Life in the monastery: provost and prioress

The heads of the monastic community of St. Gerlach were a prioress and a provost. The spiritual and economic leadership was in the hands of the provost, who was chosen by the priory ladies from among canons attached to Norbertine abbeys. The provost was appointed for life. Most of the provosts came from nearby monasteries. The monastery in Heinsberg played an important role in the early phase of the monastery, later especially the abbeys Knechtsteden and Steinfeld (Eifel region). Provosts also came from the Norbertine abbeys of Averbode and Tongerlo. The monastery's provosts were not nobility. The prioress or superior was chosen by the priory ladies from among them. She had the daily management in the monastery. Until the ^18th century the prioresses of St. Gerlach came from the local nobility, such as from the families Hoen of Cartils, Dobbelstein of Doenrade and Van Tzevel. 

Above: provost Francis of Cauwenberg, Château St. Gerlach and a canoness

Above the choir of the monastery church the coats of arms can be seen of the prior and prioress who commissioned the construction of the current church, Van Ravenschot and Van Pelt.