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 of Our Lady becomes (only) parish church Church of St Michael becomes abbey church of the Norbertines |
||
| 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 monastery 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 altar | ||
| 1530 | consecration of eight side altars | ||
| Council of Trent | 1545-1563 | ||
| 1555 | construction of transepts (and aisles?) | ||
| 1557 | Philip II attends mass | ||
| 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, transept space for Catholics |
||
| Catholic services ‘suspended’ | 1581 | expulsion of Catholics; demolition of transept and 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 | baptism 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 nave | ||
| 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 aisle | ||
| 1756-1763 | construction of baroque tower (by Engelbert Baets) | ||
| 1761 | construction of sacristy (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 |
|
| 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 (priest 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 screen | ||
| 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 | relic shrine 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) |
||
| 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 |
||
| 2003 2004 |
relocation of Calvary, restoration of Purgatory |
||
| 2003-2006 | rebuilding of basement and winter chapel as meeting-spaces | ||
| 2012 | What Is Truth? (by Alain Senez) |
