Budolfi Church
Encyclopedia
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Aalborg
Aalborg
-Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen....
in north Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, 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...
.
History
Aalborg was already a town in the mid 10th century, with a fine position on the east-west Lim Fjord that served as a trade route between the North Sea and the Baltic until the 12th century, when the west end of Lim Fjord was closed by sand drifts. Aalborg became the regional trade center for northern Jutland. The famous Viking burial siteLindholm Høje
Lindholm Høje is a major Viking burial site and former settlement situated to the north of and overlooking the city of Aalborg in Denmark....
at Nørresundby
Nørresundby
Nørresundby, a part of Aalborg Municipality, is a northern neighbourhood in Aalborg, north of the Limfjord, in Vendsyssel, in Denmark. The urban area has a population of 21,376 ....
across the Lim Fjord indicates that this was a populated area of Denmark long before the town appeared on the fjord.
Christian missionaries probably arrived sometime in 9th century since nearby Viborg and Aarhus have evidence of Christian activity. In 948 Denmark was divided into dioceses and Aalborg in time fell under the See of Viborg
Ancient Diocese of Viborg
The former Roman Catholic diocese of Viborg, in Denmark existed from 1065 to the Protestant Reformation. It was created from the Diocese of Ribe.-History:...
. Of the earliest churches in Aalborg no trace remains. They would have been constructed of timber and been very small. Many times stone churches were built on the same location as the first churches, but direct evidence of an earlier "Viking" church has not been found.
In the crypt of Budofi Cathedral visitors can see the remains of the large stones used for the original church that was built at the direction of Bishop Eskil of Viborg no later than 1132. The first church was much smaller than the current church since it was a parish church. It consisted of a short nave and choir built in 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. That means it had half-round arches supporting a flat timber ceiling.
The existing Budolfi Cathedral (Danish:Budolfi Domkirke) was built in the last decades of the 14th century over and around the original St Budolfi Church and was listed for the first time in the Atlas of Denmark in 1399. The church was named after St Botolph, an English abbot and saint. His reputation as a learned and holy man in Anglo Saxon England as the patron saint of farmers and sailors made him a popular saint in pre-Reformation
Reformation 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. His remains were venerated at Westminster Abbey, Ely, and Thornley Abbey. No references are made to relics of St Botolphus at Aalborg, but it was not uncommon for churches to be named after the relics of the most famous person the church possessed. Other churches in Denmark and southern Sweden have also been named after him including St Bodel and St Bodil, other Scandinavian forms of the name Botolph.
The church was constructed in the Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style out of Denmark's most common building material, large bricks. The nave and choir measure at present 56 meters in length and 22 meters wide, exclusive of the weapons porch and extensions.
Aalborg was the center of Skipper Clement's Rebellion
Count's Feud
The Count's Feud , also called the Count's War, was a civil war that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark...
of 1534. Clement Andersen, known as Skipper Clement
Skipper Clement
Klemen Andersen "Skipper Clement" was a Danish merchant, captain, privateer and leader of the peasant rebellion that was part of the civil war known as the Count's Feud .-Background:...
, led the peasants and a few nobles of Vendsyssel in a peasant uprising that spread throughout Jutland. The peasants were trying to influence the selection of the next King of Denmark after the death of Frederik I
Frederick I of Denmark
Frederick I of Denmark and Norway was the King of Denmark and Norway. The name is also spelled Friedrich in German, Frederik in Danish, and Fredrik in Swedish and Norwegian...
. The abrupt truce with Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
freed up royal troops who chased the peasants all the way back to the walls of Aalborg. The royalist troops stormed the gates and commenced the sack and bloody slaughter of the rebels and citizens of the town. Just two years later Denmark became officially Lutheran. Due to its rural character and distance from Copenhagen, northern Denmark held onto elements of its Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
past longer than other parts of Denmark. In 1554 Aalborg was made a diocese and after consideration St Budolfi Church was made the seat of the Bishop of Aalborg.
By the late 17th century two other churches in old town Aalborg, Our Lady's Church (Danish:Vor Frue Kirke) and the Abbey Church (Danish:Klosterkirken), were deemed to be superfluous for the few thousand residents of Aalborg. Our Lady Church, the oldest of the three, was determined to be unstable, and it was torn down. By 1800 the Abbey Church and tower were dismantled, and the stone was used to expand nearby Aalborg Castle. Budolfi Cathedral's tower is the only one of the original three church towers that are visible on the Aalborg city logo.
The tower was added to the west front in 1779 with funds given by Jacob and Elisabeth Himmerig. The square 28 meter brick tower is topped with a 35 meter metallic Baroque cupola and spire. Four identical clock faces were installed on each of the four sides of the tower in 1817. The south side has a sundial mounted on it as well. The tower houses four bells. The oldest cast in 1681 by Rudolph Melchior. The largest bell was cast by B. Løw and Son in 1892. A third bell was cast in 1926 by ... Smithske. The latest addition was the 1979 Petit and Fritsen bell.
In 1899 a sacristy was built onto the north side aisle.
During 1942 and 1943 the choir was extended 14 meters and the ceiling vaulting raised. A chapel was also added to the north side.
Interiors
The main altar piece was added in 1684, a gift of Niels Jespersen and his wife Margareta Erichsdatter. It was carved by Lauridtz Jensen of Essenbæk Cloister near Randers. He also carved the pulpit. The altar was restored in 1980. The altar candelabras were gifted in 1686 by Jens Christense and his wife, Mette Christensdatter. Budolfi Cathedral received the gift of an altar carving from c. 1450 which is placed in the north transeptTransept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
. It came from the estate chapel of Holckershavn also known as Elleborg in southern Jutland.
The black and white marble baptismal font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
was given to the church in 1728, a gift of the widow Maren Grotum Von Pentz.
The pulpit (1692) was a gift from the first apothecary at Jesn Bangs Hus in Aalborg, Johannes Friedenreich and his wife, Magdalena Calow. It was carved by Lauridtz Jensen.
The ornate Baroque organ facade was constructed for the Hartvig Jochum Müller organ in 1749. The organ has been restored and expanded several times, the latest in 1959 by Th. Frobenius & Sons
Frobenius Orgelbyggeri
-History:Frobenius Orgelbyggeri was founded in Copenhagen by Theodor Frobenius in 1909. The firm moved to Lyngby in 1925. Theodor's sons Walther and Erik joined the company in 1944, at the same time that they began to build organs in the classical tradition, with mechanical actions and slider...
.
Several epitaphs have been preserved as examples of what once lined the aisles of the church. The 1583 epitaph for Karine Hansdatter is a fine example of renaissance work. The epitaphs for Jacob and Elizabeth Himmerig in 1773 and 1774 are examples of neo-classical design and commemorate the churches greatest benefactors.