Ammerzoden / Amerzode / Ammerooie / Ammerzode / Kasteel Ammersoyen

Eyck (1846) mentions a font at Ammerzoden [NB: not clear whether the font was or is at the castle, or whether there are or were two fonts here]. The present font in the semi-ruined Protestant church consists of an octgonal tapering basin raised on a moulded pedestal base; the basin sides are decorated; the font is located at the east end of what used to be the chancel, which is now the nave of the reduced church, the nave in ruins and never restored. There is a font cover on it, but the whole thing looks rather modern. A baptismal font from "Amerzode" is noted among the collections in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and the Rijksmuseum site [http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.27106] [accessed 2 January 2022] reports a "Doopvont van steen afkomstig uit de Nederduits Hervormde kerk te Ammerzoden" purchased 1881. A communication from Pol Herman to BSI (e-mail of 13 February 2022) addresses several concerns on a font or fonts related to Ammerzoden: Under the name Ammerzoden (Ammerzode, Amerzode), there are 2, maybe 3 fonts. 1) A font that was at the castle of Ammerzoden, now in the Rijksmuseum at Amsterdam under the identification B782 (Baptismal font, octagonal, of stone, from the castle at Ammerzoden, circa 1500.) I suppose it came from the “Ruïnekerk”, Meester la Grostraat 29, 5324 AJ Ammerzoden. https://reliwiki.nl/index.php/Ammerzoden,_Meester_La_Grostraat_29_-_Ru%C3%AFnekerk [...] Source : Berigten van het Historisch Gezelschap te Utrecht, eerste deel, eerste aflevering, 1846. At the castle at Ammerzoden, in den Bommelerwaard, there is another one, probably brought there from the destroyed church. It is called the St Quirijns font and is about the same as the one in Amersfoort. Source : Wandelingen door Nederland met pen en potlood. Deel 7, Jacobus Craandijk, Kruseman & Tjeenk Willink, Haarlem 1884 Ammerzode is a fairly large place. The church is partly a ruin, richly overgrown with ivy. The French destroyed it in 1672, and it has remained that way ever since. Opposite the church, at the end of a short avenue, is the castle. No one is allowed there anymore; the gate does not open even for the pastor of Ammerzode. We must therefore content ourselves with a glance at the outer walls. We must now content ourselves with the description of how one entered through the front gate into the courtyard, where an old baptismal font was kept and some stone cannonballs lay, and from where one descended to the cellars and prisons. 2) A basin of the font that was in the Nederduits Hervormde Kerk at Ammerzoden, that went to the Rijksmuseum at Amsterdam in 1881 under the identification BK-NM-1343, and that was given to the Dorpskerk at Vorden in 1954. I have no idea what the “Nederduits Hervormde Kerk” is. Information on Internet: At the time (when?) the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was asked to obtain a baptismal font from the depot of the museum. That request was honored and in 1954 the baptismal font was placed in the Dorpskerk in Vorden. The baptismal font originally came from the church in Ammerzoden. It is a 17th century baptismal font. A suitable pedestal was made to be able to place the baptismal font. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam made a baptismal font available, which was present in the depot of the museum. It was placed in 1954 and ceded on long-term loan to the church in Vorden and comes from the church in Ammerzoden. It is a simple 17th century baptismal font. A suitable pedestal had to be made for this. 3) And Schönlank- van der Wal writes in “Middeleeuwse doopvonten in Gelderland” (2001) that the Waalse Kerk at Haarlem has a 16th century font from Ammerzoden. I have not been able to find it. [NB: a later e-mail from Pol Herman to BSI regarding this #3 entry informs: "I have found it. It is catalogue number BK-NM-1343 of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, that was transferred to the Waalse Kerk at Haarlem in 1964. I found some pictures of it. It is an octagonal gothic-style font. It was bought for 30 guilders from the priest of Ammerzoden. It is mentioned that it was kept at the castle of Ammerzoden, but this seems impossible to me because the font of the castle of Ammerzoden was already identified under my point 1 as being the catalogue number B872."] [cf. BSI entry for Haarlem No. 2 for this font in the Waalse Kerk]