Munkeliv Abbey ( no, Munkeliv kloster) was a

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 ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

located at Nordnes in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. It was one of the oldest monasteries in Norway, and also one of the wealthiest and best-documented. There are no visible remains today.

History

Munkeliv Abbey was founded as a Benedictine abbey by King

Eystein I of Norway Eystein Magnusson (Old Norse: ''Eysteinn Magnússon'', Norwegian: ''Øystein Magnusson''; c. 1088 – 29 August 1123) was King of Norway (as Eystein I) from 1103 to 1123 together with his brothers Sigurd the Crusader and Olaf Magnusson, although s ...

(''Øystein 1 Magnusson'', reigned 1103– 1123) in about 1110 and was dedicated to

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

. The abbey was strategically positioned on the dominant height of Nordnes over the then newly established town of Bergen, with a view to encouraging the town's development. Its first centuries were successful and prosperous, but the arrival of the Black Death in the mid-14th century brought about a decline. In addition, the buildings suffered great damage in 1393 when the abbey was attacked by pirates known as the

Victual Brothers , native_name_lang = , named_after = french: vitailleurs (provisioners, Hundred Years' War) , image = Vitalienbrueder, Wandmalerei in d, Kirche zu Bunge auf Gotland, gemalt ca. 1405.JPG , image_size = 250px ...

(''vitaliebrødrene''). Thanks to its great wealth it managed to survive these catastrophes, but could not avoid a further decline. In the 1420s it was taken over by the

Bridgettines The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior (; abbreviated OSsS), is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta or Bridget of Sweden in 1344, and approved by Pope Urba ...

, with the Pope's approval, and was occupied as a double house by both monks and nuns. This was a very disturbed period: the abbey was again damaged by fire in 1455, when it was attacked by

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...

merchants pursuing Olav Nilsson, commander of the royal castle in Bergen, who had sought sanctuary in the abbey. Both Olav Nilsson and Leif Thor Olafsson,

Bishop of Bergen The Catholic Diocese of Bergen or Diocese of Bjørgvin in Norway existed from the eleventh century to the Protestant Reformation (1537),

, died during the attack. During the 1460s, the occupants of Munkeliv were obliged to seek shelter in

Hovedøya Abbey Hovedøya Abbey (''Hovedøya kloster'') was a medieval era Cistercian monastery on the island of Hovedøya in Oslofjord outside of Oslo, Norway. History The monastery was founded on 18 May 1147 by monks from Kirkstead Abbey in England on H ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

. The monastery was re-constructed by the

Cistercian Order 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 Sain ...

and reoccupied by the Bridgettines in 1480. When the abbey was suppressed during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

, the

Bishop of Bergen The Catholic Diocese of Bergen or Diocese of Bjørgvin in Norway existed from the eleventh century to the Protestant Reformation (1537),

took it over for his residence and used the church as the cathedral of Bergen. The entire building complex however was destroyed by fire in 1536. The monks' herb garden near Puddefjord was later cultivated by the Bergen pharmacist, ''Løveapoteket'', for medicinal plants, until the surrounding areas were built up in the 19th century.

Site and buildings

The monastery remains today are beneath the open space known as "the Monastery" (''Klosteret'') at Nordnes, near numbers 2–6, and nothing is visible. Excavations of the site took place in 1857 and 1860, during which many extremely well crafted structural fragments were recovered. These artifacts are now in the Museum of Cultural History (''Kulturhistorisk Museum''), part of

Bergen Museum The University Museum of Bergen ( no, Universitetsmuseet i Bergen) is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. The museum features material related to anthropology, archaeology, botany, geology, zoology, art, and cultural history. History The Univ ...

. These include the well-known marble head of King Eystein I discovered by

Nicolay Nicolaysen Nicolay Nicolaysen (14 January 1817 - 22 January 1911) was a Norwegian archaeologist and Norway's first state employed antiquarian. He is perhaps best known for his excavations of the ship burial at Gokstad in 1880. Norges kloster i middelalderen: Munkeliv

Bergenskartet: Munkeliv Abbey
Map of historical Bergen

Other sources

*Gullbekk, Svein H. (2009) ''Pengevesenets fremvekst og fall i Norge i middelalderen'' (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press) * Lidén, Hans-Emil, and Magerøy, Ellen Maria (1980) ''Norges kirker, Bergen'' (Oslo: Gyldendal, vol I, pp 150–57) * Øye, Ingvild (ed.) (1994) ''Bergen and the German Hansa'' (Bergen: Bryggens Museum) {{coord, 60, 23, 42, N, 5, 18, 54, E, region:NO-12_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Bridgettine monasteries in Norway Christian monasteries in Bergen 1110 establishments in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1110s 12th-century establishments in Norway 16th-century disestablishments in Norway Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Benedictine monasteries in Norway Monasteries dissolved under the Norwegian Reformation