Although the abbey escapes major damage in the 1566 revolt called “Beeldenstorm”, the 1578 occupation of Oudenaarde by the protestant troops of the city of Ghent is disastrous. The monks flee, the abbey buildings are pillaged and stripped of any valuable element and the ruins are eventually used as a stone quarry until the start of the rebuilding of the abbey in 1596. The centre of the village is void of any houses and more than half of the population has left.
