Eskil was a bishop of the Ancient See of Aarhus in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, 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 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 ...

order. It is not known when Eskil was born or when he died, only that he died during a raid to

Wendland The Wendland is a region in Germany on the borders of the present states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. Its heart is the Hanoverian Wendland in the county of Lüchow-Dannenberg in Lower Saxony. In 2 ...

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 In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Eskil of Lund Eskil was a 12th-century Archbishop of Lund, in Skåne, Denmark (now in Sweden). He was one of the most capable and prominent princes of the Church in Scandinavia. A man of profound piety, he was always zealous for the welfare of the church, and ...

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 Mossø is Denmark's third largest freshwater lake and Jutland's largest, as measured by surface area. The lake is located just west of the city of Skanderborg in east Jutland, but is part of both Skanderborg Municipality and Horsens Municipality. ...

near

Skanderborg 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 S� ...

, where

Øm Abbey Øm Abbey (''Øm Kloster'') 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 hi ...

would eventually be built. The Cistercian monks brought their relics with them whenever they moved, including the body of Eskil.

References

12th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Denmark People from Aarhus 1160s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain {{Bishop-stub