TONGHERLO. – Premonstratensian abbey near Antwerp in Belgium. It was founded in 1128 in honor of the Blessed Virgin by Giselbert, with religious sent from the abbey of St Michael in Antwerp.
The foundation charter was subscribed by St Bernard and the Blessed Waltmann; the first abbot was Henry, a companion of St Norbert. The bishop of Cambrai granted privileges to the abbots, who soon made the monastery of T. one of the most flourishing spiritual centers of these regions, where, before the end of the 13th century, they had more than 20 parishes, which later reached up to 40. Then T. had to surrender its revenues to the bishop of Bois-le-Duc until 1590.
In 1572 the Huguenots killed the priests Peter Janssens, parish priest of Haarenby-Oisterwijk, Henry Bosch, parish priest of Nispen-Roozendaal, and Peter de Calmforthut, who refused to renounce his faith (J. Van Spilbeeck, *Les martyrs de T. au XVIe siècle*, Brussels 1890).
From 1569 to 1590 it was incorporated into the diocese of S.-Hertogenbosch. From 1626 to 1812 the abbey had a theological college in Rome. In T. in 1793 the sixth volume of October of the *Acta Sanctorum* of the Bollandists was published.
The abbey was suppressed in 1796 and partly demolished; it was restored in 1848 and damaged by a fire in 1929. It still preserves its ancient enclosure; access is gained through a large portal (15th–16th centuries); the prelature building of Kerriex dates to 1725 and contains a picture gallery (16th–17th centuries) and a series of Brussels tapestries from 1866. The hospice has a turreted wing from 1473, restored in 1930, which houses the library and infirmary.
The present abbey church, in Gothic style, dates to 1851–58 and contains a 16th-century copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s *Last Supper*. The cloister has also been entirely rebuilt.
TONDELLI, LEONE – Portrait.