All Saints Abbey (''Allhelgonaklostret'') was a Benedictine monastery at

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...

, Sweden. Located in what was once part of Denmark, it was one of earliest Danish religious houses. There are no remnants of the abbey remaining today.

History

There is disagreement between scholars as to how long the Benedictines had a monastery at Lund. An important historic source of information about the abbey is the '' Necrologium Lundense'', essentially an obituary book kept by monks. The data has been used by some scholars to indicate the dates of historic events including for the date of founding. There was a monastic house in Lund perhaps as early as 1072 founded by Ricwald,

Bishop of Lund List of (arch)bishops of Lund. Until the Danish Reformation the centre of a great Latin (arch)bishopric, Lund has been in Sweden since the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The Diocese of Lund is now one of thirteen in the Church of Sweden. Cathol ...

(1072-1089) during the reign of King Sweyn Estridsson who imported German monks from

Brauweiler Abbey Brauweiler Abbey (german: Abtei Brauweiler) is a former Rule of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery located at Brauweiler, now in Pulheim near Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, in Germany. History The monastery was founded and endowed in 1024 by ...

near

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. Bishop Ricwalf is named as the founder of the abbey church sometime after 1072 in the 'Necrologium Lundense '. It may be that the church was constructed on one of the properties given to the

Diocese of Lund The Diocese of Lund ( sv, Lunds stift) is a diocese within the Church of Sweden which corresponds to the provinces of Blekinge and Skåne. There are 217 parishes within the diocese, the most significant number in any of the dioceses of the Chur ...

by King

Canute IV of Denmark Canute IV ( – 10 July 1086), later known as Canute the Holy ( da, Knud IV den Hellige) or Saint Canute (''Sankt Knud''), was King of Denmark from 1080 until 1086. Canute was an ambitious king who sought to strengthen the Danish monarchy ...

in the first year of his reign. The small community of mostly German Benedictine monks at Lund apparently flourished. Abbot Hartwig from St. Pantaleon's Abbey in

was named as the first abbot of the Benedictine house at Lund in 1123. All Saints Abbey was constructed just outside the wall of Lund about 1138, the year Bishop Eskil was elevated to

Archbishop of Lund List of (arch)bishops of Lund. Until the Danish Reformation the centre of a great Latin (arch)bishopric, Lund has been in Sweden since the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The Diocese of Lund is now one of thirteen in the Church of Sweden. Cathol ...

by Pope

Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

. The complex consisted of a three range set of buildings connected to the abbey church. Monks slept in the dormitory and ate in the refectory with large cellars located beneath. One wing was for the use of the lay brothers who did much of the work of the abbey. Another range contained the abbey's library and scriptorium, though not a single manuscript has survived. In 1536, King

Christian III of Denmark Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

and the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

(''Riksråd'') voted to accept the , thereby, making Denmark a Lutheran state. All religious houses and their income properties fell to the crown. Christian systematically closed the monasteries and superfluous churches most of which were torn down or put to other uses. Building materials from the demolition was used for construction of other structures throughout Scania. All Saints Abbey was demolished and most of its archive destroyed.

References

Other Sources

*Blom, K. Arne; Wahlöö, Claes (1999) ''Medeltidens Lund'' (Lund : Wallin & Dalholm)

History

References

Other Sources

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