Joos. To infinity and beyond.

Joos Vijd (ca. 1360-1439) was born as the third son of Clais Vijd and Amelberga Van der Elst. Joos belonged to a prestigious and powerful family with roots in so-called Land of Beveren.

As a successful politician and nobleman, Joos Vijd commissioned the world-famous painting ‘The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb’, commonly known as ‘The Ghent Altarpiece’. This monumental work of art was painted by Jan and Hubert Van Eyck, two brothers who were famous for their artistic skills.

Who was this man? How can we learn more about him? Lets find out!

Joos Vijd was born around 1360 in the moated castle Singelberg, the administrative and military centre of the castellanry of Beveren. The castle was situated strategically on the riverbanks of the Scheldt, the border between the county of Flanders and the duchy of Brabant.

Clais Vijd, the father of Joos, was the steward of Singelberg and Beveren. He is the political, legal and financial representative of Count Louis of Male, who was both Count of Flanders and lord of Beveren.

The present-day landscape only reveals the defensive moat and the hill, called the ‘motte’ of Singelberg.

One of the duties of Clais Vijd was to supervise the exploitation of the peat bogs in the northern part of Beveren. Peat was an important source of energy for the booming industries of Ghent and Antwerp. The commercialization of peat was an extremely profitable business in the later Middle Ages.

The mother of Joos was Amelberga Van der Elst, member of a prominent family in Melsele. Clais and Amelberga raised five children, namely Joos, two elder brothers named Clais The Younger and Christoffel respectively, and two daughters, Elisabeth and Mabelie.

Clais and Amelberga also set up a chapel in the church of Saint Martin in Beveren. The pope himself, Urban VI, gave his permission for the foundation of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in 1378.

In 1378 Urban VI lost much of its prestige. The elected French antipope, Clement VII, settled in Avignon and challenges Urban VI in Rome, thus creating the Western Schism.

Joos Vijd grew up in an affluent and powerful milieu. The Vijd family is an influential family of county officials dominating a substantial part of the county of Flanders.

When a war broke out in 1379 between Count Louis of Male and Ghent, it was Clais Vijd and his sons who defended Beveren against the Ghent militias. In his capacity as castellan of Beveren, Clais garrisonned the castle of Singelberg with fresh troops, weapons and artillery. He also controlled traffic on the Scheldt river between Antwerp and Mechelen.

The Count of Flanders rewarded Clais for his services. His eldest sons, Clais Vijd the Younger and Christoffel Vijd were knighted, a move that ennobled both men.

Clais’ eldest daughter, Elisabeth, married Joos Triest, a nobleman and the bailiff of Waas and later of the so-called Vier Ambachten. In time, Clais The Younger was appointed as baillif of the Land of Waas. The future looked bright.

1390 is a turning point for the Vijd family.
Clais Vijd is found guilty of large-scale fraud and corruption after a thorough investigation of his finances by the officials of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders. Clais is relieved of all his offices and sentenced to a heavy fine. He is also forced to leave Singelberg Castle and the Land of Beveren.

Clais and Amelberga move to Ghent. Clais continues his profitable trade in peat, iron and cloth. Joos and Mabelie move to Ghent as well. Clais’ eldest son, Clais The Younger, dies in december 1390.

Shortly after his arrival in Ghent, Joos married Elisabeth Borluut, who belonged to a prominent family with a long tradition of providing aldermen to the City Council. This marriage helped Joos to develop a succesful carreer as burgher, alderman, and diplomat, including a position of first alderman (i.e. the equivalent of a mayor), the city’s highest magistrate. Both Joos and Elisabeth belonged to the most exclusive circles of Ghent society.

Meanwhile, by purchasing the seigneurie of Pamel and Ledeberg in 1397, Clais Vijd succeeded in his ambition of gaining a noble status for himself and his family. After his father’ and brother’s death, Joos inherits the title of Lord of Pamel and Ledeberg. As the only surviving legitimate male, he is the full heir to the entire family estate.

In 1414 Duke John the Fearless authorised Joos Vijd to reclaim the inundated marshes of Melsele, Kallo and Verrebroek. All participants in the draining of these wetlands were high-ranking officials of the ducal administration and/or members of the Ghent elite.

In 1416, Joos Vijd and his associates subcontracted the waterworks in Melselepolder to Geraard Brissinc and Daneel Vilain, knight and owner of the Hof ter Welle Castle in Beveren.

The Beveren residence of Joos Vijd was te estate ‘Te Walle’. He converted it into a modern moated castle. Today it is known as the elegant Cortewalle Castle.

Should we identify this complex as Cortewalle Castle? The recent restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece revealed that this particular image was a later addition to the painting, possibly commissioned in the sixteenth century by Antoon Triest, the bishop of Ghent who also happened to be the heir to the Vijd family fortunes and a famous patron of the arts.

The fief Hof ter Saksen was owned by Jan Vijd, the oldest illegitimate son of his brother Christoffel. Both men were on good terms. Jan Vijd became bailiff of Beveren from 1426 onwards.

Joos and Elisabeth did not have any children who could inherit their vast fortune and noble title. This may have prodded them towards massive investments when they decided around 1420 to build their own private chapel in the most important church of Ghent, the Church of Saint John (later Saint Bavo’s Cathedral).

On the 6th of May 1432, the Feast of John The Evangelist, the Ghent Altarpiece the chapel was consecrated in the Saint John church in Ghent. That same day, Joos, the second son of Duke Philip the Good was to be baptised in the same church.

Joos Vijd and Elisabeth Borluut dedicated the last few years of their lives to charity and spiritual projects. Next to the Vijd Chapel in the Church of Saint John in Ghent, they founded a pilgrims’ house in Beveren. The initial plans for the foundation of a pilgrims’ house probably went back to 1414, but the implementation was only carried out by their heirs after the death of Joos and Elisabeth in 1439 and in 1443 respectively.

Beveren was shaped and transformed by Joos Vijd and his family. Locals and tourists can still enjoy the fruits and benefits of his labours: the castles, churches and landscape parks in Beveren form the legacy of Joos Vijd!