1310: Built on Old Money

To talk about the origins of the convent Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion, we first have to reveal the origins of the piece of land on which it stood.

According to 19th century historians Alexandre Henne and Alphones Wauters, on 22 January 1310, Duke of Brabant Jan II signed an agreement with his half brother, Jan (Hannekin) of Mechelen Lord of Huldenberg and Koekelberg, where the Duke would pay his brother 50 pounds a year for the mansion known as “De Munt” (The Mint) and its surrounding land. The small piece of land was located outside the first city wall west of the church Sint-Goedelekerk, and close to a water well known was the “Orsendalborre“.

The mansion and the land are thus then into fiefdom which were at 600 pounds. The Duchy of Brabant would also pay rent to the dean and the chapter of the Sint-Goedelekerk, which then was passed on to Jan (Hannekin) of Mechelen. It all sounds a bit complicated.

What I am trying to say is there was no mint here, especially when it was outside the city not within. But the confusion started, so this spot became known in the “Oude Munte” (The Old Mint) around 1341. With the establishment of the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion convent in 1432, this name was completely forgotten by the end of the 15th century.

1422: From Hermitage to Community

At the southern edge of the location, a small chapel dedicated to Saint Lawrence was built in 1314 four years after it was acquired by the Duke. Somehow close to the end of the century, the land became the property of the powerful Hinckaerts family, because they were the descendants of Mechelen. The Hinckaerts allowed a hermitage to be constructed by the chapel Sint-Laurentiuskapel in which chaplain Gielis van Bredeycke resided there in 1380. The priest was apparently so satisfied with his isolated stay that he requested the Hinckaerts for the right to use the land in 1419. Gielis van Bredeycke then went on to found another hermitage called the “Priorij Zevenborren”(Priory of the Seeven Wells) in today’s Sint-Genesius-Rode south of Brussels. In 1422, he passed the land on to two hermitesses, who then managed to grow into a community of women who lived within the Third Order of Saint Francis who were religiously bound but not ordained.

1434: money starts rolling in

As a secular community of hermit women, the group adopted the rule of Saint Augustine in 1434 and became a formal ordained convent.

This as you can image was a complete turnover of its original purpose. There were two important developments that led to this conversion:

In 1425, a wealthy widow by the name of Aleidis van den Assche gave the hermitage a sum of money to buy land and expand their buildings on the condition that they would transform themselves into a closed convent where she could later retreat.

The second decisive factor was Isabella of Portugal (1397-1471) wife of Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good. In 1432, she intervened with the Bishop of Kamerijk Jan van Gavere to appoint an Augustinian nun as the leader of the community. Within two years, the community turned into a full-fledged Augustinian convent and adopted the patron saint of the Duchess Isabella as their patroness, thus the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion (Convent of St Elizabeth on Mount Zion) was born.

After this, the convent starts experiencing great prosperity, thanks to the entry of wealthy nuns and patronage by the Burgundian court. Relics of prominent saints such as Dorothea of ​​Cappadocia and Catherine of Alexandria ensured a good influx of generous pilgrims. In addition to the regular canonesses (choir women), there were lay sisters, their ‘familiares‘ (staff) and also ‘donatines‘ (donors in permanent residence). In fact, the convent was mostly financially self-sustaining.

During the Calvinist rule of Brussels from 1578 until 1585, the Protestant government ordered the closure of the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion. When the Catholic Habsburg regained control of Brussels in 1585, there were fewer nuns than before. But after selling some of its possessions, the Augustinian convent soon flourished again.

Devotio Moderna: Not in the club

If the rapid rise in wealth of the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion gives you the impression that they were essentially religious gold-diggers, you could be wrong.

The Saint Elisabeth convent had close ties, some of them family relations, with the Priory of Groenendaal, the Rood-Klooster (Red Convent) and other convents in the forest south of Brussels known as the Zoniënwoud. In all of these convents, the ‘Devotio Moderna‘ (Modern Devotion) was practised.

