The Stained glass windows in the Sint Janskerk can be viewed by visitors after paying a modest entrance fee. The earliest windows date from 1555, three years after a destructive fire laid waste to the earlier church built in the same place. The creation of stained glass windows was temporarily halted in 1572 following Gouda's decision to side with the Protestant faction in the Eighty Years' War, but the process was resumed a few years later with windows of a different and more worldly character. As a result, the church features stained glass windows from both Roman Catholic and Protestant donors – a highly unusual combination. The most treasured is the series of windows around the Choir that portray the life of John the Baptist, the city's patron saint, in parallel with that of Jesus Christ.
North transept
edit| Number | Date | Title | Donor | Designer | Glazier | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1596 | Freedom of conscience | Staten van Holland | Joachim Wtewael | Adriaan Gerritsz de Vrije | 
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| 1a | 1933 | Mosaic glass | ||||
| 1b | 1933 | Mosaic glass | ||||
| 1c | 2016 | Erasmus and the Freedom of Conscience in 2016 | Museum Gouda | Marc Mulders | Marc Mulders | 
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| 2 | 1597 | Capture of Damietta | Haarlem | Willem Thibaut | 
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| 3 | 1597 | The maid of Dordrecht | Dordrecht | Gerrit Gerritsz Cuyp | 
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| 4 | 1594 | The heraldic shields of the Dijkreeves under two female representations of Justice and Courage | Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland | Adriaen Gerritsz de Vrije | 
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| 5 | 1561 | The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon | Elburg van den Boetzelaer | Wouter Crabeth I | 
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| 6 | 1571 | Judith and Holofernes | Jan van Ligne | Dirk Crabeth | 
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| 7 | 1557 | The King's window with Solomon in the Tempel and the Last Supper | Philip II of Spain | Dirk Crabeth | 
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| 8 | 1566 | The punishment of Heliodorus | Eric II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg | Wouter Crabeth I | 
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Choir
edit| id | date | title | donor | designer | glazier | image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1561 | Announcing the birth of John the Baptist | Dirck van Hensbeeck | Lambert van Noort | Digman Meynaert | 
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| 10 | 1655 | Annunciation | Theodorus Spiering van Wen | Daniël Tomberg | Albert Merinck | 
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| 11 | 1562 | Birth of John the Baptist | Herman Lethmaet | Lambert van Noort | Digman Meynaert & Hans Scrivers | 
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| 12 | 1564 | Birth of Jesus | Canon priests of Oude Munster | Wouter Crabeth I | 
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| 13 | 1560 | Jesus in the Temple | Petrus van Suyren | Lambert van Noort | Digman Meynaert & Hans Scrivers | 
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| 14 | 1557 | Jesus on the Mount | Robert van Bergen | Dirk Crabeth | 
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| 15 | 1555 | Baptism of Jesus | George van Egmond | Dirk Crabeth |
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| 16 | 1556 | Jesus on the Mount | Cornelis van Mierop | Dirk Crabeth | 
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| 17 | 1556 | John's punishment of Herodus | Wolter van Byler | Jan van Zijl Henricksz | 
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| 18 | 1556 | Jesus imprisoned | Gerrit Heije Gerritsz & Frederik Ariensz | Dirk Crabeth | 
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| 19 | 1570 | Beheading of St. John | Hendrik van Zwolle | Willem Thybaut | 
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| 20 | 1933 | Mosaic glass | ||||
| 21 | 1933 | Mosaic glass |
South transept
edit| id | date | title | donor | designer | glazier | image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 1567 | Jesus drives the moneychangers from the Temple | Willem the Silent | Dirk Crabeth | 
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| 23 | 1562 | Elijah, with foot washing and with portrait of the donor, the Duchess of Parma | Margaret of Parma | Wouter Crabeth I | 
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| 24 | 1559 | Philippus and the King of Ethiopia | Philippe de Ligne | Dirk Crabeth | 
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| 25 | 1603 | Siege of Leiden ends | Delft | Isaac van Swanenburg | Dirck Verheyden & Dirk van Douwe | 
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| 26 | 1601 | Siege of Samaria ends | Leiden | Isaac van Swanenburg | Cornelis Clock | 
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| 27 | 1597 | Pharisee and the Publican | Amsterdam | Hendrick de Keyser | Cornelis IJsbrantsz Cussens | 
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| 28 | 1601 | Jesus and the adultress | Rotterdam | Claes Wytmans | 
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| 28a | 1947 | Commemorative window for 1940–1945 | Gouda residents | Charles Eyck | ||
| 28b | 1935 | Window with heraldic shields of donors | Rotterdam | D. Boode | L.J. Knoll | |
| 28c | 1920 | Rebuilding the Temple | Rotterdam | H. Veldhuis | L.J. Knoll | |
| 29 | 1596 | The Christian knight and David | Cities of North Holland | Adriaen Gerritsz de Vrije |
Literature
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stained-glass windows in the Grote of Sint - Janskerk (Gouda).
- Henny VAN HARTEN-BOERS & Zsuzsanna VAN RUYVEN-ZEMAN, The Stained-Glass Windows in the Sint-Janskerk at Gouda. The glazing of the Clerestory of the Choir and of the former Monastic Church of the Regulars, Amsterdam, 1997.
- Zsuzsanna VAN RUYVEN-ZEMAN, The Stained-Glass Windows in the Sint-Janskerk at Gouda, 1556–1604, Amsterdam, 2000
- Xander VAN ECK & Christiane E. COEBERGH, The Stained-Glass Windows in the Sint-Janskerk at Gouda. Dirk and Wouter Crabeth, Amsterdam, 2002
- Zsuzsanna VAN RUYVEN-ZEMAN, Xander VAN ECK & Henny VAN DOLDER – DE WIT, Het geheim van Gouda: de cartons van de Goudse glazen, Zutphen (Walburg Pers) 2002, ISBN 9057301679