Utrecht The Hermits: In General

Sister Bertken (van Lichtenberg (1426/27-1514) is one of the most famous Utrecht women.

When she was about 30 years old she became a hermit (kluize-

nares).

In an other topic more about the person sister Bertken.

The first Christian hermits appeared by the end of the 3rd century.

One of the most well known hermits, and considered to be the first one, is St. Paul of Thebes (year 250).

The persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Decius was the reason that he flight into the desert to preserve the faith and to lead a life of penance and prayer.

In a hermitage, one secluded him/her self from the world to love only God entirely (‘soli Deo vacare’). It was considered as a higher way of the religion life.

A heritage should be small, and had two windows.

One window should have a view at the altar, and one window on the outside of the hermit to the seal hand over food and drinks and for the fresh air, for the door was sealed.

Only in case of illness it was allowed to break the seal and to open the door

A curtain hung in front of the windows for the people were not allowed to see the hermit.

Of course also in those times rules were made, so even for the hermitage.

The Church Meeting of Frankfurt in 794 decided that a hermit needed the approval of the bishop or an abbot.

A fixed rule was drawn up about the year 900, the Regula solitariorum, by the French priest Grimlaicus, a hermit himself.

In this document rules were mentioned about the way the hermitages should be build (see above) and so on.

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There was an impressive ceremony before someone was locked up in the hermitage.

It started with a mess and songs are sung among others the Veni Creator.

Then the person, who wanted to be a hermit, was urgently asked if it is still his/her wish to become a hermit. If so, she entered the hermitage and the door was closed.

The abbot or the head of a cloister guarded the keys. The door was indeed “hermetic” (hermetisch) closed.

In fact she was now in her coffin, for she was considered to be dead for the secular life.

That’s why also the Requiem is sung.

It will astonish you that a lot of people wished to be locked up.

There was even a waiting list, or more hermits were built.

Pictures made in the St.Jacobi Church in Utrecht

Utrecht Roman Wall, The Technique

If you go to Rots Maatwerk, and follow the path : Home/Projecten/picture Lichttechniek/Markering Castellum Domplein Utrecht, you find information about the technique behind the marks (alas in Dutch, but the pictures give also information).

On picture 1 the mark at the Domplein is still under construction.

The mark in the Servetstraat, picture 2, is already finished. You see the mist too.

Utrecht Roman Wall, The Opening Mark 3

The Domplein and the Domtower look like an oase of peace on a Sunday morning.

You hardly believe that in the year 47 a fortress was built by the Romans when they navigated on the Rhine and arrived at a dry area, where now the Dom Place is.

Here they built their fortress, called a castellum.

Studies found out where this castellum was exactly situated and marks of light and mist show the outlines of this castellum.

This night the third mark was officially opened at the Korte Nieuwstraat. The other two marks are situated at the Domstraat and Servetstraat.

It's really strange when you walk in these streets and suddenly the earth seemes to open and "steam and green light" come out from a crack in the street.

By led light the colour also can turn to blue or pink.

Utrecht Church Night & Church Cross

Friday 19 June the

"Church Night" was the opening of the project

“Visiting Churches in Utrecht”.

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The night was officially opened by the mayor.

The support came from the concert of the Cathedral Choir School Utrecht.

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After the opening in a lot of churches were all kind of activities.

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It’s no wonder that Utrecht has so many churches for in the Utrecht history the bishops and emperors played a big role in building churches, especially in the 11th century.

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The main five churches in the centre have - accidentally or not -

been built in the form of a Church Cross (see drawing above).

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The story tells that after the death of Koenraad II (+/- 990-1039) (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire) his son Hendrik III ordered to built 4 churches around the St. Salvator (1010) (now the rebuilt Dom Church).

In fact around the hearth of his father, that was burried in the St. Salvator church.

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A more likely theory is that the place of the churches had everything to

do with the solid soil.

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These other four churches are the churches of St.Pieter (1048), St. Paulus Abby (1050), St.Marie (1085), St. Jan (1040)

Utrecht Wharfs and Trade

In 1122 a dam was erected in the Rhine
near Wijk bij Duur-
stede

The conse-quence was,that
the water level in Utrecht lowered.

The city had to prevent that the traders would come into difficulties now, for the water ways could not be used anymore for transport of goods.

That’s why a new canal was dugged, the Vaartse Rhine with first a connection to the Hollandse IJssel (from Ledig Erf, Utrecht to the river Lek near Vreeswijk).

A second connection was made between the Vaartse Rhine to the Stathe (a trading centre near the present town hall) and this connection was called the (Oude) Gracht.

The tides of the water, however,were still effected by the tides of the Rhine for there was an open connection.

As a solution sluices were built to regulate the level of the canal and to keep that level constant low.

The lower water level made it possible now to make corridors from the storage cellars of the houses directly to the canal(gracht), for the water wouldn’t come into the houses anymore.

And in this way the entrance of the cellars came much close to the water.
In front of the cellars a wharf (kade) was built.
That made it easier to load the goods over from the boats to the cellars.

In 1402, when the trade increased, there was even a hoisting crane to pick up the goods from the boats.

On the peinture as well as on the memorial stone you see a part of the wharf in the still existing corner near the town hall.

Utrecht Stadsdag (2) City Day: The Two Documents

In 1122 the bishop
Godebald ruled the

city.(read the nice

backgrounds

in the to be enlarged

AD article)

He wanted to reclaim (ontginnen) the peat (veengronden) in the Kromme Rijn area.
He also wanted to build a dam in the Kromme Rijn near Wijk bij Duurstede.
This would mean that the city wasn’t easy to reach for ships anymore, so also a canal had to be duged (Vaartse Rijn).

It is clear that it would cost a lot of money to the furious citizens of Utrecht.

In 1122 the Emperor Hendrik V resided at that time at his Palace Lofen (on the Dom Square now) and it is possible that he wanted to mediate between the citizens and the bishop.

However, short after Whitsuntide the servants of the bishop attacked the courtiers (hovelingen) of the emperor. The Utrecht citizens helped the emperor and the bishop was arrested.

Imagine what a lot of people were involved on that small area.

Godebald was forced by Hendrik V to renunciation and to grant city rights to the city.

There are two documents parchments (perkament) on sheep skin. The first one (45x65 cm) contains the rights.
The second one (46x80 cm) contains details about the charge of toll.

Both were signed at Palace Lofen on Sunday 2 June 1122 and signed by the seal of the emperor.

On the right side of the close up of the document you can read (after enlarging) the name of Godebald, 3rd sentence from below.

Utrecht Stadsdag (1) City Day: The 1st Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of the Stadsdag, the birth-day of the city of Utrecht, for on June 2, 1122 the city received City rights. Today the city is 887 years old.

The tradition is that on a birthday "beschuit met muisjes" (biscuit with sucred aniseed in a form that could be a micro mouse) is eaten.

For boys the colour is blue and white, for girls the colour is pink and white and for Utrecht the colour is red and white, for these colours are the colours of the flag of city.

Also the flags on the Dom Tower and the flag in front of the Town Hall waved their red-white colours for this special occasion.

This year the celebration is a bit sober for it was hardly a month ago, on 7 May, that the Utrecht Party Leefbaar Utrecht presented a motion to celebrate this day.

But nevertheless compliments to the Catharijne Convent (museum) and the Utrechtse Archief which quickly organized this day.