In the Middle Age lived a once promiscuous girl named Elisabeth. She had come to repentance, found honourable employ as a maid, and had established herself at the hamlet of Vrieswijc, modern Friezenwijk. This hamlet is located near the scenic village of Heukelum in the region of Batavia (viz. the region of Betuwe) in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands.
Because of Elisabeth’s former dissolute and dishonourable lifestyle, the Devil still preyed on her body and soul. This was, after all, how medieval people thought of women in general. Women, namely, could easily be swayed, as was evident after Eve had eaten an apple, the forbidden fruit, at the behest of the Devil. Especially, dishonourable, unmarried girls were susceptible. Read our post Harbours, Hookers, Heroines, and Women in Masquerade to understand more of the concept of honour and the position of women in the late medieval (and early modern) period.
In the year 1282, Elisabeth – whose name means 'my God is an oath' – went for a walk on what must have been a very hot summer's day (Van Engelen 1995). Probably somewhere along the River Linge near Friezenwijk. After she got thirsty, Elisabeth drank from a pond filled with clear water. Inexcusable, she forgot to make the sign of the Cross before she started to quench her thirst and did not notice that the Devil had poisoned the water by throwing a small clot of earth into the pond. That Elisabeth failed to cross herself probably was because she still lacked the discipline of her former rowdy life and had not mastered all the rules of piety yet. Or it was a sign she was not far from being evil herself – making the sign of the Cross before drinking fresh water from a fountain or other water sources was necessary in the medieval perception, because demons and evil spirits could inhabit it. Without this heavenly protection, evil could ingress into a person (Arnold 2024).
At the house in her room, she became possessed by evil. It was so bad that she had to be tied down to her bed. A scene we are all familiar with since the movie The Exorcist (1973). Only this time her name was Elisabeth instead of Regan. Anyway, the lady of the house where Elisabeth worked as a maid cared for her and brought Elisabeth during Lent to the priest in Heukelum to confess her sins. For a while, this offered some solace. The Devil inside was pacified. Until Easter, when she was about to take communion. Elisabeth’s mouth turned to stone, and she could not swallow the holy host. A white dove came flying into the church and took the host out of her mouth. Probably as a precaution not to waste any holy bread. Back at the house in her room, Elisabeth became possessed again, and total madness came over her.
After three days of suffering, the Virgin Mary decided it was enough and time to help out Elisabeth. The Virgin Mary, together with John the Evangelist and Saint Elizabeth, announced to Elisabeth they would visit her in Friezenwijk. Elisabeth tried to find the most beautiful white cloth to lay over her bed in order to respectfully welcome her three esteemed guests. But in vain, because she had too little time. Instead, Elisabeth put a modest, simple bedspread made of cheap hemp over her bed. The Holy Trinity came, sat down on Elisabeth's bed, and cured her. After Elisabeth had cleansed her mouth with purified, blessed water, the same dove from before during Easter came flying in again and put the host back into her mouth. Finally, Elisabeth was able to swallow it at last.
One last time Elisabeth's Devil made an effort to get hold on her body and soul, but it was not able to get inside anymore. It left the room, and out of frustration the Devil set fire to the mattress made of straw. Elisabeth extinguished the flames with both her arms, which got burned heavily. When Elisabeth wrapped her arms with the hemp bedspread the three saints had sat on, the skin of her arms healed immediately.
Commentary
The above account is basically a free translation of documentation collected by the Meertens Institute. The story of this miracle can be traced back to texts dating to around the year 1480. Different accounts speak of the yearly procession held on Pentecost Monday, carrying the statue of the Virgin Mary, departing from the parish church in the village of Heukelum to the chapel in the hamlet of Friezenwijk. The chapel was built on the spot where the exorcism had happened. The hemp bedspread was kept as a relic in the church of Heukelum but has been lost, probably after the turbulent times of the Reformation in the sixteenth century.
