MAASTRICHT. - Ancient diocese in Holland, today in the diocese of Roermond.
As the name indicates, the city owes its origin to a ferry or a ford of the Meuse: "trajectum ad Mosam." Later a bridge joined the two banks, and the great military road of Gaul passed this way, through Bavay, Tongres and Maastricht to Cologne. The same hollow, which dates back to prehistoric times, had already extended beyond the two banks by the 2nd century A.D., without yet being surrounded by walls. In the upheavals of the 3rd century Maastricht, like other places, had its castellum to defend the bridge, presumably rebuilt at that time.
St. Servatius, bishop of Tongres, found here a secure residence; thus Maastricht became the first episcopal city of the Low Countries and remained so for the 21 successors who had their seat at Maastricht, until St. Bertulf moved definitively to Liège in 722. His successors, who often continued to style themselves with the title of bishops of Tongres, maintained their rights over Maastricht and shared them with the Frankish kings, who had a palatine county at Maastricht, where they also collected tolls. This situation gave rise to the long struggle between the "familia a Lamberti" and the "familia a Servati," that is, between the party of the bishop and that of the emperor. With the "Oude Caerte" an arbitration was reached between the bishop of Liège, John IV of Flanders, and his brother-in-law John I of Brabant. This pact remained in force until the French Revolution, although in 1632 the Dutch Republic intervened in the rights of the duke of Brabant. After the restoration of the monarchy and the union with the southern Netherlands, Maastricht became the capital city of the province of Limburg and in 1830 remained loyal to the king, so that together with half the territory of Limburg it remained united with the Netherlands.
Famous is the bridge of St. Servatius (built between 1280 and 1298, restored from 1684 to 1714 and 1934-35), next to which in 1935 the Wilhelmina Bridge was built. The Town Hall was built by the Hague architect Pieter Post from 1659 to 1664 and is also known for its tapestries and its paintings.
But more famous are the churches. The Romanesque one of St. Servatius has massive towers of the 11th century on the west, while the great south portal dates from the 13th century and, with its proto-Gothic forms, contrasts with the rest.
The church of Our Lady dates from the 11th century, but the front part with the towers is from the 10th century. It is entirely Romanesque. Very beautiful is the upper choir surrounded by a double colonnade, beneath which lie two crypts. In a chapel at the side of the Basilica is the wonderful image of the Virgin, Star of the Sea. Behind the chapel there are cloisters of the 10th century, part of which is used as a treasury for the numerous relics.
Near the church of St. Servatius is that of St. John, begun in the 13th century and finished in 1450. It is used by the Reformed Community of the Netherlands. Other ancient churches are those of St. Matthias (15th century), the former church of the Crusaders (15th century), the former church of the Dominicans (13th-14th centuries), the former church of the first Franciscans (13th-14th centuries), now the seat of the State Archives, and numerous other churches of this period and of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Bibliography2 works
Olaf Klesser
STAUROTECA OF MAASTRICHT
It is a reliquary containing five fragments of the Holy Cross preserved in the cathedral of M. since the 13th century. The encolpion in the shape of a patriarchal cross, that is, with a double transverse bar, was donated by Philip II of Swabia to the church of M. and was kept there until the French Revolution.
On the front are fixed five medallions representing Jesus Christ, the Virgin in prayer, the archangels Michael and Gabriel, and St. Demetrius. On the reverse, on the gold plate, is engraved a Greek inscription in iambic meter from the time of Emperor Romanus II (959-63) or of Romanus III (Argyros, 1028-32); it was published as early as the 15th century. The staurotheca was donated to Gregory XVI, who in 1837 placed it among the distinguished relics of the Vatican Basilica, enclosing it in a silver reliquary.
Bibliography
Enrico Josi