Bethania

Title

Bethania

Also Known As

Béthanie, Les Dames Blanches, 't Hof ter Vrouwen, Witte Jongvrouwen,

Dates

Founded first half of the 15th c.; formally Premonstratensian from 1618; dissolved 1783

Dedication

Joseph

Affiliation

Veurne

Medieval Diocese

Thérouanne

Circary

Flanders

History

The women's community at Bethania was established in the early 15th century. It was originally an Augustinian house but was under the paternity of the Premonstratensian abbey of Furnes. Bethania formally became a member of the Premonstratensian Order in the early 17th century.

Bethania was suppressed in 1796. Little of the former monastic complex survives.

Heads of Community

Prioresses

Petronilla Morus, fl. 1480s
Gerarda Van Halsbourgh, d. 1521
Maria Godschalch, d. 1538

Status

Women's community

Archival Sources

Brussels, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België

MS 4123. (17th c.; "Fundatio virginum de Bethania, Ord. Prae.")

Gent, Stadsmuseum

A2005.02.364.1-2

A2005.02.364.2-2

Bibliography

Huyghebaert, Nicolas-Norbert. “Prieuré Saint-Joseph de Béthanie, à Furnes.” In Monasticon Belge 3: Province de Flandre occidentale, 3:645–52. Liège: Centre National de Recherches d’Histoire Religieuse, 1974.
Putte, Ferdinand van de, and Charles Louis Carton, eds. Chronicon et Cartularium Abbatiae Sancti Nicolai Furnensis, ordinis Premonstratensis, et Chronicon Bethaniae seu Domus S. Joseph Furnensis. Recueil de chroniques, chartes et autres documents concernant l’histoire et les antiquités de la Flandre-Occidentale. Bruges: Vandecasteele-Werbrouck, 1849. https://books.google.com/books?id=Xk1cAAAAcAAJ.
Spot, J. de. “Episode de l’histoire des religieuses Norbertines de Furnes.” Bibliothèque Norbertine 12 (1910): 26–28.

Image Credit

Bethania, early 17th c. Detail from Antonius Sanderus, "Flandria Illustrata" (1641). Wikimedia.

Last Updated

Oct. 2026.

Files

Collection

Flanders

Citation

“Bethania,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/510.

Geolocation

Item Relations

This Item DependentOn Item: Veurne