from an early 15th-century manuscript The abbey was founded as a
Cistercian monastery for nuns around 1232 by the
Duke of Brabant,
Henry II. The abbey underwent several phases of reconstruction, expansion and crisis, but would eventually become quite a big establishment. A time of particular activity was the 15th century. By the later part of the century, it however was substantially rebuilt, probably to designs by
Neoclassical architect
Laurent-Benoît Dewez. Following the
French Revolution and the ensuing French occupation of Brabant following the
War of the First Coalition, the abbey was secularised in 1797. In 1800, the buildings were sold off as building material and consequently demolished. Some of the subsidiary buildings, notably a farmstead (built in the second half of the 18th century) and a
water mill (mentioned already in 1431) however remain. On the grounds of the former monastery, a brick
château was erected in 1867. It was commissioned by , Professor at the
University of Leuven, and designed by in a
Neo-Renaissance style. ==References==