Veng Abbey (Veng Kloster) was one of Denmark's earliest Benedictine monasteries. It was located in the village of Veng near Skanderborg, Region of Southern Denmark. Veng Church, the former abbey church, is still in use as a parish church and is the oldest remaining in the country. [1]
Veng Abbey was established as a Benedictine monastery some time in the late 1060s, with connections to the royal forebears of King Valdemar I. By the 1160s the abbey had fallen into a severe decline: the original endowments failed to sustain it. Eventually Abbot Jens was brought before a church tribunal and forced to give up his office on the grounds of immorality and theft of the harvest. Three recalcitrant monks were all that remained at Veng. Sven, Bishop of Aarhus, received permission from Pope Alexander III to close the abbey. Just a year later Bishop Sven granted occupation of the empty premises to the Cistercian monks from Sminge Abbey, originally from Vitskøl Abbey, who were dissatisfied with the infertility of the soil at Sminge. They settled at Veng Abbey in 1166. [2] [3]
Lady Margrethe, the widow of a local nobleman, had petitioned Bishop Sven to convert Veng Abbey into a nunnery with herself as the abbess, a position which would bring with it a guaranteed annual income. When the Cistercians were confirmed at Veng, she did everything she could to make life miserable for them. She had her servants occupy the rent-producing farms that had belonged to Veng, and was accused of ordering one of her servants to steal the vestments from the church so that mass could not be said. Without income, the Cistercians had no choice but to leave, and in 1168 moved to another site on the small isle of Kalvø in Skanderborg Lake.
On Kalvø the soil proved useless for farming and in 1172 the monks moved yet again to found Øm Abbey (Øm Kloster), where at last they were able to develop a permanent site, so successfully that Øm Abbey soon overshadowed the earlier existence of Veng Abbey. The few archival letters regarding Veng were transferred to Øm Abbeyand the little information now available about Veng Abbey is due to their preservation there. The exact layout of the monastery complex has not been determined, but it is thought to have had at least two ranges, a dormitory, and a refectory attached to the church. Excavations in 1984 to determine the layout were unsuccessful. [4]
Veng Church (Veng Kirke) was constructed some time after 1100, probably as a replacement for an earlier wooden structure. It was built of limestone blocks, as were many early Danish monasteries, in the Romanesque style. It had a flat timber roof, a single nave, a choir, and an apse with two transepts, each with its own apse. The outside of the church retains several carved stones and other decorations from the original building. Even before the Danish Reformation there were no remains of Veng Abbey except for the church. Veng Church is now a parish church in the Diocese of Aarhus. [5] [6]
Skanderborg is a town in Skanderborg municipality, Denmark. It is situated on the north and north eastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake and there are several smaller ponds and bodies of water within the city itself, like Lillesø, Sortesø, Døj Sø and the swampy boglands of Eskebæk Mose. Just north of the town on the other side of Expressway E45, is the archaeologically important Illerup Ådal. Over time, the town has grown into a suburb of Aarhus to the north east, connected by the urban areas of Stilling, Hørning and Hasselager.
Løgum Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in the present town of Løgumkloster in North Schleswig, Denmark. In 1548, the monastery was closed down. The site is now occupied by Løgumkloster Church.
Munkeby Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Okkenhaug in the municipality of Levanger in Trøndelag county, Norway. It was located about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of the town of Levanger. The name "Munkeby" in Norwegian means Place of the Monks. It was closed during the Protestant Reformation. Today the former abbey is the sight of medieval ruins which are managed by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Norwegian Monuments.
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.
Guldholm Abbey was a short-lived Cistercian monastery on the Langsee near Böklund, formerly in Denmark, now in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It was founded in 1191 and abandoned after less than twenty years; some of the community went on to establish Ryd Abbey.
Øm Abbey was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1172 in the Diocese of Aarhus near the town of Rye, between the lakes of Mossø and Gudensø in central Jutland, Denmark. It is one of many former monasteries and abbeys in the highland region of Søhøjlandet.
Vitskøl Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery near Ranum in Himmerland in Region Nordjylland, Denmark, active from mid 12th-century until 1563, and one of the oldest existing monastic complexes in northern Europe.
Esrum Abbey, also Esrom Abbey, was the second Cistercian monastery founded in Denmark, located near Hillerød in Region Hovedstaden, on the island of Zealand (Sjælland), on the north side of the Esrum Sø near Esbønderup and Græsted.
Roskilde Abbey or Our Lady's Abbey, Roskilde, was a nunnery dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin. The abbey was located at Roskilde on the Danish island of Zealand. It was founded in the early 12th century for Benedictine nuns, but in 1177 became part of the Cistercian reform movement. The abbey was suppressed in 1536 during the Protestant Reformation in Denmark. It is now the site the Old Church of Our Lady, Roskilde .
Our Lady's Priory, Aarhus was an early Dominican foundation just outside the original walls of Aarhus, Denmark. The buildings are part of the Church of Our Lady complex, now part of the inner city of Aarhus, but they have been repurposed.
Tvilum Priory was a monastery of Augustinian Canons at Tvilum near Gjern, to the north of Silkeborg, Denmark.
Ringsted Abbey was one of the earliest and most influential Benedictine houses in Denmark, active from the late 11th-century until the Danish Reformation. It was located at Ringsted on the Danish island of Zealand.
Æbelholt Abbey was an Augustinian monastery situated at Tjæreby in Hillerød municipality in North Zealand, Denmark.
Slangerup Abbey was a nunnery first of Benedictine nuns, then of Cistercian nuns. It was in operation between 1170 and 1555 and was located in Slangerup, Denmark. It has left no visible remains.
Alling Abbey was one of the last Benedictine monasteries to be built in Denmark. Alling Kloster was located north of Silkeborg in the parish of Svostrup in Viborg County.
Vissing Priory was a Benedictine nunnery, situated near the monastery of Voer Abbey, but on the northern bank of the Gudenå, close to the present Klostermølle in Vorladegår parish near Silkeborg, Denmark.
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.
Ring Abbey (Ringkloster) was a Benedictine nunnery in Skanderborg Municipality, Denmark. It was in operation from the 12th-century until the Danish Reformation. It was a large landowner and functioned as a girl school for daughters of the nobility.
Eskil was a bishop of the Ancient See of Aarhus in Aarhus, Denmark, who died around 1165. Eskil is mentioned for the first time in 1158 when king Valdemar I is recorded as giving Vitskøl to the Cistercian order. It is not known when Eskil was born or when he died, only that he died during a raid to Wendland c. 1165. In the church-conflict at the time Eskil, as many other bishops, and king Valdemar was on the side of the imperial pope. However, King Valdemar's policies changed and soon he supported the French side and the archbishop Eskil of Lund which he proved by donating land in the diocese to the Cistercians. The initial offering of Vitskøl proved undesirable and the Cistercians had it swapped for another property at Sminge in 1165. The monks later swapped lands again until finally they had lands at Mossø near Skanderborg, where Øm Abbey would eventually be built. The Cistercian monks brought their relics with them whenever they moved, including the body of Eskil.
Svend I was a bishop between 1166 and 1191 in the Ancient See of Aarhus in Aarhus, Denmark. Svend was a warrior and crusader who participated in numerous wars and raids with the Danish king. Contemporary historian Saxo Grammaticus mentions him as belonging to the inner circle of Valdemar I and Absalon. Svend may be best known for granting the Cistercian order large gifts of land which resulted in the founding of Øm Abbey by Mossø. It is known Svend was ordained bishop no later than 1166. Svend allowed Niels of Aarhus to be buried in Aarhus' St. Nicolai Cathedral after reports of miracles around the body and in connection with the burial.