Klöster im Hochmittelalter

Medieval Monasteries in the Duchy of Brabant I 211

growing urban centres,9 and a high density of male and female monastic com-
munities.10 At the north-western border of the old Kingdom of Lotharingia and
the Holy Roman Empire, Brabant had a pivotal position between France and the
German territories, as proven by the shifting political alliances and dynastic
policies of the dukes. Until 1559, Brabant had no proper diocese; its western part
(Brussels, Antwerp) depended on the bishop of Cambrai, while its eastern and
southern parts (Leuven, Nivelles, 's-Hertogenbosch, Maastricht) depended on
the bishop of Liege.
Architectural Iconology and Visual Culture
The method of architectural iconology, as defined by Richard Krautheimer in
1941," theorised by Günter Bandmann in 1951, and developed from the 1980s
by several historians of medieval architecture, aims to unravel the meaning of
9 The seven "good cities" of Brabant were Leuven/Louvain, Brussel/Bruxelles, Antwerpen/
Anvers, 's-Hertogenbosch/Bois-le-Duc, Tienen/Tirlemont, Zoutleeuw/Leau, and Nivelles/
Nijvel.
10 Before the thirteenth century, Brabant counted Benedictine abbeys of men (Orp-le-Grand,
Gembloux, Affligem, Vlierbeek/Kessel-Lo) and women (Nivelles, Kortenberg, Forest/
Vorst, Groot-Bijgaarden), Premonstratensian abbeys (St Michael's in Antwerp, Tongerlo,
Grimbergen, Park in Heverlee, Averbode, Postel), and one Cistercian abbey (Villers-in-Bra-
bant). In the thirteen century, one Premonstratensian abbey (Dielegem in Jette) and one Cis-
tercian abbey (St Bernard's in Hemiksem) were founded. Mendicant friaries were founded by
the Franciscans (Brussels, Leuven, Diest, 's-Hertogenbosch, Nivelles, Tienen and Maas-
tricht), Dominicans (Leuven, Antwerp, 's-Hertogenbosch, Maastricht), Carmelites (Brus-
sels, Antwerp, Leuven, Tienen), and Augustinian hermits (Leuven). Most remarkable were
the numerous foundations for religious women: Cistercian nunneries (La Cambre/Brussels,
La Ramee, Vrouwenpark in Rotselaar, Florival, Aywiers, Argenton, Nazareth in Lier, Val-
duc), Dominican nunnery (Hertoginnendal in Oudergem), Beguinages (Antwerp, Leuven,
Zoutleeuw, Breda, Tienen, Brussels, Anderlecht, Diest, Lier, Aarschot, Turnhout, Herentals,
Bergen-op-Zoom, 's-Hertogenbosch, Maastricht).
11 Richard Krautheimer, Introduction to an 'Iconography of Medieval Architecture', in:
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 5 (1942), pp. 1-33.
12 Günter Bandmann, Mittelalterliche Architektur als Bedeutungsträger, Berlin 1951 [transl.
by Kendall Wallis: Günter Bandmann, Early Medieval Architecture as Bearer of Meaning,
New York 2005]; Günter Bandmann, Ikonologie der Architektur, in: Jahrbuch für Ästhetik
und allgemeine Kunstwissenschaften 1 (1951), pp. 67-109.
13 Ikonographie und Ikonologie mittelalterlicher Architektur, ed. by Leonhard Helten/Wo1£-
gang Schenkluhn (Hallesche Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte 1), Halle an der Saale 1999;
Architektur als Zitat. Formen, Motive und Strategien der Vergegenwärtigung, ed. by Heiko
BRANDL/Andreas RANET/Andreas Waschbüsch (More romano. Schriften des Europäi-
schen Romanik Zentrums 4), Regensburg, 2014. Also: Aart J. J. Mekking, Methodisches &
Historiographisches zu 'Kunst & Regio' als Arbeitsgruppe der niederländischen Forschungs-