Ås Abbey ( da, Ås Kloster; la, Asylum) was a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery situated near the present village of Åskloster about 14 km north of

Varberg Varberg () is a locality and the seat of Varberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 35,782 inhabitants in 2019. Varberg and all of Halland are well known for their "typical west coast" sandy beaches. In Varberg the coast changes from wi ...

, in

Varberg Municipality Varberg Municipality (''Varbergs kommun'') is a municipality in Halland County, in southwest Sweden. Its seat is in Varberg. It was formed in 1971 through the amalgamation of the ''City of Varberg'' and the surrounding rural municipalities. Th ...

. It was located near the mouth of the River

Viskan Viskan is a river in the south west of Sweden. It is about 140 kilometers long. It starts in the lake Tolken outside Ulricehamn and has its outlet in the Kattegatt. It runs through Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) an ...

into the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömsebro ...

, formerly part of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

but now in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

History

Ås Abbey was founded as a Cistercian monastery in 1192 and settled in 1194 by a community from its mother house,

Sorø Abbey Sorø Abbey was the preeminent and wealthiest monastic house in all of Denmark during the Middle Ages. It was located in the town of Sorø in central Zealand. After Denmark became Lutheran in 1536, the abbey was confiscated by the Crown. The ab ...

. The monastery was the first, largest and richest in Halland. According to ''Kong Valdemars Jordebog'',

King Valdemar II Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...

(1170–1241) gave the new monastery the royal farm of Ås (the exact location of which is no longer certain). The abbey was eventually the owner of about 250 farms and estates. The abbey enjoyed great standing and prestige: two or three children of Magnus Eriksson, King of Sweden (1316–1374) and his queen,

Blanka of Namur Blanche of Namur (Swedish and Norwegian: ''Blanka''; 1320–1363) was Queen of Norway and Sweden as the wife of King Magnus VII / IV. Background Blanche was the eldest daughter of John I, Marquis of Namur and Marie of Artois. On her father' ...

, were buried here. Ås Abbey was closed in the early 16th century and the buildings were destroyed during the

Count's Feud The Count's Feud ( da, Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a war of succession that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. In the international context, it was part of the European wars of religi ...

in 1535. There are no visible ruins and the site lies buried under the manor house Åsklosters kungsgård. The manor house was built between 1806 and 1813 on the basis of plans originally drawn by Swedish architect

Carl Hårleman Baron Carl Hårleman (27 August 1700 – 9 February 1753) was a Swedish architect. Biography Hårleman was born in Stockholm, son of the garden architect and head of the royal parks and gardens Johan Hårleman, who had been ennobled in 1698. ...

(1700–1753). The exact location of the monastery buildings was uncertain for a long time since there are no visible ruins above ground on site. In 2009–2010, the

Swedish National Heritage Board The Swedish National Heritage Board ( sv, Riksantikvarieämbetet; RAÄ) is a Swedish government agency responsible for World Heritage Sites and other national heritage monuments and historical environments. It is governed by the Ministry of Cult ...

carried out a survey of the area. The analysis revealed underground remains. A small area was excavated by archaeological excavation. Parts of the monastery's eastern length and an extension to it from the 13th-14th century were exposed. In 2011, the southeast part of the monastery was excavated where there was a room with a stone floor.

Abbots

*1194- unknown *1238-1241 Th mas?*1259 icolaus - formerly abbot of Sorø, possibly abbot of Ås) *1343-1350 Andreas *1362-1378 Petrus *1379-1386 Johannes Mattisson *1386-1392 Niels (Nicolaus) Clemensen *1392 Nicolas Johannis (Pr[oessus) *1393 Niels (the same as Nicolas Johannis?) *1396-1398 Sven *1403?-1405? Nicolaus (Niels) *1403?-1405? Peter *1406? Nicolaus *1408-1458 Peter Thuwasson *1462-1481 Lindorm *1491-1492 Anders Bengtsson *1498 Anders Nilsson *1514-1532 Mats (Mattias) Eriksson

References

Other sources

*Nielsen, Oluf (red.) (1873
''Liber Census Daniæ. Kong Valdemar den Andens Jordebog''
(Copenhagen: Gads Forlag)

External links

Stadinn i Aranesi – den medeltida handelsplatsen vid Årnäs by

Viskans dalgång – munkarnas laxfiske

{{DEFAULTSORT:As Abbey Cistercian monasteries in Denmark Cistercian monasteries in Sweden Halland 1192 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in Sweden 16th-century disestablishments in Sweden Christian monasteries established in the 12th century