Ter Doest Abbey () was a Cistercian abbey in Belgium, in the present Lissewege, a district of Bruges, West Flanders.
History
Lambert, lord of Lissewege, left an estate with a chapel in 1106 to the Benedictines, who built an abbey there. This affiliated itself to the Cistercian order in 1175 as a daughter house of Ten Duinen Abbey in Koksijde, of the filiation of Clairvaux. It had a daughter house of its own, the Abbey of Onze Lieve Vrouw Kamer, founded in 1223.
The abbey played an important part in the building of dykes and the reclamation of land in the coastal areas of Flanders, Zeeland and Holland, and also in the wool trade.
Saint Thorfinn, otherwise Thorfinn of Hamar, exiled bishop of Hamar in Norway, took refuge at Ter Doest after his opposition to King Eric II of Norway. He died in the abbey on 8 January 1285 and was buried there.Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John, 1993: The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. London: Penguin Books
Willem van Saeftinghe, a lay brother of Ter Doest, fought with the Flemish in the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, where he is said to have unhorsed the French leader, Robert, Count of Artois, whereupon other Flemish soldiers killed him. In 1308 during a revolt of the lay brothers, Willem killed the cellarer of the abbey, and injured the abbot, Willem van Cordewaegen, so badly that he nearly died.Willam was pardoned by the Pope on condition that he serve in one of the military orders; he joined the Hospitallers and is believed to have been killed during the conquest of Rhodes in 1309.
In 1624 Ter Doest was united with Ten Duinen, which in 1627 moved to Bruges. It was dissolved in the French Revolution in 1796.
Buildings
Almost the only building to survive is the tithe barn, 50 metres long and over 30 metres high, built in 1250.
The abbey once had a vast church with three aisles, which was destroyed in 1571 by the Calvinists. The church stood close to the abbey farm, 't Groot Ter Doest, built in 1632, which still stands, as do an octagonal chapel of 1687 and a monumental porch of 1662.Joseph Delmelle, Abbayes et béguinages de Belgique, Rossel Édition, Bruxelles, p.30-31
Abbots The list of the abbots of Ter Doest:
1174–1179: Desiderius Haket 1179–1190: Jan van Brugge 1190–1204: Mattheus van Gent 1204–1213: Willem van Oostburg 1213–1219: Daniël van Brugge 1219–1226: Salomon van Gent 1226–1230: Willem II van Tielt 1230–1237: Christiaan van Ieper 1237–1239: Willem II van Tielt 1239–1243: Hendrik van Craeywyc 1243–1256: Jan II Smedekin 1256–1274: Nicolaas Cleywaert 1274–1279: Jan III Stefaan 1279–1285: Willem III van Hemme 1285–1300: Arnulfus Neyhensis 1300–1302: Willem IV Mostaert 1302–1316: Willem V Cordewaegen 1316–1329: Nicolaas II Layenweerd 1329–1334: Hendrik II van Brabant 1334–1338: Petrus I van Axel 1338–1363: Michiel de Keysere 1363–1385: Willem IV De Smidt 1385–1417: Jan IV van Hulst 1417–1426: Thomas Vindevoet 1426–1461: Jacobus Schaep 1461–1482: Laurens De Vriendt 1482–1492: Hendrik III Keddekin 1492–1501: Martinus Weyts 1501–1506: Adriaan Lanchals 1506–1512: Jan V Vettegrave 1514- ? : Willem VII Pieters ?-1525: Josse Arents 1525–1536: Gilles van der Elst 1536–1537: Jan VI Huyssens 1537–1551: Petrus II Van den Driessche 1551–1556: Jan VII van Marissiën 1556–1559: Antonius Brakele 1559–1569: Vincent Doens
Notable monks Jan van He, theologian Johannes de Pascuis, theologian
References
Bibliography Heirman/Van Santvoort, 2000: Le guide de l'architecture en Belgique (p. 90). Editions Racine: Brussels
External links
Châteaux Forts Médiévaux de Belgique: Grange dîmière Ter Doest Photos of the barn Charles Louis Carton and Ferdinand van de Putte, Chronique de l'Abbaye de Ter Doest, Bruges, Vandecasteele-Werbrouck, 1845