Before tulips and windmills, Amsterdam was famous for miracle cures
After the Alteration, when Amsterdam
turned Protestant in 1578, the city received immigrants escaping persecution
and poverty elsewhere. When researching Naming the Dead, I was intrigued
to learn that the city had a much longer history of welcoming foreigners. From
1345, Catholics came from all over Europe to visit its Heilige Stede (or
Holy Place), where a miracle was said to have occurred.
In March of that year, a priest was
called to a home in Kalverstraat to administer the last rites to a dying
man. Afterwards, he threw up on a bowl and a maid tipped the contents in the
fire before leaving him for the night. In the morning, she was amazed to find
the bread intact, perfectly preserved, and her master healed.
The authorities quickly authenticated
this as a miracle, and built a chapel on the site. They introduced an annual
festival to commemorate the event. Pilgrims flocked to the city, along a ‘Holy
Way’ connecting it to the lakes and rivers to the south and west. Even Holy
Roman Emperors came, as Amsterdam’s reputation grew, bringing economic benefits
to those who ran businesses in the city.
The supposedly miraculous bread disappeared after the Alteration. Catholic nuns continued to venerate its memory whilst living on nearby Bejinhof island. Otherwise, people were attracted by Amsterdam’s economic opportunities and religious toleration, no longer by miracle cures.
Naming in Blood (Baxby
Mystery 2) is available from Sharpe Books on Kindle Unlimited and to buy at UK Link and US Link