One can think of many explanations for this story. A likely one, we think, is that it was about a young girl with a (perceived) rebellious character who was pressured by her social environment to accept the conservative conventions of the community. Maybe she had a strong personality and vigorously resisted conforming. In the end, it got her off balance and caused distress, and even mental illness. Or – who knows – she was mentally unstable in the first place, which made her behave in socially unacceptable ways. Out of social ignorance, she was pressured into obedience and 'healed'. Either way, Elisabeth had to fight (her) demons. We cannot help but think that a free female spirit was a victim of her constricting time.
The procession of the Virgin Mary was very popular. People from all over the country attended. Even after the Protestant Reformation and the Beeldenstorm (‘statue fury’) in the year 1566, devotees continued to organize the procession. By the mid seventeenth century, the procession was still popular. A century later, however, the tradition had finally fallen into disuse. Not much later, the chapel must have been dismantled, as well as the procession pathway. Where exactly the chapel stood is unclear. It might have been located in the area that has been fully excavated by the local brick factory. So, we will never know.
The sinful girl of monastery Bloemhof
The early thirteenth-century Cronica Floridi Horti (‘chronicle of monastery flower garden’), of the equally named monastery at the hamlet of Wittewierum in Frisia, speaks of tragedy of a similar nature as that of Elisabeth from Vrieswijc. The monastery is known in Dutch as klooster Bloemhof. It is about a young girl who was haunted by an impure ghost or monster, even after she entered the monastery as sister oblate. Abbot Emo (ca. 1175-1237), the first foreign student at the University of Oxford by the way, performed exorcism rites, including sprinkling the girl with holy water.
Et intravit assumpto sacerdote, et premissa letania exorcizavit aquam, et invocato nominee Iesu Christu et excitata fide cordis necessaria contra tumultus phantasticos, orations complens aspersit et recessit.
And he [abbot Emo] entered together with a priest the monastery, and having recited the litany he consecrated the water, and after invoking the name of Jesus Christ, and having awakened the faith of the heart, which is necessary against assaults of evil spirits, he prayed, sprinkled her and left.
This exorcism helped for a few days, but then the monster returned during the night. It came four days before full moon and another six days during the month. Always in the darkness after Matins. Then the monster would force itself on the girl as a true physical creature. The girl got confused and committed sins of a sexual nature. Abbot Emo tried to comfort her and to bring her back to Christ. He told her to confess, sing psalms and take communion daily. No matter how often the girl confessed etc., it felt like it did not help her. Until one day Abbot Emo was overcome by the Lord and said to the girl to pray and praise as honest as Hannah once did in the Books of Samuel. After these heavenly inspired words the girl found a way to pray worthy, finally, and immediately was freed from the impure ghost and committing sexual sins.
Was she cured or did she finally gave up and bowed her head?
Angela at the monastery in Bologna
One more example concerns non Angela Tussignana in the monastery dedicated to Saint Lawrence in Bologna, Italy. In 1583, Inquisitor Eliseo Capis of the Holy Roman Church accused her of witchcraft and being possessed by the Devil. Another non bravely defended Angela against the Inquisitor and stated Angela was angry and unhappy for being confined to walls of the monastery for much of her life (Rendsmark 2023).
The name Friezenwijk
How the hamlet of Friezenwijk received its name is a bit of a mystery. Originally, local people used to call the hamlet Agter Vrieswijc, or later Achter Friezenwijk meaning ‘behind Friezenwijk’. The best and simplest explanation is that the name Friezenwijk means ‘settlement or farmstead of Frisians’ (Van Erkel & Samplonius 2018). Some speculate that after the retreat of the Romans, Frisians settled here. Others say, however, there was a little waterway called the Vree, Vrede or Vreze, and that this explains the part Fries or Vries. Etymological wise, the jugglery with d and z might be complicated. Yet others say Fries or Vries stems from the Dutch word fris meaning ‘fresh/windy’, and therefore ‘windy area’. An explanation you are allowed to forget immediately. Or it could mean ‘swampy area’, but no sound etymological explanation is given for these suggestions (Van Honk 2020). So, we hikers of the Frisia Coast Trail stick with 'settlement of Frisians'.
