ABSTRACT
On 27 February 1811, Napoleon signed a decree ordering the dissolution and impropriation of church property in the Dutch departments he had annexed eight months earlier. The properties identifi ed in the decree were three former convents in the east of these territories and six chapters in and around Utrecht. But it was clear that more might follow: scope for further confi scations was provided by the following passage: ‘ Qu’il se trouve d’autres biens d’origine ecclésiastique, qui ont appartenu à des ordres militaires ou à d’autres corporations supprimés ’. 2 Izaak Jan Alexander Gogel, the most senior offi cer in the Dutch departments, promptly declared that the decree also applied to the Ridderlijke Duitsche Orde Balije van Utrecht: The Teutonic Order of the Bailiwick of Utrecht. After nearly six centuries, the demise of the Order seemed near.
