St. Eloy's Hospice

Between the Dom tower and the Mariaplaats in Utrecht in The Netherlands there is a unique house that bears the name: St. Eloyen Gasthuis (St. Eloy's Hospice).

Associations of craftsmen and tradesmen, called guilds, were founded as early as in the 11th century in the Netherlands, Northern France and England.

They forced the bishop to give up all his worldly powers by the so-called guild-letter of 1304 and installed a city council consisting of representatives of the guilds.

Utrecht, the second oldest town in the Netherlands, was founded in 48 by the Romans (as Traiectum), being the most northern fortress of their emperor.

The governors of the house, called regenten, adapt to the demands of present times, continue charitable work and take care of funding for maintenance of the building, the art collection and completion of the archives.

They decided to found a hospice where old and poverty-stricken smiths and their widows could be lodged and cared for, thus lightening the burden of their declining years.

In 1440 the Guild bought a property in the Boterstraat in Utrecht, and today, five and a half centuries later, it is still there and is known as St. Eloy's Hospice (St. Eloyen Gasthuis).

A special additional clause in the will allowed for the distribution of bread and some money on Sundays to twenty upright poor guild brothers or other paupers, and that in perpetuity.

Twenty upright poor, selected in consultation with several social services, received till 1962 each quarter a book of coupons which they can exchange at the baker's for one loaf per person per week.

One of them is the attachment of the governing body to 'kolf', a game played with wooden or sajet balls, lapped with felt or leather, and heavy curved bats, called klieken.