Devotio Moderna was a reformist movement that grew out of the Augustinian congregation of Windesheim in modern-day Germany in the late 14th century and flourished in the Low Countries in the 15th century. The movement called for austerity and the rediscovery of genuine pious practices such as humility, obedience, simplicity of life, and integration into the community. The movement was very popular but came to an end with the Protestant Reformation.

Through the Duchess Isabella of Portugal, the Saint Elisabeth convent requested to join the chapter of Windesheim but was rejected by Pope Eugene IV in 1436. To prevent any conflict with the Duchess, Bishop Jan van Gavere allowed visitors from Groenendaal and the Rood-Klooster at Sion and even allowed the convent to act as if it were a member of Windesheim. To go beyond that was not possible, despite a later appeal by the Duchess in 1462 to the next bishop Jan VI of Burgundy.

1796-1905: From women’s quarters to men’s quarters

By the end of the 18th century, there were still about 29 nuns left in the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion.

The edict of Habsburg Emperor Joseph II on 6 May 1783 put an end to Sion’s existence, as did all religious institutions in the Southern Netherlands. After the Brabant Revolution (24 October 1789 – 3 December 1790), some Augustinian sisters returned to rebuild their community. But soon after the French revolutionaries invaded and put a definitive end to the convent in 1796.

That year, the convent was transformed into military barracks for 2,400 men and 300 horses.

Conditions at the “Saint Elisabeth Barracks” were highly unhygienic, as was the entire neighbourhood around the camp. Yet the barracks remained in use until 1905!

A rat plague in 1912 led to its partial demolition, while the remaining buildings were completely demolished in 1939 to make way for the North-South underground railway connection.

Rich till the end

At the time of its dissolution, the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion owned 24 investment houses in Brussels. The inventory from 1783 mentioned 97 manuscripts, including eight 15th-century codexes that have been preserved. The convent church was also adorned with paintings by famous masters, including a ‘Resurrection and Transfiguration’ by Hugo van der Goes, a ‘Holy Family’ by Hans Memling, an ‘Ecce Homo’ by Quinten Metsijs and a ‘Virgin Mary adorned by angels’ by Gaspar de Crayer.

The Changes to Street Names

With the establishment of the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion in 1432, some of the streets around took on a different name.

From Orsendalborrestraat to Sionsberg

Somewhere at the end of the Zavelstraat (Sand Street) was a water well known as the “Orsendalborre“. Today, this well would have been on the spot of the roundabout between the de Berlaimontlaan and the Pachecolaan.

Supposedly, the well’s name referred to an old forgotten name of this valley “Orsendal” (Horse Dale) which could have extended until the Warmoesbroek. Incidentally, “ors” was a Middle Dutch word for cavalry horse, cognate with the English word. Locals distinguished it from the currently used word “paard” which in fact came from vulgar Latin “caballus” to refer to all other types of horses.

North of the Orsendalborre well was a curved street going up the hill, and this street was called the “Orsendalborrestraat” (Orsendal Street). As the name of the convent was called “Mount Zion“, the old name of the street was soon forgotten and was replaced with “Sionsberg” (Mount Zion). This street still exists today. It forms the first part of the Bankstraat (Rue de la Banque) from the roundabout until it meets the Oratorienberg (Rue Montagne de l’Oratoire), as it did since the 14th century.

From Zavelgracht to Sint-Elisabethberg

On what is known today (since the French Occupation in 1796) as the Rue des Comédiens, it was called in the 1300s the “Zavelgracht”(Sand Ditch). On the other side of the block, the road is still called the “Zavelstraat” (Sand Street). It goes to show this hilly area was quite sandy back then. With the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion installed, this sandy road became known as the “Sint-Elisabethberg” (Mount St Elisabeth).

The Sint-Elisabethberg and the Sionsberg then meet at the “Oratorienberg” (Oratorian Mount) which used to be known as the “Oude Markt” (old market) in the 14th century until the establishment of the “Oratorianenklooster” (Oratorian Monastery) two centuries later. Here, the cattle market extended into the first city wall at the inner city gate of Sint-Goedelepoort/Treurenbergpoort.

