The history of the Cistercians and Aduard Abbey

Demolition

In 1580 the abbeys was attacked by Dutch soldiers who are said to have burnt down a considerable number of its buildings. How much damage has been done to the abbey is still unknown, but it at any rate triggered off the process of demolition. The judicial end came in 1594 when the Roman Catholic faith gave way to the Protestant religion: but fate had already been determined by spiritual slackness and moral relapse.

Excavations

It is to be regretted that no picture of the abbey has survived the ages. References to the architecture in the chronicle are scanty and when made are to be seen as loose remarks. At the close of the 16th century the German scholar Ubbo Emmius visited the site at the time when the abbey was depopulated but the buildings presumably still intact.

His description of the cathedral has been supported scientifically by the outcome of excavations that took place in the 1940s supervised by the late professor Van Giffen. The design of the model shown in the abbey museum is based on his work and the views of his successors.

Figure 3:
Model of St. Bernards Abbey on the map of recent Aduard.
The grey building is the Abdijkerk, the former infirmary.
(Source: © J. Loer, Aduard)

The position of the buildings in the centre of the abbey in relation to the cathedral is in accordance with the standard Cistercian plan. There is no information available of the buildings in the area between this centre and the abbey wall. In all probability there must have been quite a number of edifices that served economical purposes, but whose foundations have not been uncovered yet.

Village

The demolition of the abbey around 1600 heralded a new era in the history of the place/mound Aduard: on the ruins arose the village Aduard. The place was a gold mine for those in need of building material. The first houses were erected along the main road on the abbey precinct and the canal. Hence the rectangular shape of the village plan that still reveals the structure of the medieval abbey enclosure bounded by moats.

For the modern tourist it may be interesting to know what aspects of the history of Aduard abbey survived the ages.