Herrevad Abbey
Encyclopedia
Herrevad Abbey was a Cistercian monastery
near Ljungbyhed
in Klippan Municipality
, Scania
, in the south of present-day Sweden
, but formerly in Denmark
until 1658. It is now a country house known as Herrevad Castle .
in 1144 as Denmark's first Cistercian monastery with the support of Archbishop Eskil of Lund
. Legend has it that Eskil fell ill while he was a student at Hildesheim University in Germany
and was told he was near death. The Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream and he promised her that if he was spared he would establish five monasteries from different orders. Eskil went on to become the provost of the chapter at Lund Cathedral
, the Bishop of Roskilde, and succeeded his uncle, Asser Svendsen, as Archbishop of Lund, and from these important offices was able to fulfil his promise.
Some Danish Benedictine monasteries had become unruly during his tenure, and the Cistercians were seen as reformers who would bring existing religious houses back to the original rigour of the Rule of St. Benedict. The original name, Herivad, meant the "army ford", referring to a ford over the Rønne River. After the construction of the abbey it became known as Herrevad, or "the Lord's ford", most likely because of the fee payable to the abbey for using the ford, and later the bridge, for commerce.
Eskil wrote to Bernard of Clairvaux
requesting twelve Cistercian monks from Cîteaux Abbey
under the leadership of Robert, the first abbot of Herrevad, to come to Denmark to establish a new monastery. Later an additional nine lay brother
s were also despatched to instruct the Danes in the crafts and agricultural practices associated with the Cistercian Order. Archbishop Eskil gave the land for the site of the abbey and paid for its construction out of his own pocket. It was built near the village of Lyngbyhed, now Ljungbyhed, on the above-mentioned ford, which was of importance because of its position on the main road between Sweden and Denmark, and the resulting access to markets in both.
The abbey was consecrated in 1150, though it was far from complete; the original dedication was probably to the Blessed Virgin Mary . The church was begun in 1158 and built in the Romanesque
style out of sandstone
. Construction extended over several decades and for reasons of expense was continued in brick.
The original monastery complex was severely damaged by a fire in 1291. The original sandstone was ruined by the heat of the fire, and so a new and larger Brick Gothic
church was begun, second in size only to Lund Cathedral
itself. It was 53 meters long, with two naves, one 19 meters wide and the other 28 meters wide.
The abbey precinct consisted of the large church and three ranges which served as a dormitory, a refectory and cellars, a range for the housing of the lay brothers who did the farm work and administered to the abbey's temporal affairs, and a small library and scriptorium
where religious texts were copied. Though there is some dispute, some scholars believe the Codex Runicus
, a medieval attempt to use runes for writing the Law of Skåne , was produced there.
Herrevad Abbey over time became one of the largest and wealthiest monastic houses in Denmark, and certainly in Skåne, then part of Denmark. At its height, the abbey owned more than 400 income-producing properties. It enjoyed the support of the nobility and Denmark's royal family for generations.
Herrevad established three daughter houses in Denmark - Holme Abbey, Tvis Abbey
and Løgum Abbey
- as well as several in Sweden.
Denmark became a Lutheran kingdom, and all religious houses and their property fell to the crown. In an unusual move the abbey with its farms was secularized but went on functioning much as it had as a monastery. The monks and lay brothers were permitted to remain until the site was turned over to the crown in 1565 by Abbot Laurids, whose tombstone has been preserved inside the chapel at Herrevad Castle. The date of his death, 30 October 1572, is certainly among the latest of surviving heads of any religious house in Skåne. The abbey school continued to function until 1575.
The abbey church continued to hold Lutheran services until 1585 when it was determined that the church was superfluous.
Herrevad was given to Sten Bille, a prominent nobleman, and his wife for their lifetimes. Bille was the uncle of Tycho Brahe
and after Brahe's studies abroad suggested that he live at Herrevad. Bille paid for the construction of a laboratory in one of the old monastery buildings for Brahe to use. He used the laboratory to invent an improvement for the manufacture of paper. By 1570 Brahe was producing paper in Scandinavia for the first time at the Klippan Mill near Herrevad. At his request a glassworks was also constructed at Herrevad, the first in the country.
Tycho Brahe became a world-famous astronomer
at Herrevad when on the night of 11 November 1572 he recorded a new star "brighter than Venus" located in the constellation Cassiopeia
. He called others to witness it and gave it the name "Stella Nova", the new star. With a sextant
he constructed himself, he studied and recorded what is now called a supernova
, for almost an entire year. Brahe published his findings at Copenhagen in 1573 and these became the basis for his fame as an astronomer. He later moved onto the island of Hven
in the Sound and built Montebello Observatory and manor house.