1896: the soldier who ran amok

On the night of 19 June 1896, a soldier by the name of De Ruytter flew into an uncontrollable rage in his room in the Saint Elisabeth Barracks. According to the “L’Illustration Nationale“, he ran around like a mad beast in the corridor, as he fired his rifle in all directions. While no other soldiers were shot, two policemen guarding the entrance were. Agent Boistay was shot in his left while Agent Toller was shot in his left shoulder.

Apparently De Ruytter continued shooting for an hour after the two policemen were down. Sergeant Rogge bravely approached De Ruytter on his floor and demanded the man to kill him on the spot. When met with a moment of confusion, Rogge punched the soldier and snatched the rifle from his hands. The other soldiers took the opportunity to subdue the man.

Unfortunately for Agent Boistay, he died the moment he reached the hospital. De Ruyyter was locked up in the prison in Sint-Gillis and was found to suffer from neuropathy and epilepsy. He was later condemned to 15 years of hard labour.

As for the brave Sergeant Rogge, he was promoted to First Sergeant and was awarded a Medaille by none other than Prince Albert. He did not live long however, as he was killed in 1898 while serving as Second Lieutenant in Congo.

It is not known how the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion looked like.

But with the conversion to barracks at the end of the 18th century, we can assume many of the original buildings had been preserved and repurposed. From the photos below, especially the one from early 1900s, it does seem that some medieval features of the buildings were retained and they showed a simple austere appearance.

Back to printing money

Between 1912 and 1939, the Saint Elisabeth Barracks were demolished to make way for the North-South underground railway line that still cuts through Brussels.

Once the tracks were vaulted over, two broad boulevards were laid to replace the various streets that used to be above:

The De Berlaimontlaan replaced the Rue de Berlaimont and the Sionsberg.
The Pachecolaan replaced the Rue de Schaerbeek and Rue Pacheco.

On the location of the former Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion, the De Berlaimontlaan cuts across the middle. On the southern side of the road, an imposing Modernist building was built housing the printing house of the National Bank.

Designed by Marcel Van Goethem in 1950, the printing house literally printed money here on the spot which was known in 1300s as the Old Mint!

The printing house, called “Drukkerij van de Nationale Bank” (Imprimerie de la Banque Nationale) extended all the way to the Sint-Laurensstraat at the back and were flanked by the Zavelstraat and the Komediantenstraat. The design mirrored that of the National Bank, also designed by Van Goethem, located diagonally opposite the boulevard.

On the spot of the former entrance of the Sint-Elisabethklooster-op-de-Berg Sion, where the Sionsberg met the Sint-Elisabethberg at the Oratorienberg, is the statue of a kneeling naked girl on a pillar within the compound of the National Bank. The statue was made by Charles Leplae in 1951-1953 for the inauguration of the National Bank buildings.

The printing house of the National Bank is no longer in use.

Sources:

Vannieuwenhuyze, B. (2011) “Brussel, de Ontwikkeling van een middeleeuwse stedelijke ruimte.” Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Henne, A. Wauters, A. (1845) “Histoire de la ville de Bruxelles. Volume I-III” Brussels: Librairie Encyclopédique de Périchon.
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Elisabeth_op_de_berg_Sion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devotio_Moderna
https://www.reflexcity.net/bruxelles/communes/ville-de-bruxelles/pentagone/rue-montagne-de-l-oratoire
https://be-monumen.be/patrimoine-belge/jeune-fille-agenouillee-banque-nationale-bruxelles/
https://monument.heritage.brussels/fr/buildings/33446
https://www.cehibrux.be/chroniques/document-du-mois/364-un-drame-en-1896-a-la-caserne-des-grenadiers-a-bruxelles

1. Harrewijn, Jacob. (1695) “Bruxella, nobilissima Brabantiæ civitas, 1695” Maison du Roi (image)
2. Marcovicci, Marco. (1892) “Prince Albert et King Leopold II à la caserne Ste Elisabeth 1892” KBR (image)
3. Lagaert. (early 20th century) “La caserne Sainte-Élisabeth avant sa démolition au début du XXe siècle.” KBR (image)
4. Unknown. (1914) “Demolition of St Elisabeth Barrack for the North-South line in May 1914.” (image)