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Monasteries

Altmünster Abbey

The Benedictine Altmünster Abbey was destroyed in 1543. When the Benedictines, who had fled to Trier during the 1542 battle for the fortress, returned, they found nothing but a vast ruin.

A new monastery had to be built. After a short stay in the upper town, the monks moved to the lower city into the St. Johann Hospital. There, they lived under the most severe conditions. There were only five fathers left. By 1560, the abbot lived alone with two secular priests in the poor building. It seemed to be the end of the mighty monastery, which had rendered invaluable services to the country since the 11th century.

Benedictine Abbey in Echternach

The monks of Münster were connected with the Benedictines of the Echternach Abbey. In the 16th century, the latter had undergone a severe crisis due to the Emperor's interference in the abbey elections. Since 1515, Charles V had been granted by Pope Leo X the right to dictate his candidate to the monks during abbey elections.

Franciscans

For the Franciscans in Luxembourg, who had resided continuously in the city since 1250, the 16th century, like for so many others, was one of the most difficult and dangerous periods. Internal friction between Conventuals and strict Observants was also present in Luxembourg. Added to this was the centralising tendency of the Spanish King Philip II, who sought to detach the monastery from the Cologne province to attach it to the Flemish one and to politically bind it closer to the Spanish Netherlands. In 1569, strict observance was introduced, and for 19 years, from 1569 to 1588, all assets were sequestered by the Provincial Council. The monastery, as the only German-speaking one in the Flemish province, was annexed, and Flemish fathers moved in who understood very little Luxembourgish. Soon, the Provincial Council was on their side; for example, in 1582, it even wanted the Franciscans to found a gymnasium, even a university, then it was again their fierce opponent and wrote a nasty letter against them to the Provincial in 1591. Relations with the Luxembourg Magistracy were not always good either. However, at the beginning of the 17th century, conditions improved. Despite friction with the authorities, with other orders, with the parish of St. Nicholas, a true upswing in religious life can be observed. In 1613, a settlement was founded in Bastogne at the general request of the population, in 1628 in Durbuy, and in the following year, 1629, in Troisvierges. In 1640, the Luxembourg monasteries adopted the reform of the Recollects with strict poverty.

The Franciscans were very popular among the people because of their simple, unassuming lives, their care for popular devotions, brotherhoods, and not least because of their helpfulness during the plague years of 1626 and 1636.

Dominicans

This order did not experience the severe internal upheavals and decline that, for example, the Franciscans and other orders went through in the 16th century. Around the turn of the century, they lived in a small monastery in what is now the garden of Ste Sophie. In 1626, they sold the house to the Sisters of Ste Sophie, later built a new monastery at the Fishmarket, and at the same time took over the pastoral care of the Church of St. Michael. In 1633, on the feast of St. Elizabeth, they moved into their new parish. The esteemed Prior Lukas de Neunheuser expanded and beautified the church. During his second term as prior (1658 to 1670), he built a separate chapel for the flourishing Rosary Brotherhood. By 1636, the Preacher Brothers had already been entrusted with the St. Hadrian Brotherhood. Their heroic behavior during the plague years, especially in 1636, had earned them the favour of the entire population.

Capuchins

On 6 October 1621, the Capuchins planted the cross on their property "in the area of the Grand Street" in the Luxembourg fortress; in 1624, the cornerstone for the church and monastery was laid. Construction progressed rapidly because of the abundant donations from Luxembourgish families. In a side chapel, a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Good Death developed from 1626 onwards, which flourished until the French Revolution. Soon, the Capuchins, these rough, bearded men in brown habits with pointed hoods and white cords around their waists, were welcomed everywhere as missionaries and popular preachers. In 1616, a settlement had already been established in Marville, in 1620 one in Arlon, and in 1629 they settled in Thionville.

Convents

For the Luxembourgish convents, the 16th century was no less difficult and dangerous than for the men's monasteries. Three Cistercian nunneries, those of Bonnevoie, Clairefontaine, and Differdange, will be briefly described first.

Cistercians

Bonnevoie

The fortunes of the Bonnevoie monastery in the 16th century border on tragedy. In 1542, the monastery burned down during the siege of the city by the French. The newly elected abbess, Irmengard von Haussen, left her monastery, never to return. From 1542 to 1571, only prioresses led the convent. Only a few sisters remained in the ruins, which were devastated again by fire in 1558. In 1570, there were 4 sisters and 2 novices. Finally, in 1571, a new abbess could be elected, Catherine II of Kerschen (1571/1593). With admirable energy and sacrifice, she partially rebuilt the monastery. Abbess Eva von Stein (1602/1626) was richly gifted, sociable, and had won the sympathy of the population and above all of her fellow sisters, but her end was tragic. Since the monastery building did not provide adequate space, the strict enclosure had been abandoned, and discipline, as in other Cistercian nunneries, had declined. A reform of these monasteries in the Netherlands was decided by the abbots in 1612. The abbot of Orval wanted to carry it out in Bonnevoie.

The abbess agreed to all the innovations, with one exception. She flatly rejected communal life and enclosure, "because their poverty was too great and the monastic buildings too small and modest." As a result of this refusal, she was deposed, and 9 sisters were transferred to the abbeys of Differdange and Clairefontaine.

The new abbess, Anna IV of Wassenburg (1626-39), had to start with only 3 experienced sisters. New walls surrounded the monastery, the strict enclosure of earlier times was reintroduced, soon 7 novices joined, and a new communal life began. The new abbess, Agnes II de la Neuveforge (1640-93), sister of the abbot of Echternach, was not entirely able to cope with the heavy burden that oppressed her monastery during the siege of the fortress by the troops of Louis XIV.

References and further reading

• Dostert, Paul (1 January 1994). "Die schwierige Rückkehr der Jesuiten nach Luxemburg im 19. Jahrhundert und die seelsorgliche Tätigkeit der Patres im Großherzogtum bis 1941". Hémecht. »Fir Glawen a Kultur«: Les Jésuites a Luxembourg / Die Jesuiten in Luxemburg (1594-1994) (in German). 46 (1): 231ff.
• Kunde, Anne-Katrin (1 July 2014). "Klöster in der mittelalterlichen Geschichtsforschung in Luxemburg". Hémecht (in German). 66 (3/4): 345ff.
• Luis, Vasco (1 July 2014). "L'engagement catholique dans la société: les congrégations féminines de vie active". Hémecht (in French). 66 (3/4): 421ff.
• Maertz, Joseph (1 July 1963). "Die Kapuziner in Luxemburg: Ihre Klosterkirche - das heutige Theater". T'Hémecht (in French). 15 (3): 309ff.
• Maertz, Joseph (1 January 1966). "Entstehung und Entwicklung der Wallfahrt zur Trösterin der Betrübten in Luxemburg in 1624-1666". Hémecht (in German). 18 (1): 1ff.
• Truijen, Vincent (1 April 1980). "L'installation des Bénédictins à Clervaux 1907-1910". Hémecht (in French). 32 (2): 149ff.
• Wilhelmy, Danielle (1 July 2014). "„Verjagt"? Ein historiographischer Überblick zur Forschung zu den Klosteraufhebungen unter Joseph II. und der französischen Revolution im ehemaligen Gebiet des Herzogtums Luxemburg und des späteren Département des Forêts (1783-1798)". Hémecht (in German). 66 (3/4): 411ff.