W.A. van Ham.
Power and church in the seigniory of Bergen op Zoom (1287-1570).
Noordbrabants Historisch Jaarboek 19 (2002) 10 - 45.
Church historians look upon the fifteenth century as a period in which sovereigns and local rulers gained more grip on church institutions. This 'regionalisation' of the church gave rulers (sovereign and regional rulers and city councillors) more control over local bodies of church life and their representatives. This development is considered to be the result of the weakening of papal authority caused by the Western Schism (1378-1417). Discord among the central authorities of the church had led to the election of popes and antipopes. It is worthwhile investigating if rulers in the Northwest of Brabant gained control over the local church as a result of this 'regionalisation'. For this reason, this contribution will discuss church history from the viewpoint of a secular lord and prelate, in this case the lord of Bergen op Zoom. Most church historical treatises focus on the organisation of the church and its servers. Here, however, we are dealing with a person who was a 'layman', clerically spoken. The period investigated does not only include the fifteenth century, but starts from the foundation of the seigniory of Bergen op Zoom in 1287, and ends in 1570, the year in which the ecclesiastical arrangement that had existed for centuries, i.e. the subordination of the city and land of Bergen op Zoom to the diocese of Liège, de facto ended.
The first topic investigated is how the lord of Bergen op Zoom acquired his church rights, including patronage rights and tithe rights. It was the very exertion of these rights that gave his legal predecessors, the lords and ladies of Breda, considerable influence upon the church up to the thirteenth century. Mainly because of financial trouble, they yielded their powers in a number of parishes to the abbey of Saint Bernard in Hemiksem on the river Sceldt (near Antwerp). These included the then fairly extensive parishes of Gastel and Wouw. The seigniory of Bergen op Zoom and its surroundings originated from ancient possessions of the Nijvel abbey. Because of all this it seems probable that the lord of Bergen op Zoom possessed few ecclesiastical rights by 1287. The article will show how the consecutive lords managed to increase their grip on the parishes, both at the expense of the Nijvel abbey and Saint Bernard's abbey. It is hard to determine how the influence of Nijvel was pushed back: the archives indicate beyond any doubt that the lord of Bergen exerted an influence on ecclesiastical appointments and on the tithes in and around Bergen op Zoom. It is unclear, however, how he acquired this influence. Significant documentation is available, especially from the sixteenth century, on the growth of seigniorial powers and possessions, mainly due to land reclamation. This allows a detailed treatment of the process that reduced the influence of Saint Bernard's abbey. In the course of this process, both the lord and the abbey appealed to the higher church and secular authorities more than once to strengthen their positions.
This contribution does not limit itself to a description of the aforementioned rights and the way they were exerted by the lord. The formation of a chapter in Bergen op Zoom constituted the first climax of the seigniorial influence on the local church. Partly as a result of this. the lord gained the right of recommendation for most canons in this college. Patronage rights of a number of chaplain's residences in the church of Bergen op Zoom and other parishes are also briefly discussed. A few notes on the position of the lord of Bergen op Zoom as the patron of monasteries complete the picture.
Translation: Auke van den Berg, Rosmalen.