Not far from the hamlet of Friezenwijk, you can find the town of Vreeswijk ('Frisian wic'), and also the neighbourhood Friezenbuurt ('Frisian neighbourhood') at the town of Maarssen. Vreeswijk's original spelling is Fresionouuic. Of yet another settlement, the early-medieval settlement Fresdore, meaning 'Frisian's burh', it is unsure where it was located. Some scholars say it was another name for Vreeswijk, while others say it was the predecessor of the village of Cothen along the River Kromme Rijn in the province of Utrecht (Van Bemmel et al 2022). Check our blog post The Batwing Doors of north-western Europe for a bit more information on these place names.
Okay, we drop one more Frisian wic, namely Freswick (Chamson 2014). Not so close but located in the upper northeast of Scotland. The identical town name of Fresvik in Norway is commonly explained as 'Freyr's bay' and might be an alternative explanation to 'settlement of Frisians' for Freswick. Or, then again, were there medieval settlements of Frisian traders in Scotland and Norway, both located on the coast of the North Sea? In fact, both are natural harbours. It won't come as a surprise, but we hikers of the Frisia Coast Trail think 'Frisian/Fresian/Fries wic' is a far sounder explanation than 'Freya wic'. A straightforward theory that does not need a long-shot explanation either of why an 's' was inserted and 'ya' fell out of it to create the word 'fres' from the word 'freya'.
If interested in stories of Freswick, check the website of Monique Sliedrecht, a Canadian artist of Dutch descend, living in this remote corner of Europe.
Note 1 – When hiking the Frisia Coast Trail, you will pass through the hamlet of Friezenwijk and the village of Heukelum. Do you dare to walk through the scrub of the river floodplains west of Friezenwijk by night, where the Devil must have roamed?
Note 2 – Besides fries(en) denoting a people, it can also denote a profession. It is the occupation of friesen known in Germany and Switzerland; land workers who irrigated fields in the seventeenth century. See our posts From Patriot to Insurgent: John Fries and the First Tax Rebellions and A severe case of inattentional blindness: the Frisian tribe’s name.
Suggested music
INXS, The Devil Inside (1987)
Sandra, Maria Magdalena (1985)
Further reading
Arnold, E.F., Medieval Riverscapes. Environment and Memory in Northwest Europe, c. 300-1100 (2024)
Bemmel, van A.A.B., Cohen, K.M., Doesburg, van J., Hermans, T., Huiting, J.H., Poppe, E.L., Renes, J. & Vliet, van K., De dam bij Wijk en het Kromme Rijngebied in de middeleeuwen (2022)
Boer, de D.E.H., Emo's reis. Een historisch culturele ontdekkingstocht door Europa in 1212 (2017)
Chamson, E.R., Revisiting a millennium of migrations. Contextualizing Dutch/Low-German influence on English dialect lexis (2014)
Engelen, van A.F.V. (ed), Jan Buisman. Duizend jaar weer, wind en water in de Lage Landen. Deel 1. Historisch onderzoek 764 tot 1300 (1995)
Erkel, van G. & Samplonius, K., Nederlandse plaatsnamen verklaard. Reeks Nederlandse plaatsnamen deel 12 (2018)
Herwaarden, van J., Heukelum, O.L. Vrouw van Heukelum (the Meertens Institute website)
Honk, van M., Het grote wonder van Vrieswijc (2020)
Jansen, H.P.H. & Janse, A. (transl.), Kroniek van het klooster Bloemhof te Wittewierum (1991)
Mathijsen, M., Een vrije geest. Het uitzonderlijke leven van Betje Wolff (2024)
Rendsmark, M., Stoute nonnen overtraden kloosterregels (2023)
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