Mariager Abbey (Danish : Mariagerkloster) was a Bridgettine abbey founded in 1430 which became an important pilgrimage site, in the present town of Mariager in northern central Jutland, Denmark.
Mariager Abbey (Danish : Mariagerkloster) was a Bridgettine abbey founded in 1430 which became an important pilgrimage site, in the present town of Mariager in northern central Jutland, Denmark.
Mariager Abbey was founded in 1430 on a hill overlooking the ferry across Mariager Fjord by the Bridgettines, [1] the last monastic order to reach Denmark before the Reformation, on land acquired in the late 1420s from the dissolved Randers Abbey. Tradition has it that the abbey was founded by several noble families in Eastern Jutland. Sources disagree on whether the abbey was founded from Maribo Abbey or from the Bridgettine mother house, Vadstena Abbey in Sweden.
Papal permission for a double abbey was granted in 1446. Funds were short however and the abbey was still uncompleted in 1468 when King Christian I wrote to the pope asking for help in completing it. Christian I contributed himself by giving the Order the right of harbourage over the landing place next to Hobro Vig in 1449. Subsequent kings of Denmark - Hans, Christian I and Frederick I - all provided additional income through grants of rent rights over the next few decades. Further income came from noble families who followed the royal lead by giving farms and income properties to the abbey. At its high point the abbey owned farms, businesses, parts of towns and income from churches.
The abbey church rapidly became a pilgrimage site where people could come to receive absolution. It has been suggested that the source of this fame was because of relics deposited for the "veneration of the faithful", perhaps something connected to Saint Bridget but to date no specific evidence of this has been located. The name "Mariager" ("Maria's Field") was first used in 1446 when the pope officially recognized the establishment of the abbey. Nobles, merchants, and wealthy farmers began buying burial sites or building chapels, so they could be buried on the grounds. The monastery received properties and donations from people for services. The town of Mariager grew up around the monastery, which was influential in the region due to the many farms it owned.
The Gothic abbey church was completed about 1480 and was one of the largest churches in Denmark. It was 75 m long, 32 m wide and 25m high in the nave. The two side aisles were 15 m high. It was unusual because it had two choirs, the larger on the east for the nuns on a gallery high up between the pillars on the second and the third span, and a smaller on the west for the monks on the ground floor.
The Bridgettines were the last monastic order to appear in Denmark. Consequently, Mariager Abbey existed for just over a hundred years before the majority of Danes rejected the institutions and customs of their long Catholic past. During the Reformation Mariager Abbey became crown property, in 1536, but was allowed to continue to operate until 1588, part of the time as a home for unmarried noble women. The church became a Lutheran parish church. The estates were sold or given away by the crown and the buildings fell into disrepair.
In 1721-1722 and 1724 most of the dilapidated abbey buildings were demolished and the materials used for repairing homes and farm buildings. The north range was converted into a residence for the parish bailiff and then restored in the 1891. The influence of the town of Mariager was greatly reduced, and at one time only 400 people lived there.
In 1788 the former abbey church was partially demolished and the current building was constructed around the west choir. The resulting church was about one quarter of the size of the medieval church. The current church serves as a partial reminder of the magnificent buildings that once stood on the hill above the fjord.
The dissolution of the monasteries, occasionally referred to as the suppression of the monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541, by which Henry VIII disbanded Catholic monasteries, priories, convents, and friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland; seized their wealth; disposed of their assets, and provided for their former personnel and functions.
Maribo is a town in Lolland Municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It was the municipal seat of the former Maribo Municipality, until 1 January 2007, and then it became the seat of the current Lolland Municipality.
The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta in 1344 and approved by Pope Urban V in 1370. They follow the Rule of Saint Augustine. There are today several different branches of Bridgettines.
The Abbey Pax Mariae, more commonly referred to as Vadstena Abbey, is situated on Lake Vättern in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockholm and is a monastery of nuns within the Bridgettine Order. It was active from 1346 until 1595 and has been active since 1963, regaining status as an autonomous abbey in 1991.
Ryd Abbey or Rüde Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in Munkbrarup that formerly occupied the present site of Glücksburg Castle in Glücksburg on the Flensburg Fjord in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
Maribo Abbey, established in 1416, was the first Bridgettine monastery in Denmark and became one of the most important Danish abbeys of the late Middle Ages. It was located in the present town of Maribo on the island of Lolland in southern Denmark. The monastery is in ruins, but the abbey church still remains in use as Maribo Cathedral.
Stubber Abbey was a small Benedictine nunnery in Sevel Parish, Ginding Herred in west central Jutland near Ringkøbing.
St. Peders Kloster, later called Skovkloster, was an important early Benedictine house at Næstved, Denmark, active in 1135-1559.
Æbelholt Abbey was an Augustinian monastery situated at Tjæreby in Hillerød municipality in North Zealand, Denmark.
Saint Canute's Abbey, Odense was a Benedictine monastery built to support the pilgrimage centre for the relics of the royal Danish martyr Saint Canute, and was the successor to the priory of St. Mary and St. Alban, Denmark's earliest monastic house. Located in Odense, it was the island of Funen's most important medieval religious institution.
Essenbæk Abbey was a Benedictine monastery located in Essenbæk Parish eight kilometers east of Randers and 1.7 kilometers north of Assentoft, Denmark.
Glenstrup Abbey was a Benedictine monastery occupied briefly at various points during its history by the Carthusians as Glenstrup Charterhouse and by the Bridgettines. The abbey was located at Glenstrup near Randers, Denmark.
Klarenthal Abbey is a former convent of the Order of Poor Ladies in the borough of Klarenthal in Wiesbaden, Germany. Klarenthal is the only abbey in present-day Wiesbaden.
Voer Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Voerladegård Parish in Skanderborg Municipality, Denmark. It was situated on the Gudenå River near Klostermølle, site of the former monastery mill.
Ingegerd Knutsdotter was a Swedish nun and noble, the first official abbess of the Bridgettine Abbey of Vadstena in 1385/88–1403.
Maribo Cathedral is a Lutheran cathedral church built in the Gothic style in Maribo on the island of Lolland in the southeast of Denmark. It was originally part of Maribo Abbey which was founded in the early 15th century. The chancel, the oldest section of the cathedral, probably dates from 1416. The plan of the church is unusual in that the chancel is at the west end of the building rather than the east as a result of the design instructions left by Saint Bridget.
Anna Paulsdotter, was a Swedish Bridgettine nun. She was the abbess of Vadstena Abbey from 1486 until 1496.
Marienbrunn Abbey also called Fons Mariae and Triumphus Marie was a double convent for women and men of the order of the Bridgettines, situated in Gdańsk between 1391 and 1833. It was the first convent of the order founded outside of Sweden, and the second convent of the order altogether.