Ringsted Abbey

{{Short description|Benedictine monastery in Denmark}} [[File:Sankt Bendts Kirke.jpg|thumb|right|300 px| St. Bendt's Church in Ringsted]] '''Ringsted Abbey''' (''Ringsted Kloster'') was one of the earliest and most influential [[Rule of St. Benedict|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]].

== History ==

===The first Ringsted Abbey=== [[Ringsted]] was one of Denmark's earliest towns and in Viking times a center for worship. The town had a royal [[Mint (coin)|mint]] in 1020 and a Benedictine priory was established by King [[Sweyn II of Denmark|Sven Estridsen]] before his death in 1076, but not completed until 1081 or 1082 under Svend Norbagge, [[Bishop of Roskilde]]. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The first priory church was constructed out of limestone. According to tradition the monks were brought by the king from one of his campaigns in [[Great Britain|Britain]]. Ringsted Abbey owed its importance to its being the resting place of [[Canute Lavard| Knud Lavard]] who was murdered at [[Haraldsted]] forest just north of Ringsted in 1131 and was canonized in 1170 as Saint Knud Lavard. <ref>{{cite web|url= https://runeberg.org/dbl/17/0011.html|title = Svend Nordmand |website= Dansk biografisk Lexikon |access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.danmarkskonger.dk/knudlavard.htm|title = Knud Lavard |website= Danmarks Konger |access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |url=http://sanktknudlavardkirke.dk/english/about-st-knud/#:~:text=Eng.%3A%20Saint%20Canute%20Lavard%3A%20Patron%20saint%20of%20the,chosen%20for%20the%20present%20church%20is%20not%20modern. |title=About St. Knud Lavard |website=Sankt Knud Lavard Kirke |access-date=July 1, 2020 |archive-date=March 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329124859/http://sanktknudlavardkirke.dk/english/about-st-knud/#:~:text=Eng.%3A%20Saint%20Canute%20Lavard%3A%20Patron%20saint%20of%20the,chosen%20for%20the%20present%20church%20is%20not%20modern. |url-status=dead }}</ref> ===The second Ringsted Abbey=== It is unclear what happened to the original priory, but in 1135 King [[Erik Emune]] refounded Ringsted Priory with [[Benedictine]] monks from [[Odense]]. The abbey received its recognition by Pope [[Innocent II]] in 1138. [[St. Mary]]'s Church (Danish: ''Sct Maria Kirke'') is the oldest brick church in Scandinavia, a successor to the travertine church of 1080. Knud Lavard's bones were moved into a new chapel in the priory church at Ringsted in 1157 with the approval of his son, King [[Valdemar I of Denmark]]. The church became an immediate pilgrimage site. With the funds raised from pilgrims and royal patronage the abbey church was expanded and dedicated in 1170 with great ceremony. Subsequently Ringsted Priory became the location of the burials of many of Valdemar's descendants from 1182 until 1341. King [[Valdemar II of Denmark|Valdemar Sejr]] and Queen [[Dagmar of Bohemia|Dagmar]] were buried there. The church was later renamed [[St. Bendt's Church, Ringsted| St. Bendt's Church ]] (''Sankt Bendts Kirke''). For centuries, the church served as the monastery church. After the Reformation in 1571 it became a parish church. <ref>{{cite web|url= http://danmarkskirker.natmus.dk/soroe/skt-bendts-kirke/|title =Skt. Bendts Kirke|website= Nationalmuseet |access-date=July 1, 2020}} </ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.danmarkskonger.dk/king21.htm|title = Valdemar Sejr |website= danmarkskonger|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.historie-online.dk/boger/anmeldelser-5-5/vikingetid-og-middelalder-13-13-13-13/dronning-dagmar|title= Dronning Dagmar |publisher = historie-online.dk|accessdate=July 1, 2020}}</ref>

Ringsted Priory became an abbey in the mid-13th century and by that time was so influential that its abbot was a permanent member of the State Council (Danish: ''Rigsråd'') which advised Denmark's kings until the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]]. His rank was equal to that of the bishops. Ringsted Abbey enjoyed almost continuous royal support as well as that of the most powerful noble families and bishops of Denmark. Its royal connections brought it extensive land holdings in Zealand and other parts of Denmark. The abbey also had papal protections and in 1193 received permission to hold mass even when Denmark lay under interdict as happened periodically in the stormy years of the 13th century. The abbey suffered damaging fires in 1241 and 1300, but with the amount of income available quickly rebuilt.

===Post Protestant Reformation=== Denmark became a [[Protestant]] nation with the adoption of the Lutheran Ordinances in October 1536. Ringsted once again received special treatment. All other monastic houses were closed, but Ringsted remained open, though under the direction of a Lutheran [[Superintendent (ecclesiastical)|superintendent]]. The monks eventually abandoned their abbey with some travelling south to join other Benedictine houses in Germany. In time the abbey and all its properties reverted to the crown.

Unfortunately, during the Reformation the entire archive of the monastery was destroyed. The national archives contain a few letters from the 15th century and bit of the Ringsted Book which outlines monetary privileges. In 1592 Ringsted Abbey was given to the nobleman Lave Beck who was appointed sheriff and county judge. He transformed it into a large manor house. In the 17th century the abbey's outbuildings gradually fell into disrepair and were torn down. In 1806 a fire destroyed the entire complex except for St. Bendt Church, the only building left of Ringsted Abbey.

== References == {{Reflist }} {{commonscat|Skt. Bendts Kirke, Ringsted}}

==Other Sources == *Thorsteinsson, Hjalmar. 'Det forsvundne kloster i Ringsted set i glimt'. {{in lang|da}} *Statens Arkiver. 'Ringsted Kloster 144-1600'. {{in lang|da}} *Salmonsens Conversationslexikon. "Ringsted Herred'. p. 216 {{in lang|da}} * [http://wiki.ringstedhistorie.dk/index.php/Ringsted_Kloster Eingsted Kloster]

[[Category:Benedictine monasteries in Denmark]] [[Category:Former buildings and structures in Denmark]] [[Category:Monasteries dissolved under the Danish Reformation]] [[Category:Ringsted]]