Buweklooster

Title

Buweklooster

Also Known As

Bomkleaster, Boomklooster, Bouwecloister, Bouwekleaster, Bovoclaustrum, Buewcoweynt, Buwekleaster, Buwencloister, Buwenconvent, Bwingha claseter, Convent van Bouwen, Conventus Buonis, Harkema, Maria's Grass, Mariengrass, Sepulchrum Stae. Mariae

Dates

Founded by 1252; dissolved ca. 1580

Dedication

John the Evangelist; Mary

Affiliation

Mariëngaarde

Medieval Diocese

Münster

Circary

Frisia

History

In the 1240s, local noble Bouwe Harkema (or Buvo Harckema) founded a chapel on his land in honor of St Nicholas. With the permission of the abbot of Mariengaard, he subsequently invited a group of Premonstratensian sisters to live at the site. The founding sisters came from the community at Bethlehem. The community derived much of its income from peat extraction.

Buweklooster's church was consecrated in 1252. The community was dissolved at the Reformation. By 1718, the church was in ruins and the last of the monastic complex was demolished in the 19th century. Today only the cemetery remains.

Heads of Community

Prioresses

Hillegarde van Waaxens, fl. 1240s

Status

Women's community

Archival Sources

Groningen, Groninger Archieven

Zegel, no. 612 (1445)

Leeuwarden, Fries Museum

PTA260-009 (1840-1850; sketch)

Leeuwarden, Tresoar: Archief, museum en bibliotheek Fryslân

232-05 (1484-1558; Finding Aid)

Bibliography

Nieuwsblad van het Noorden. “Buweklooster tusschen Drogeham en Augustinusga.” July 15, 1938. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010676349:mpeg21:p023.
Reitsma, J. “Stichting van Buweklooster.” Friesche Volksalmanak, 1884, 103–12. https://archive.org/details/fa_1884.
Veenstra, G. J. “Het Buweklooster.” Leeuwarder Nieuwsblad, October 1, 1932. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010744270:mpeg21:p005.

Image Credit

The cemetery of Buweklooster, which remains in use, 2014. Wikimedia.

Last Updated

Oct. 2026. 

Files

Collection

Frisia

Citation

“Buweklooster,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/147.

Geolocation

Item Relations

This Item DependentOn Item: Mariëngaarde