Börringe Abbey
Encyclopedia
Svedala
Svedala is a locality and the seat of Svedala Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 9,593 inhabitants in 2005.- References :...
, 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 southern 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....
.
Priory
The priory was founded about 1150 under EskilEskil 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...
, Archbishop of Lund, for Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monks. However, by 1231 Börringe Priory is mentioned in Liber Census Daniae as a nunnery located on the island of Byrdingø in Börringe Lake, on land which Valdemar II of Denmark
Valdemar II of Denmark
Valdemar II , called Valdemar the Victorious or Valdemar the Conqueror , was the King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. The nickname Sejr is a later invention and was not used during the King's own lifetime...
had once set aside for hunting. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the nunnery was later also known as St. Mary's Priory.
The building complex began small, but with the income from donations of money and rent properties, the priory was able to expand into three ranges attached to the church forming a four-sided enclosure to separate the nuns from the world. The nuns slept in the dormitory, another range contained a refectory and cellars, and a third was used for laywomen who lived in the priory, often the unmarried daughters or sisters of noble families who lived a religious life but were not strictly bound by the vows the nuns took. Occasionally, a widow exchanged her worldly goods for the opportunity to live out her life at the priory which provided room and board until her death. Housing these women was one source of income for the priory. Other income came from rent properties such as farms. While not specifically mentioned another common source of income was part of the tithes from nearby churches given by the Archdiocese of Lund for the maintenance of the nuns. Lastly the priory might also receive royal support in the form of rights to fishing grounds in Börringe Lake or landing rights for commerce over streams or rivers.
The nunnery was rebuilt over several decades during the 14th century in the Gothic style
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...
out of brick. Religious leadership and the internal running of the community was the responsibility of the prioress, while a prior, often a local noble who paid for the privilege, was responsible for representing the nuns in worldly affairs.
The kingdom of Denmark became Lutheran in 1536 under Christian III, a staunch Protestant. All religious houses and their attendant income properties reverted to the crown for disposition. Börringe Priory was secularized the same year and became an estate which the king gave to the Brahe family with the condition that the former nuns were to be cared for, essentially a home for honourable and noble women. The entire archive was lost. The church was converted to a parish church for the village of Börringe.
In 1551 the former priory estate passed to the nobleman Knud Gedde, and was apparently used as living quarters by tenant farmers. In 1582 it passed to Lady Görvel Sparre who ordered the conventual church demolished, and the materials to be used for the construction of a new parish church closer to the town, which was completed by 1587. The grave of Lady Else Brade from the former priory church was moved under the floor of the new parish church. Usable parts of the former conventual buildings were converted into a large manor house.
Castle
At the beginning of the 16th century, Börringe was owned by Søren Norby, who together with the knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand of GlimmingehusGlimmingehus
Glimmingehus, located in Simrishamn Municipality, Scania, in southern Sweden, is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false...
Castle, led the Danish navy to victory in several battles against 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...
.
When Scania became a Swedish province at the Treaty of Roskilde
Treaty of Roskilde
The Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February or 8 March 1658 during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...
in 1658, Charles X of Sweden gave Bŏrringe Priory Manor to his illegitimate son, Gustaf Carlsson. Charles XI took the property and made it available to the General Governor of Scania, Count Gustaf Otto Stenbock
Gustaf Otto Stenbock
Count Gustaf Otto Stenbock was a Swedish soldier and politician.He was son of Friherre Gustav Eriksson Stenbock and Countess Beata Margareta Brahe , born in Torpa, Länghem parish, Tranemo Municipality, Västergötland, Sweden.He was appointed head of Kronobergs regemente in 1637, Major General in...
. In 1682, Charles XI exchanged the estate for Herrevad Abbey
Herrevad Abbey
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 .- History :...
with Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck, son of Hans Christoff von Königsmarck
Hans Christoff von Königsmarck
Count Hans Christoff von Königsmarck, of Tjust , son of Conrad von Königsmarck and Beatrix von Blumenthal, was a Swedish-German soldier who commanded Sweden's legendary flying column, a force which played a key role in Gustavus Adolphus' strategy...
, but in 1686, the estate reverted to the crown again.
Börringe Parish was combined with Lemmeströ Parish in 1741. Both of the old churches were demolished and a new one constructed for the new joint Gustav Parish.
The Börringe Priory estate was bought by the Beck-Friis family in 1745. In 1763, the remaining manor house and structures were demolished and replaced by the present castle. In 1873 the present castle was expanded and renovated into its present appearance. The estate became a joint County (earldom) with Fiholm Castle in Södermanland
Södermanland
', sometimes referred to under its Latin form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a historical province or landskap on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanland and Uppland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea.In Swedish, the province name is...
in 1791 and the Swedish nobility
Swedish nobility
The Swedish nobility were historically a legally and/or socially privileged class in Sweden, part of the so-called frälse . Today, the nobility is still very much a part of Swedish society but they do not maintain many of their former privileges...
title of Count was awarded to the new owners.
There are no remnants of the former priory to be seen, except for a few fragments from the monastic church now in the Börringe burial ground.
External links
- Börringekloster official web site