Herrevad passed to several other nobles until 1658 when Skåne was united with Sweden. Herrevad was then given to the Swedish Count Corfitz Ulfeldt
and afterwards passed to several other Swedish nobles, but eventually reverted back to the Swedish crown. The abbey was sacked by the Danish army in the wars between Denmark and Sweden in 1709-1710. Karl XI of Sweden ordered the ruined abbey buildings to be demolished and the materials transported to Malmø to build his German Church. The only existing remnant of the abbey is part of the old sacristy of the church which was used as a shed.
In the 1980s an excavation located the foundations of the choir and parts of the nave, which may still be seen.
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
near Ljungbyhed
Ljungbyhed
Ljungbyhed is a locality situated in Klippan Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden, with 2,057 inhabitants in 2005....
in Klippan Municipality
Klippan Municipality
Klippan Municipality is a municipality in Skåne County in southern Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Klippan.The municipality was created in 1974 through the amalgamation of the market town Klippan with the rural municipality of Riseberga and part of Östra Ljungby.Söderåsen National Park...
, Scania
Scania
Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...
, in the south of present-day Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, but formerly in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
until 1658. It is now a country house known as Herrevad Castle .
History
Herrevad Abbey was founded from Cîteaux AbbeyCîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey is a Roman Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. Today it belongs to the Trappists, or Cistercians of the Strict Observance . The Cistercian order takes its name from this mother house of Cîteaux, earlier Cisteaux, near Nuits-Saint-Georges...
in 1144 as Denmark's first Cistercian monastery with the support of Archbishop Eskil of Lund
Eskil of Lund
Eskil was a 12th century Archbishop of Lund, in Skåne, Denmark .He was one of the most capable and prominent princes of the Church in Scandinavia...
. Legend has it that Eskil fell ill while he was a student at Hildesheim University in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and was told he was near death. The Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream and he promised her that if he was spared he would establish five monasteries from different orders. Eskil went on to become the provost of the chapter at Lund Cathedral
Lund Cathedral
The Lund Cathedral is the Lutheran cathedral in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the bishop of Lund of the Church of Sweden.- History :...
, the Bishop of Roskilde, and succeeded his uncle, Asser Svendsen, as Archbishop of Lund, and from these important offices was able to fulfil his promise.
Some Danish Benedictine monasteries had become unruly during his tenure, and the Cistercians were seen as reformers who would bring existing religious houses back to the original rigour of the Rule of St. Benedict. The original name, Herivad, meant the "army ford", referring to a ford over the Rønne River. After the construction of the abbey it became known as Herrevad, or "the Lord's ford", most likely because of the fee payable to the abbey for using the ford, and later the bridge, for commerce.
Eskil wrote to Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
requesting twelve Cistercian monks from Cîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey is a Roman Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. Today it belongs to the Trappists, or Cistercians of the Strict Observance . The Cistercian order takes its name from this mother house of Cîteaux, earlier Cisteaux, near Nuits-Saint-Georges...
under the leadership of Robert, the first abbot of Herrevad, to come to Denmark to establish a new monastery. Later an additional nine lay brother
Lay brother
In the most common usage, lay brothers are those members of Catholic religious orders, particularly of monastic orders, occupied primarily with manual labour and with the secular affairs of a monastery or friary, in contrast to the choir monks of the same monastery who are devoted mainly to the...
s were also despatched to instruct the Danes in the crafts and agricultural practices associated with the Cistercian Order. Archbishop Eskil gave the land for the site of the abbey and paid for its construction out of his own pocket. It was built near the village of Lyngbyhed, now Ljungbyhed, on the above-mentioned ford, which was of importance because of its position on the main road between Sweden and Denmark, and the resulting access to markets in both.
The abbey was consecrated in 1150, though it was far from complete; the original dedication was probably to the Blessed Virgin Mary . The church was begun in 1158 and built in the Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
style out of sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. Construction extended over several decades and for reasons of expense was continued in brick.
The original monastery complex was severely damaged by a fire in 1291. The original sandstone was ruined by the heat of the fire, and so a new and larger Brick Gothic
Brick Gothic
Brick Gothic is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northern Europe, especially in Northern Germany and the regions around the Baltic Sea that do not have natural rock resources. The buildings are essentially built from bricks...
church was begun, second in size only to Lund Cathedral
Lund Cathedral
The Lund Cathedral is the Lutheran cathedral in Lund, Scania, Sweden. It is the seat of the bishop of Lund of the Church of Sweden.- History :...
itself. It was 53 meters long, with two naves, one 19 meters wide and the other 28 meters wide.
The abbey precinct consisted of the large church and three ranges which served as a dormitory, a refectory and cellars, a range for the housing of the lay brothers who did the farm work and administered to the abbey's temporal affairs, and a small library and scriptorium
Scriptorium
Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...
where religious texts were copied. Though there is some dispute, some scholars believe the Codex Runicus
Codex Runicus
The Codex Runicus is a codex of 202 pages written in medieval runes around the year 1300 which includes the oldest preserved Nordic provincial law, Scanian Law pertaining to the Danish land Scania . Codex Runicus is one of the few runic texts found on parchment. The manuscript's initials are...
