't Creijspot - Sacred Oak cult
't Creijspot was originally part of a large primeval forest between Den Dungen, Sint-Michielsgestel, Schijndel and Middelrode, called 't Woud. From the 13th century, the area is gradually cultivated. According to oral tradition, dating back to the 19th century, a sacred oak would have stood here. The current name of the area is Kraaienspot. This is the only toponym in Schijndel with the element "crow" in it. However, it is very doubtful whether it has anything to do with crows. It seems more like a corrupted naming convention. After all, the writing variants that occur in archives suggest a different origin. The area is referred to as Creyspot, Crespot, Kreitspot and even Krijgspot. The element "kreit" or "chalk" cannot be unequivocally explained linguistically. In the archives of the Bossche Geefhuis there is a deed from 1433 which shows that this institution already had a farm here on site. In the 16th century people alternately refer to "the farm on Creijspot" and "opt Spoel".
This sofa was donated by the Regional Fund Het Groene Woud, 2014
,Sacred Oak Cult
About two thousand years ago Celts and Germans lived in Western Europe. They knew of various sanctuaries (including sacred springs, sacred hills and sacred trees) and rituals from which (healing) power was derived. In the conversion of these peoples, the blunt ax was sometimes literally and figuratively used. Well-known is the story of Saint Boniface who had a Saint Oak tree cut down near Fritzlar in 723 in order to show the Hessen, a Germanic tribe in present-day Germany, that their gods were nothing. It had an effect; they were converted to Christianity. But with the transition to Christianity, the age-old traditions of these peoples did not just disappear. The Catholic Church constantly tried to suppress those pagan practices. At the end of the 8th century, a list was drawn up in ecclesiastical circles of about thirty pagan customs of the Frisians and Saxons that were to be rejected, including offerings to wells and tree shrines.
However, the age-old traditions of faith turned out to be deeply rooted. At the site of an old cult place, a cross or a simple stick chapel was sometimes erected as a place of special, or where special (healing) power could be found. There was also such a special cult place in the Meijldoorn. It is referred to in ancient writings:
-1524: locally called byden Mijidoren and the Heijlege Cruys
-1718:...Heijlige Huysken aldaer' (= chapel)
-1803: H. Huys' (map by H. Verhees on the location of the Meyldoorn). A special mention can be found in an archive document from 1750 where it is written about the Papal (= Catholic) Naughties in Staats Brabant, such as the. occurrence of sacred oaks and lindens, and sacred mounds or mounds. One of them was located between Schijndel and den Dungen, near the Mijl-doorn [...] where the Luijden oni crawled against the fever." In the 19th and 20th century, various spokesmen spoke of a H. Eikof
a fever tree, where people from the area sought healing against the fever.
In memory of the H. Eik cult in the Meijldoorn and 't Creyspot, yeld chapels have been erected there again. But also as a resting place for you, or as a place of contemplation... dedicated to St. Mary... as a continuation of popular belief.