The Nonnenwater is not the busy street it once was. Here stood the St. Marie Convent whose inhabitants were known as the Nuns of the Gouwe, named after the river. In his story “The girl that didn’t want to marry”, Erasmus wrote a passionate discourse against this convent that he believed was corrupt and immoral. Was he addressing this to Elisabeth, the daughter of his guardian Bertha van Heyen? Elisabeth entered this convent as a nun, most likely displeasing the young Erasmus.