Gudhem Abbey ( sv, Gudhems kloster) is the ruin of a

nunnery A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican C ...

which was in operation from 1152 to 1529. It is located in

Gudhem Gudhem is a locality situated in Falköping Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 427 inhabitants in 2010. ''Gudhem Hundred'', or ''Gudhems härad'', was a hundred of Västergötland in Sweden. Gudhem Abbey, initially a Benedict ...

outside

Falköping Falköping is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,350 inhabitants in 2010. History The town of Falköping was first spoken of in the Icelandic ''Rimbegla'' (around 1100 A.D.), and ...

in the

Falbygden Falbygden is a geographical area, centered at the town of Falköping in Västergötland, in southwestern Sweden, and covered mostly by farmland. Most of the area belongs to Falköping Municipality and the west part of Tidaholm Municipality. In med ...

area in

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

, Sweden. It was initially part of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

and later

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 considered to have been one of the oldest convents in Sweden; after

Vreta Abbey Vreta Abbey ( sv, Vreta kloster), in operation from the beginning of the 12th century to 1582, was the first nunnery in Sweden, initially Benedictine and later Cistercian, and one of the oldest in Scandinavia. It was located in the present-day m ...

(1100) and

Alvastra Abbey Alvastra Abbey (''Alvastra klosterruin'') was a Cistercian monastery located at Alvastra in Östergötland, Sweden. History Alvastra monastery was founded in 1143 by French monks who belonged to the Cistercian Order. A number of monks and lay br ...

(1143).

History

Gudhem, a name signifying "Home of the Gods", was according to tradition a holy place of worship already before Christianity. According to the saga, one hundred images of the thunder god

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

were placed in Gudhem. According to a popular legend, Gudhem Abbey was founded in 1052 by

Gunnhildr Sveinsdóttir Gunnhildr Sveinsdóttir or Gunnhildr Haraldsdóttir, ''Guda'' or ''Gyda'' (traditionally died in Gudhem, Västergötland, Sweden, c. 1060) was, according to the traditional view, a queen consort of King Anund Jacob of Sweden and of king Sveinn II ...

, Queen Dowager of Sweden and Denmark, who returned to a life of penitence in her estate in Västergötland in Sweden, after her marriage with king Svein II of Denmark was annulled by the Church. In reality, however, the Abbey was founded exactly one hundred years later, in 1152.

Charles VII of Sweden Charles VII or Carl (Swedish: ''Karl Sverkersson''; c. 1130 – 12 April 1167) was ruler of Götaland, and then King of Sweden from c. 1161 to 1167, when he was assassinated in a military attack by Knut Eriksson who succeeded him as Canute I. He ...

donated the royal estate of Gudhem Manor to the Abbey during his reign (1161-1167), and the nunnery was by then described as newly established. Gudhem Abbey was prestigious during the 13th century, when it was responsible for providing the Pilgrims on their way to

Nidaros Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss () was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth (Old Norse: ''óss'') of the River Nid (the present-day Nidelva). Althou ...

with hospitality.

Catherine of Ymseborg Catherine Sunesdotter ( sv, Karin Sunadotter or Katarina Sunesdotter), (c. 1215 – 1252) was Queen of Sweden from 1244 to 1250 as the wife of King Eric XI of Sweden. In her later years she served as abbess of Gudhem Abbey in Falbygden. Heir of ...

(c. 1215 – 1252) was Queen consort of Sweden from 1244 to 1250 as the wife of King

Eric XI of Sweden Eric "XI" the Lisp and Lame Swedish: ''Erik Eriksson'' or ''Erik läspe och halte''; Old Norse: ''Eiríkr Eiríksson'' (1216 – 2 February 1250) was king of Sweden in 1222–29 and 1234–50. Being the last ruler of the House of Eric, he stood ...

. In her later years, she served as abbess of Gudhem Abbey and donated her vast estates to it.

