Ås Abbey (; ) was a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, 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 Benedict, as well as the contri ...

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

Varberg Varberg () is a Urban areas in Sweden, 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 th ...

, in

Varberg Municipality Varberg Municipality () 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. There are 25 original ...

. 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 ...

into the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...

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

, formerly part of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

but now in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

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 ...

. The monastery was the first, largest and richest in Halland. According to ''Kong Valdemars Jordebog'', King Valdemar II (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, 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 (), sometimes referred to as the Count's War, was a Danish war of succession occurring from 1534 to 1536, which gave rise to the Reformation in Denmark. In the broader international context, it was a part of the European wars of ...

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 Sweden, 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 Ennoblemen ...

(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 (; 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 Culture. The goals of the agen ...

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 1190s Buildings and structures in Halland County Varberg Municipality