Roermond Charterhouse

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Roermond Charterhouse, also called Bethlehem Charterhouse (Dutch: Kartuizerklooster Bethlehem, Kartuizerklooster Onze Lieve Vrouwe van Bethlehem), was a Carthusian monastery in Roermond, Limburg, the Netherlands. It was founded in 1376 by Werner van Swalmen, who had returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and was settled by 12 monks from Cologne Charterhouse. One of its early priors was the scholar Henry of Kalkar, and the famous monk Denis the Carthusian (1402–1471) lived there. In the 15th century the monastery helped establish two new houses: Vught Charterhouse (1466) and Vogelsang Charterhouse (1478).

The monastery burned in 1554 and was looted in 1572 by the army of William the Silent, with many monks killed in what is known as the Martyrs of Roermond. It was rebuilt in 1576 but suffered another serious fire in 1665. It prospered in the 18th century but was closed in 1783 under the Josephine Reforms. In 1841 the buildings were taken for the seminary of the Roermond diocese, which used them until 1961. They are now the diocesan offices. The medieval monastic chapel, rededicated in 1841 to Saint Charles Borromeo, remains in use as a church.