Johannes "Jan" Heyns (14?? in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Scienc ...

– 1516 in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

Brabantic Brabantian or Brabantish, also Brabantic or Brabantine ( nl, Brabants, Standard Dutch pronunciation: , ), is a dialect group of the Dutch language. It is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant, which corresponded mainly to the Dutch pro ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. Originally from Bruges, Jan Heyns was active in 's-Hertogenbosch from 1495. There he became the architect in charge of building the St. John's Cathedral. The construction of the cathedral was then in full force. Under Jan Heyns' direction the chapel of the

Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady The Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady (Illustre Lieve Vrouwe Broederschap) was a religious confraternity founded in 1318 in 's-Hertogenbosch to promote the veneration of the Mother of God. The brotherhood was organized around a carved wood ...

, a society from 's-Hertogenbosch that was dedicated to the veneration of Saint Mary, was completed in 1496, and in 1505 the entire preceding Roman church of St. John, excluding the tower, was demolished to make room for the nave of the new cathedral. As a reward for his service, Heyns was admitted to the Illustrious Brotherhood as a sworn-in brother. Only persons from the highest levels of society or persons that distinguished themselves were allowed to be sworn into the brotherhood. Heyns' membership of the brotherhood meant that he belonged to the laity - though in the lowest rank - and he was thereby required to organize meals at his home for his fellow brothers. He also carried out other services for the Brotherhood; In this capacity he, along with fellow Brother Jeroen Bosch, advised the sculptor on the size of the altarpiece for the Brotherhood that the sculptor was to make in 1508-1509. Jan Heyns did not live to see the completion of the Sint-Jan, as he died during a

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other s ...

epidemic that struck 's-Hertogenbosch from 1515 to 1516. He was. His brother-in-law was the printmaker , who had preceded him as architect of the Sint-Jan. The Maurick Castle near

Vught Vught () is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, and lies just south of the industrial and administrative centre of 's-Hertogenbosch. Many commuters live in the municipality, and the town of Vught was once named "Best place to liv ...

, built from 1504 to 1509, is also attributed to Jan Heyns.

Sources

*Dijck, G.C.M. van (2001) ''Op zoek naar Jheronimus van Aken alias Bosch. De feiten. Familie, vrienden en opdrachtgevers'', Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek, pp. 53, 55, 57 (). {{DEFAULTSORT:Heyns, Jan Year of birth unknown 1516 deaths 16th-century Dutch people Architects of the Habsburg Netherlands Architects from Bruges People from 's-Hertogenbosch Flemish architects