St. Trudo's Abbey

Male Castle, Bruges . A community of the Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre. It originated in Bruges in the 11th century, and between 1954 and 2013 was settled in Male Castle in Male, Sint-Kruis, Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium.The origins of St. Trudo's Abbey are believed to go back to about 1050, when the hermit Everelmus settled near the entrance to the city of Bruges where the road to Ghent crosses the River Reie. There he built a small oratory and dedicated it to Saint Bartholomew. Like other hermits, Everelmus attracted followers, who gradually formed a community, which was referred to as servi Dei in the charter of 1130 by which Thierry, Count of Flanders, gave them the piece of ground on which they lived. As the mixed community of the servi Dei or pauperes Christi monachis of the Eekhoute, as they became known, grew bigger it required more organisation. In about 1146 therefore they joined the congregation of the Canons Regular of Arrouaise. The Eekhoute was elevated to Eekhout Abbey, with Lambertus as first abbot.

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