, a medieval attempt to use runes for writing the Law of Skåne , was produced there.
Herrevad Abbey over time became one of the largest and wealthiest monastic houses in Denmark, and certainly in Skåne, then part of Denmark. At its height, the abbey owned more than 400 income-producing properties. It enjoyed the support of the nobility and Denmark's royal family for generations.
Herrevad established three daughter houses in Denmark - Holme Abbey, Tvis Abbey
Tvis Abbey
Tvis Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Denmark. It was situated a few kilometres south of Holstebro in Jutland, on a small island between the Storå and the Tvis Å rivers.-History:...
and Løgum Abbey
Løgum Abbey
Løgum Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in the present town of Løgumkloster in North Schleswig in Denmark.- History:Løgum Abbey was founded in 1173 by Bishop Stefan of Ribe who had previously been at Herrevad Abbey in Skåne, the first Cistercian foundation in Denmark. Løgum was in a sense a...
- as well as several in Sweden.
Dissolution
In 1513 the final addition to the abbey church was completed when the choir was expanded. The Cistercian commitment to hard work and good land use practices resulted in the abbey being of great value to the crown. In 1536 during the Protestant ReformationReformation in Denmark
The Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein was the transition from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism in the realms ruled by the Copenhagen-based House of Oldenburg in the first half of the sixteenth century...
Denmark became a Lutheran kingdom, and all religious houses and their property fell to the crown. In an unusual move the abbey with its farms was secularized but went on functioning much as it had as a monastery. The monks and lay brothers were permitted to remain until the site was turned over to the crown in 1565 by Abbot Laurids, whose tombstone has been preserved inside the chapel at Herrevad Castle. The date of his death, 30 October 1572, is certainly among the latest of surviving heads of any religious house in Skåne. The abbey school continued to function until 1575.
The abbey church continued to hold Lutheran services until 1585 when it was determined that the church was superfluous.
Herrevad was given to Sten Bille, a prominent nobleman, and his wife for their lifetimes. Bille was the uncle of Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe , born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations...
and after Brahe's studies abroad suggested that he live at Herrevad. Bille paid for the construction of a laboratory in one of the old monastery buildings for Brahe to use. He used the laboratory to invent an improvement for the manufacture of paper. By 1570 Brahe was producing paper in Scandinavia for the first time at the Klippan Mill near Herrevad. At his request a glassworks was also constructed at Herrevad, the first in the country.
Tycho Brahe became a world-famous astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
at Herrevad when on the night of 11 November 1572 he recorded a new star "brighter than Venus" located in the constellation Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia (constellation)
Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the vain queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivalled beauty. Cassiopea was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today...
. He called others to witness it and gave it the name "Stella Nova", the new star. With a sextant
Sextant
A sextant is an instrument used to measure the angle between any two visible objects. Its primary use is to determine the angle between a celestial object and the horizon which is known as the altitude. Making this measurement is known as sighting the object, shooting the object, or taking a sight...
he constructed himself, he studied and recorded what is now called a supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
, for almost an entire year. Brahe published his findings at Copenhagen in 1573 and these became the basis for his fame as an astronomer. He later moved onto the island of Hven
Hven
Ven is a small Swedish island in the Öresund strait, between Scania and Zealand . It is situated in Landskrona Municipality, Skåne County. The island has 371 inhabitants and an area of . During the 1930s, the population was at its peak, with approximately 1,300 inhabitants...
in the Sound and built Montebello Observatory and manor house.
Herrevad passed to several other nobles until 1658 when Skåne was united with Sweden. Herrevad was then given to the Swedish Count Corfitz Ulfeldt
Corfitz Ulfeldt
Corfitz Ulfeldt , Danish statesman, son of the chancellor Jacob Ulfeldt.Corfitz Ulfeldt may also refer to:* Corfitz Ulfeldt , son of Danish diplomat Jacob Ulfeldt...
and afterwards passed to several other Swedish nobles, but eventually reverted back to the Swedish crown. The abbey was sacked by the Danish army in the wars between Denmark and Sweden in 1709-1710. Karl XI of Sweden ordered the ruined abbey buildings to be demolished and the materials transported to Malmø to build his German Church. The only existing remnant of the abbey is part of the old sacristy of the church which was used as a shed.
Later History
Herrevad was put at the disposal of the Northern Skåne Cavalry Regiment in 1691 after the demolition of the monastery complex. By 1727 a new building for the regimental headquarters had been raised from building materials left over from the demolition of the abbey. It later became a residence for the commander, but retained the name Herrevad Abbey. In 1745 the residence was expanded and nicknamed "Herrevad Castle" by the soldiers. Two wings were added in 1816-1819 in the Empire style, and the name Herrevad Castle formally adopted. The buildings were used by various military units until 1994 when Herrevad Castle passed into private ownership. It is currently undergoing restoration.In the 1980s an excavation located the foundations of the choir and parts of the nave, which may still be seen.