The Beguine statue is located in the Begijnhof (Beguinage), one of the oldest courtyards in Amsterdam, located behind a door on Spuiplein in the centre of Amsterdam.
The Begijnhof, originally a Beguinage, is one of the oldest courtyards (hofjes) in Amsterdam. It was founded in medieval Amsterdam and is located within the Singel, the innermost canal of Amsterdam's circular canal system, and can be entered through a door on Spuiplein.
It consists of a collection of historic houses, mostly private dwellings, the English Reformed Church, a hidden Catholic church, and two greens that were used for bleaching clothes in the past.
The Beguinage was established somewhere in the 14th century to house the Begijnen. These were women who lived like nuns but were more independent and had more freedom.
In the 16th century the Catholic faith was banned and the Begijnhof was the only Catholic institution that continued to exist because the houses were the private property of the women. However they did have to give up the chapel, and so later a new ‘hidden church’ was built behind the facades of several properties.
The most famous Beguine who lived there was Cornelia Arens. She didn't want to be buried in church but in the gutter instead. Despite her wishes, she was laid to rest in the church. The next morning her coffin was no longer in the church but in the gutter, as she had wished. This occurred several times until it was decided to make her last resting place in the gutter.
The houses around the courtyard are still residences but there are no more Beguines living here. "Sister Antonia", whose original name was Agatha Kaptein, was born on 13 April 1887 at Akersloot, and was last beguine. She died aged 84 on 23rd May 1971.
"Beguines,were women in the cities of northern Europe who, beginning in the Middle Ages, led lives of religious devotion without joining an approved religious order.
The beguinal movement began among upper-class women and spread to the middle class. In addition to addressing the spiritual needs of its adherents, it responded to socioeconomic problems caused by a surplus of unattached women in urban areas. Most Beguines lived together in communities called beguinages. In Germany groups of up to 60 or 70 women lived together in houses; in the Low Countries they usually lived in individual houses within walled enclosures—“towns within towns.” Most supported themselves, often by nursing or cloth- or lace-making, and they spent time in religious contemplation. Beguines promised to preserve chastity while they remained in the community, but they were free to leave it and marry." SOURCE: (
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The stone statue by Margaretha de Goede-Taal, is located on the grass adjacent to the English Reformed Church. It was placed in the grounds of the Begijnhof to commemorate the Beguines in 1974, three years after the death of the last Beguine - Sister Antonia in 1971.
It portrays a traditional Beguine dressed in a simple full length garment with long sleeves, a simple cloth wimple covering the head and shoulders and holding the skirt up slightly in her left hand. (
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