In 1129, Widow Alverardis van Hochstaden donated a large plot of land to the church for building a monastery. The monastery fell victim to fire on several occasions and in the first half of the 18th century, Mariënwaerdt House was built on the monastery’s foundations.
Bishop of Utrecht
The name Mariënwaerdt means Mary’s island which dates back to the 12th century when Alverardis, the widow of Hendrik van Cuijk, decided to donate a plot of land to the Bishop of Utrecht, with her sons’ agreement, in 1129. Such gifts were very common in the Middle Ages. It was no coincidence that the Bishop of Utrecht should be direct family, namely Andries van Cuijk, Hendrik’s younger brother. He invited the newly-founded Norbertine Order to establish an abbey on ‘Mary’s island’.
Monastery
Because of Mariënwaerdt’s position on the border of Guelders and Holland, the wealthy monastery was often the scene of fighting and looting. It was destroyed by fire in 1427 during the battle for the Diocese of Utrecht. After being rebuilt, it was burned down again by a band of soldiers in 1493. In 1567, it was reduced to ashes for the third time by Hendrik van Brederode (one of the early leaders of the uprising against Spain). After that, there was little interest in the estate and it remained for sale for more than a century.
Manorial court
To make a sale more attractive, the Nijmegen Quarter decided in 1709 to elevate Mariënwaerdt to the status of a manorial court. Count van Bylandt was immediately interested and became the new owner in 1744. He built Mariënwaerdt House on the vaults of the former abbey, where the cellars with crossbows are still visible. Since then, Mariënwaerdt has always been inherited directly through the Van Balveren family, and on to the Van Verschuer family. Today, the estate is managed by the ninth generation of the Van Verschuer family.