Dissolution

During the

Swedish Reformation The Reformation in Sweden is generally regarded as having begun in 1527 during the reign of King Gustav I of Sweden, but the process was slow and did not end definitively until the Uppsala Synod of 1593 and the following War against Sigismund, with ...

in 1527, the abbey was confiscated by the crown in accordance with the

Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden The Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden, was an important reform during the Protestant Swedish Reformation, in which king Gustav I of Sweden ordered a reduction in church property and the return of land to the crown, making the national church dependent ...

, in the following year it was granted to the nobleman Nils Olofsson. The former nuns however, were granted an allowance from the properties formerly belonging to the abbey and the right to live in the building for life. In 1529, the abbey caught fire and burned down. The last abbess asked the King to rebuild the abbey, but her request was not granted, and the nuns were housed by the surrounding peasantry. They continued to be supported by the allowance granted to them in 1527. There were still former nuns benefiting from the allowance living in the surroundings of the former abbey in 1540. The abbey was never rebuilt and the ruins were used as a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

. The ruins were excavated in 1928–1969.

Gudhem Church

Gudhem Church (''Gudhems kyrka'') is one of four churches that are part of the parish of Gudhem in the

Diocese of Skara The Diocese of Skara ( sv, Skara stift) is the oldest existing diocese in Sweden, originally a Latin bishopric of the Roman Catholic church, and since Protestant reformation a Lutheran diocese of the Church of Sweden (the former state church of ...

. Gudham Church was originally built sometime between 1160 and 1200 after the founding of Gudhem Abbey. The church was in its original condition until the 1560s, when it was looted and burned. The tower chamber was converted into a sacristy in 1703. The church was extended to the east 1811–1815. The present tower was built during an extensive restoration in 1900. The church was restored in the years 1897-1900 and the interior was restored in 1951–1952. It was remodeled and a new sacristy was added in 1979. During the most recent restoration in 1999–2000, the barrel vault was removed. The altar was lowered and the interior of the church was painted in warm colors. Part of the decorative painting in its original patterns and colors was produced.

Abbesses

The abbesses are only partially known. * Katarina Folkesdotter (1250-1271) * Karin Mattesdotter (1290) * Gyrid Pedersdotter (1294) * Ing (-eborg) Mattesdotter Oxenstierna, died after 1344, (1311-1323) * Christina Laurensdotter (1330) * Kaarin (1374) * Elina Hindriksdotter (1379) * Christina Andreasdotter (1392) * Karin Håkonadotter (1399-1418) * Ingrid Philippussadotter (1424-1430) * Margareta (1433-1442) * Margareta Asmundsdotter (1444) * Christina Bengstdotter (1455-1461) * Christina Bengstdotter (1465) * Catharina Pedersdotter (1478) * Ingeborg Jönsdotter (1487) * Karin Andersdotter (1490-1497) * Karin Hansadotter (1500) * Ingerid Jönsdotter (1513)

Fiction

Gudhem Abbey is a location where the character Cecilia is imprisoned in

The Knight Templar ''The Knight Templar'' ( sv, Tempelriddaren) is the second book in Jan Guillou's The Knight Templar (Crusades trilogy) book series. This book follows the fictional character of Arn Magnusson as a Knight Templar in the kingdom of Jerusalem. The bo ...

(1999. Norstedts Förlag), the third book in the ''Crusades trilogy'' by Jan Guillou.

Gallery

File:Gudhem klosterruin en vacker sommardag - valv.JPG, Ruins of the monastery File:Catherine of Sweden (1244) effigy 1905.jpg, Tomb of Queen

File:Gudhem1 Sweden.jpg, Cellar to the monastery.

References

Other Sources

* Famil-Journalen. Band 15. Årgång 1876 {{Authority control Cistercian nunneries in Sweden 12th-century establishments in Sweden 1152 establishments in Europe Benedictine nunneries in Sweden Christian monasteries established in the 12th century 1529 disestablishments in Sweden Burial sites of the House of Bjelbo Burial sites of the House of Eric Medieval Sweden Monasteries dissolved under the Swedish Reformation