A unique archive...
Our archive is not only a goldmine for the history of our guild, it is also a reproduction of a social cultural and political history of the past 600 years.
Since 1416...
...we keep everything in house
The Guild of Saint Sebastian preserves a very old archive dating back to the fifteenth century. The oldest piece is from 1416, only a few decades after the foundation of the Guild. The archive reflects the composition and activities of the Guild, which have significantly evolved over more than six centuries of existence, but which at the same time show constant alignment with the aims and principles of the association.
The following components can be distinguished in the Guild archives :
- charters or contracts on parchment from the 15th and 16th centuries, including a Papal Bull
- member lists from the 16th to the 18th century
- accounts from 1454 to the 20th century
- death debt books from the 16th to the 18th century
- admission books from the 19th and 20th century
- record books from the 17th to the 20th century
- 19th and 20th century shooting books
- collections of collected correspondence and documents from the 16th to the 20th century
Histoire de la Gilde des Archers
The archive has been organized by archivist Albert Schoutteet and described in more detail in the book by Dr. H. Henri Godar, Histoire de la Guilde des Archers de Saint Sébastien de la ville de Bruges, Bruges, 1947, p. 13 -35.
Many extracts from the archive are included in the same book.
Digitization is a must
The documents have already been largely digitized and will be further systematically digitized. A selection of these will soon be visible on this website.
The archive also contains a photo collection, with numerous photos from the 20th century. This has also been digitized for the most part.
Archival documents available for inspection
600 years of archives of the Royal Guild of Saint Sebastian Inside Bruges
On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the oldest archive item, an exhibition was set up in 2016 entitled ‘From ‘t Frerenconvent tot het Lombaertheester. 600 years of archives of the Saint Sebastian Guild in Bruges’. A small catalogue was then published, as well as a book: J. Dumolyn and A. Vandewalle (eds.), ‘Saint Sebastian within Bruges. 600 years guild archive’, Bruges 2016, 231 pages.