St. John's Priory, Bergen
Encyclopedia
St. John's Priory, Bergen (Jonsklosteret i Bergen) was a house of Augustinian Canons located in Bergen, Norway
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/Tårnplass in Bergen. There is no certainty on the foundation date of the monastery, but it is generally assumed that it was established about the middle of the 12th century, although its existence is not recorded until 1208. It was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
Throughout the 14th century it seems to have suffered financial problems. The community gradually dwindled during the 15th century. In 1450 its property was transferred to the cathedral chapter
of Bergen.
In 1489 this part of the town suffered a serious fire, in which it seems that the monastery too burnt down. The church however survived, and gifts to it are recorded in the wills of Bergen citizens up to 1517. In 1552 the town of Bergen obtained the right to use the site of the church and churchyard to build a town hall, although the project never came about. After several fires the church was in ruins, and by the end of the 18th century nothing at all remained standing.
Some cellars from the monastery did survive into the 19th century, and L. D. Kluwer sketched a plan of the building remains in 1823. During building excavations in 1895 the remains of the priory church were accidentally uncovered, and it is thus possible to locate this precisely. The churchyard was to the north and east of the church, towards Strandgaten.
It seems unlikely that there are now any further remains of these buildings to be found.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
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History
St. John's Priory, about which there is not a great deal of recorded information, was situated in the vicinity of the present StrandgatenStrandgaten, Bergen
Strandgaten is a street in the city centre of Bergen, Norway, west of the bay of Vågen. It starts at Torgallmenningen and follows the eastern shore of the Nordnes peninsula to Tidemands gate, where it becomes Nordnesgaten...
/Tårnplass in Bergen. There is no certainty on the foundation date of the monastery, but it is generally assumed that it was established about the middle of the 12th century, although its existence is not recorded until 1208. It was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.
Throughout the 14th century it seems to have suffered financial problems. The community gradually dwindled during the 15th century. In 1450 its property was transferred to the cathedral chapter
Cathedral chapter
In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...
of Bergen.
In 1489 this part of the town suffered a serious fire, in which it seems that the monastery too burnt down. The church however survived, and gifts to it are recorded in the wills of Bergen citizens up to 1517. In 1552 the town of Bergen obtained the right to use the site of the church and churchyard to build a town hall, although the project never came about. After several fires the church was in ruins, and by the end of the 18th century nothing at all remained standing.
Some cellars from the monastery did survive into the 19th century, and L. D. Kluwer sketched a plan of the building remains in 1823. During building excavations in 1895 the remains of the priory church were accidentally uncovered, and it is thus possible to locate this precisely. The churchyard was to the north and east of the church, towards Strandgaten.
It seems unlikely that there are now any further remains of these buildings to be found.