"My name is Jeron, in the year of the Lord 1516 brothers Willem and Jasper Moer made me".

This text is written in Latin on the swinging bell of the Sloterkerk. It was common in the Middle Ages for a church's swinging bell to be given a name, often that of a saint. According to Catholic tradition, the bell is consecrated and used, among other things, to call for church services. Medieval people believed that consecrated bells possessed powers. Ringing during a funeral, for example, was believed to ward off evil spirits. Also, ringing the church bells could 'break' lightning.

After the Alteration, Catholic traditions that could lead to 'superstition, mis-geloove, orte ergernisse' were no longer allowed. This certainly includes the ringing of church bells at funerals, according to Protestants. Although officially banned, old traditions are sometimes hard to stop. In 1718, for example, in the Sloterkerk 'half an hour geluijt' for Mrs Neeltje Krijnen. Before her death, Neeltje lived on the Overtoom and was 'huyzvrou van Klaaz van der Laan'. She is buried in the church. She did have to pay extra for both the 'luyen' and burial in the church.

Also in the French era - almost a century later - rules are drawn up on ringing church bells. Public expressions of religion are no longer allowed. Ringing church bells to announce services falls under this. In Amsterdam, the 'ringing of bells when burying corpses' was also abolished, because it was considered a 'religious ceremony of the Roman Catholics'. In Sloten, however, 'ringing the bells' during funerals continued throughout the French era.

During the Second World War, the ringing of bells finally stopped in Sloten. Bell Jeron - like many other church bells - is requisitioned by the Germans. The purpose is to melt down the bronze for war purposes. Fortunately, Jeron was found after the war and returned to its church tower in Sloten, where it can still be heard at church services, weddings and funerals, among other occasions.