Our Lady’s cloisters for art trade | ||
| 1469 | 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 the parish chapel | ||
| 1478 | Founding of the Guild of Praise to Our Lady | ||
| 1482-1487 | Romanesque Northern tower pulled down Construction of the chapter’s 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., library and chaplains’ sacristy |
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| Maximilian of Austria gives privileges to Antwerp | 1488 | ||
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A R L Y
M O D E R N
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Christopher Columbus in America | 1492 | NaveThe rear part of the church which is reserved for the congregation. The nave extends to the transept. and Southern 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. accomplished |
| Trade treaties with England | 1496, 1502 | ||
| 1503 | Burgundian and English stained glass window in the magistrate’s chapel | ||
| Martin Luther makes his theses public in Wittenberg | 1517 | ||
| 1518-(1521) | Northern tower accomplished | ||
| 1521 | Emperor Charles V lays the foundation Stone of the ‘New Work’ | ||
| 1533 | Nave destroyed by fire; restoration of the nave; the ‘New Work’ is stopped |
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| 1534 | Crowning of the crossingThe central point of a church with a cruciform floor plan. The crossing is the intersection between the longitudinal axis [the choir and the nave] and the transverse axis [the transept]. | ||
| 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 | ||
| 1556 | ChapterAll the canons attached to a cathedral or other important church, which is then called a collegiate church. In religious orders, this is also the meeting of the religious, in a chapter house, with participants having ‘a voice in the chapter’. of the Order of the Golden Fleece | ||
| Founding of the Antwerp diocese | 1559 | Our Lady’s Church becomes Our Lady’s Cathedral | |
| Iconoclast Fury | 1566 | Interior destroyed | |
| Calvinistic rule in Antwerp | 1577-1585 | ||
| Catholic service ‘suspended’ | 1581 | Church requisitioned for the Calvinists: interior ‘purified’ | |
| Farnese reconquers Antwerp for the Spanish authorities | 1585 | Church is consecrated anew for Catholic worship | |
| After 1585 | Restoration of the altars; triptychs are commissioned | ||
| Twelve Year’s Truce | 1609-1621 | ||
| 1609-1610 | Raising of the Cross (P.P. Rubens) | ||
| 1611-1612 | Funeral Monument Jan Moretus with The ResurrectionThis is the core of the Christian faith, namely that Jesus rose from the grave on the third day after his death on the cross and lives on. This is celebrated at Easter. (P.P. Rubens) | ||
| 1611-1614 | Descent from the Cross (P.P. Rubens) | ||
| 1613-1614 | The nave is vaulted | ||
| 1625-1626 | High 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.: Our Lady’s Assumption (P.P. Rubens) | ||
| 1647 | Crossing: Our Lady’s assumption (Cornelis Schut) | ||
| Joseph II of Austria forbids burials in churches and urban centres | 1784 | ||
| Joseph II of Austria: brotherhoods are abolished | 1786 | New graveyards at Stuivenberg and Kiel | |
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French Revolution | 1789 | |
| 1791 | The ‘Green Churchyard’ is cleared | ||
| Southern Netherlands occupied and | 1794 | Church silver is sold as war tax and Rubens’s paintings are requisitioned as war tribute and sent to the Louvre | |
| incorporated by France: anti-Catholic legislation |
1795 | ||
| Nationalization of churches by the French | 1797 | Chapter abolished | |
| 1797-1798 | Paintings are deported to École Centrale Furniture sold Jan Blom is ordered to make plans to demolish the church |
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| May 1800 | Demolition plans are stopped | ||
| concordat Pius VII and Napoleon: including abolition of the Antwerp diocese |
1801 | Re-opening as parish church; Loses the title ‘cathedral’ |
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| From 1801 | old church Furniture is bought | ||
| Dutch RuleNederlands Bewind | 1814-1830 | ||
| Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo | 18/06/1815 1816 |
Confiscated paintings return from Paris: a.o. Raising of the Cross and Descent from the Cross (P.P. Rubens) |
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| 1822-1824 | Neo-Classicist high altar by Jan Blom | ||
| 1824-1825 | (neo-)Baroque side altars in the chapels of Our Lady and the Holy SacramentIn Christianity, this is a sacred act in which God comes to man. Sacraments mark important moments in human life. In the Catholic Church, there are seven sacraments: baptism, confession, Eucharist, confirmation, anointing of the sick, marriage and ordination. | ||
| Belgium’s independencyonafhankelijkheid van België | 1830 | ||
| 2nd half 19th century |
Restoration and refurbishing in neo-Gothic style: a.o. choir stallsA series of seats, usually in wood, along the long sides of the choir. These seats are reserved for those who pray and sing the choir prayers., side altars, stained glass windows |
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| 1887 | Our Lady’s Chapel (Schoenmarkt) is bought | ||
| 1891 | Schijven organ | ||
| First World War | 1914-1918 | Hardly any damage | |
| Olympic Games in Antwerp | 1920 | Opening speeches Olympic Games | |
| 1924 | Altar of Our Lady of Peace | ||
| Second World War | 1940-1945 | Very little damage to stained glass windows at the south end | |
| Antwerp diocese is re-established | 1961 | Again ‘Cathedral’ | |
| 1973-1983 | restoration of the interior: nave | ||
| 1983-1993 | restoration of the interior: transepts and choir | ||
| Antwerp ’93: Cultural Capital of Europe | 1993 | ||
| 1993-2014 | restoration of the interior: ambulatoryProcessional way around the chancel, to which choir chapels and radiating chapels, if any, give way. | ||
| 2009 | Msgr. Bonny: 22nd bishopPriest in charge of a diocese. See also ‘archbishop’. of Antwerp | ||
| 2014 | Inner garden protected as valuable archaeological site |
