Aduard Abbey was considered one of the richest, largest and best-known monasteries in the northern Low Countries.

In the abbey's heyday under Abbot Henricus van Rees, in the second half of the 15th century, some 300 monks lived there and played a significant part in the reclamation and cultivation of the land.

In 1580 the buildings, including the priceless library and the monastery archives, were destroyed by fire after an attack by the Geuzes.

The most informative source on this is the 1528 letter from Goswinus van Halen to his former pupil Albertus Risaeus, in which he gives a summary of the main members of the Aduarder Kring, in total 23 names, and adds that there were more.

[3] After the death of Hendrik van Rees the emphasis on studies was slightly reduced, but discussions and presentations also took place under later abbots.

Albertus Risaeus presented his enlightened ideas here, for which scholars such as Philipp Melanchthon praised the school and its students.