Saint Sixtus Abbey in Historical Perspective |
Historical sources tell us that in the course of time three monasteries had been built in or around Westvleteren before the present abbey was built there. A general historical survey may help the reader to understand some particulars about the abbey.
Benedict's hagiography written by Pope Gregory
the Great teaches us that he was born in the eminent
Nursia family around 480 A.D. and that he studied
in Rome. He turned away from the deterioration
of morals in Rome and wanted to be a monk. After
a stay in Subiaco he went to Casinum in 529, where
he stopped the idolatry in the former temple of
Apollo and built a church dedicated to Saint Martin.
The rule of Benedict came into being in the abbey
of Montecassino, where he was the abbot. His rule
was made obligatory for the western world by the
Aa chen Council (815 A.D.). |
 |
|
 |
lnitially Flanders was part of the Celtic area, which was also conquered by the Romans. The Romans had to evacuate the region because of continuous raids by the Franks. In the mean time, the north-west of Europe had turned to Christianity. Amongst the major individuals having done missionary work, Amandus from Nantes and Wynfrith, better known as Bonifacius (675-754) should be mentioned.
The former was a hermit before he became a monk, the latter was a monk in the Abbey of Nursling before he undertook missionary trips to Germany. |
|
|
|
The Scheldt formed a natural border in the 9th century A.D. The Counts of Flanders were the vassals of the King of France for the areas to the west of the river, and of the German monarch for the areas to the east of it. (CELLA BEBORNA - 806)
Those old feudal bonds with France explained the French tendency to interfere with Flemish politics. The Flemish tried to shake off the yoke, but never succeeded, despite temporary successes such as the Battle of the Spurs in Courtrai in 1302. (DOMUS SANCTI SIXTI WESTFLETERNES - 1260 - 1355)
By the marriage of Margaret of Flanders, daughter of the Flemish Count Louis of Maie, and Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and brother of the French King, Flanders got integrated into a larger political entity and entered a culturally flourishing period in the 15th century A.D.
Flanders was a part of the Burgundian Realm, that had become quite vast by several territorial expansions under the successive Dukes of Burgundy.
After Charles the Bold had died in the Battle of Nancy,
Flanders was governed by his daughter Mary of Burgundy,
who was married to Maximilian of Austria, the son of
the German Emperor Frederic III. After her death, her
widower became a regent and Flanders came under the
sphere of influence of the Habsburg Empire.
|
|
 |
Emperor Charles V reigned over an immense area including the Low Countries, the German Empire, Spain and parts of America.
In the beginning of the 16th century A.D. any feudal bond with France was broken off. Because of the vastness of the Habsburg Empire, also called the Holy Roman Empire, it became hard to administrate and pockets of resistance arose. In this period of unrest religious wars were fought (reformation). Religiously speaking, that situation ended up in the Trent Council (1 545) and the Augsburg Peace Treaty (1 555), stipulating that the ruler of each state in the Empire could choose which religion to adhere to, either the Catholic or the Lutheran religion (cuius regio, eius religio).
|
|
|
That didn't prevent further conflicts in the region. The Pacification of Ghent
(1 576) was an attempt to unite the Seventeen Provinces against
Spain on the basis of religious tolerance. lt failed. The
Spanish armies moved up and it was not until 1648 that The
Thirty Years' War ended with theMunsterTreaty, also called
the Peace of Westfalen. lt meant that the Southern Provinces
remained under the rule of the Spanish Habsburgers, who tried
to bring about a revival of Catholicism (Counter Reformation).
(BIRGITTANS - 1615
- 1784)
|
|
King Louis XIV occupied part of the Southern Provinces. There were battles fought between the French armies and those of England and the United Provinces. They were all fought on Southern Provinces' territory. The outcome was that the Southern Provinces, who had no say in the matter, came under the rule of the Austrian Habsburgers (the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713).
|
| Emperor Joseph II, called the emperor-sexton, abolished the contemplative
orders. In 1794 the French won the Battle of Fleurus
against the Austrians and they annexed Flanders
and made it a French 'département'. The confiscation
of church properties and religious persecutions
smothered any chance of revival of abbey-life in
the region. |
 |
|
| When the Napoleonic era ended with the Battle of Waterloo in 1815,
the Vienna Congress decided, without consulting the people
concerned, to unite the Southern and Northern Low Countries
under the rule of King William I. The people of both areas
had grown apart in the previous 200 years and were religiously
different (Catholicism vs. Protestantism). Mutual tensions
resuited in the Brabant Revolution in 1830 and Belgium became
an independent country.
