Begijnhof

History Beguinage and chapel
Extension of the Beguinage

Until 1417, the Beguinage did not reach further to the south than to what is now called de Begijnensteeg (Beguines alley). On the Spui side, there was only marsh, which the Beguines changed into solid ground by filling it up with rubbish, dirt and sand. In 1417 the territory of the Beguinage was extended with a strip along the Spui, where many new small houses were built.

We find the first mention of the Beguinage in an official certificate of the year 1417 in the Stedelijk Groot Memoriaal (great municipal memorial); the Beguines, here called jonkvrouwen (maidens), obtained in addition a large piece of ground south of the Beguinage: from the old Beguinage up to the bridge near the Rozenboomsteeg and from that bridge up to the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal.

The municipality had bound itself in perpetuity not to build houses in the large space of what is nowadays called Het Spui. By their prompt action in earlier years, the Beguines and their representatives ensured that this certificate from 1417 was honoured.

The larger part of the Beguinage and its chapel were destroyed by the great Amsterdam fires of 1421 and 1452. The Beguines, however, did not give up in despair; the church as well as the Beguinage itself were rebuilt, many houses now in brick. In 1511 the Beguinage was enlarged again by a strip along the street called the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, then still a waterway, the width of the present road and pavement combined; their houses were extended to the water's edge.