Until the year 1417, the Begijnhof did not extend further south than to the present-day Begijnensteeg. Up to the Spui, everything was swamp, that the Begijnen over the years filled with rubble, garbage and sand and thus made a solid foundation. From 1417 onwards, the Begijnhof was expanded with many houses. After the great city fires in 1421 and 1452, many of the houses were rebuilt, but now in stone.
In 1511 the Begijnhof was enlarged with a row of houses along the current Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, which in those days was still water and also much wider, so the houses could be built up to the water.