Shortly after, in 1881, the present Saint Sixtus Abbey was founded in Westvleteren, situated in the Belgian province of West-Flanders. In this new state with a parliamentary democracy and a new constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion, a budding abbey-life was made possible again. (TRAPPIST ABBEY ST. SIXTUS 1831 - ?)
On a pc in the 'Claustrum' you'll find a time-line. Underneath you can get an idea of the way it was conceived. You'll find more information in the 'Claustrum' itself.
|
| Sint-Sixtus and the church |
Sint-Sixtus and Europa |
Sint-Sixtus and the 'Westhoek' (western part of Flanders, Belgium) |
| -2000 |
| Ca.-1800 Patriarchs |
-2000 Prehistory |
Two-handed hammer |
| Ca.-250 Greek Bible translation |
-54 Caesar |
-2th century Duinkerken-I Sea transgression |
| Year 0 |
| Jesus Christ |
| 1-3th century the spreading of Christianity |
1-3th century Pax Romana |
Ca. 280 Fuscianus |
4-6th century Fathers of the desert
356 Antonius-Abbot
397 Martinus Tours
|
5-8th century Merovingers
407 decline Roman realm
|
4-7th century Duinkerke-II sea transgression |
|
400 Victricius |
| 480 Benedictus |
496 baptism Clovis |
440 Franks in Poperinge |
| 615 Columbanus |
622 Mohammed |
649 Sithiu-Audomarus |
| 815 Council Aachen |
800 Charlesmagne PAX CAROLINA |
806 Cella Beborna |
| 910 Cluny |
9-10th century Vikings |
844 Pupurninga Villa |
| +1000 |
| 1054 Oriental schism |
1033 Millennium fever |
1014+1042 Duinkerke III -sea transgression |
| 1098 Cîteaux - Robertus of Molesmes |
1099 First crusade |
1091 Abbey Eversam |
| 11-12th century Reforms and Heresies |
12th century Rise of the cities |
1139 "Ter Duinen"+ Bernardus van Clairvaux |
| 1309 Popes in Avignon |
1302 The Battle of the Golden Spurs |
1260 Cloister "St.Seix" |
| 1349 Flagellants |
the 'Mad' 14th century |
1355 Sale of the cloister |
| 1500 |
| 1517 Luther - Calvin |
1500 Charles the 5th |
1559 Diocese Ieper |
1542 Trente - Religious quarrels
1598 Arnolfini "Strict Observance"
|
16th century Explorative expeditions |
1567 Wild beggars |
| 1600 |
| 1664 de Rancé - La Trappe |
1609 Albrecht en Isabella |
1615 Gilles de Lattre Birgittans |
| 1700 |
1791 de Lestrange - Valsainte
1794 Westmalle
|
1783 Jozef the 2nd
1789 French revolution |
1784 cloister Birgittans dissolved |
| 1800 |
|
1815 J.B. Victoor hermit, in the woods of "Sint Tjèks" |
| 1836 Belgian Cistercian Congregation |
1830 Belgium |
1831 Trappist monastery Sint-Sixtus |
|
1850 Scourmont - Tracadie |
| 1892 reunion trappists |
Industrial Revolution |
1871 Sint-Sixtus priory becomes abbey |
| 1900 |
| 1915 Thomas Merton |
1914-1918 "The great war" |
1914 Refugees in the abbey
1918 The friars flee to Sept-Fons
|
|
1940-1945 World war II |
1944 Gen. Montgommery |
| 1950 |
| 1950 "The rich roman life" |
|
| 1963 Vatican II |
|
1964 New guest's house |
|
1968 May: student's revolt |
1968 New church |
| 1978 Jean-Paul the 2nd |
1989 Downfall of the Berlin Wall |
1989 New brewery |
| 1998 Cîteaux |
1999 Millennium fever |
1999 Meeting center "De Vrede" - "Claustrum" |
| 2000 Holy year |
+2000 Brancusi |
|
|
|
|
|
|