Børglum Abbey was an important

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

abbey of medieval

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 ...

, located in Børglum parish, in the commune of Hjørring, approximately five kilometers east of Løkken in north central

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

(

Region Nordjylland The North Jutland Region (), or in some official sources, the North Denmark Region, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform, which abolished the traditional counties () an ...

) from the 12th century until reformation.

History

Origin

Børglum Abbey was originally a royal farm () which dated back as far as 1000, if not earlier. In 1086 King Canute IV fled from his residence at Børglum when the peasants revolted against him. The royal residence was burned to the ground but rebuilt sometime later. At some point between 1134 and 1139, the royal estate at Børglum was granted to the church to become the new seat of the bishopric of northern Jutland, also known as the bishopric of Vendsyssel, previously established at Vestervig. Bishop Self (or Sylvester) of Vestervig became the first bishop of Børglum (Vendsyssel) in 1139, and Børglum remained the seat of the diocese until the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. It is unclear exactly who first established a monastery there, but it seems possible that the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

previously settled at Vestervig had moved to Børglum by 1134.

Premonstratensians

In the 1180s the

Premonstratensians The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in United Kingdom, Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their religious habit, habit), is a religious order of cano ...

, or White Canons, were established here, as a daughter house of Steinfeld Abbey near

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

in Germany. Børglum then in its turn became the mother house for all Premonstratensian monasteries in Scandinavia. The abbey quickly became prominent, perhaps with the help of royal patronage, and set up a seminary, where many noble families sent at least one of their sons to study. The Premonstratensians expanded the abbey and its church during the time of Bishop Troel.

Bishopric

Some time before 1220 the bishop of Vendsyssel made the abbey his episcopal seat. The abbey church became the cathedral of the bishopric of Vendsyssel, or Børglum, and the canons took on the additional role of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

. Besides being the biggest landowner in North Jutland, the bishop was ''ex officio'' part of the State Council which advised the King of Denmark on domestic and international policy. This further enhanced the reputation of Børglum Abbey, making it one of the most influential religious houses in Denmark. The abbey church, later also cathedral, was built as a typical Romanesque

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

and formed the eastern range of the monastery. It is believed that the builders modelled its construction and decoration on

Viborg Cathedral Viborg Cathedral, Our Lady Cathedral () is the site of one of Denmark's most important historic churches located in the town of Viborg, Denmark, Viborg in northern Jutland. The modern building is a 19th-century construction based on Lund Cathedra ...

. It was built of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

, obtained locally. A flat timber ceiling and the absence of windows would have made it dark, but the massive walls would have prevented the cold winds and storms off the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, just a few miles to the west, from penetrating the building. Hans Christian Andersen wrote a version of the old folk legend 'The Bishop of Borglum and his Men' which recounts the murder of Bishop of Borglum, Oluf Glob, and several companions by his nephew, Jens Glob, in front of the altar at Hvidebjerg Church on Thy Island in 1206. There are several exchanges of letters between the bishop of Vendsyssel and several popes regarding the white woollen habit that was the required dress for Premonstratensian canons. In May 1403,

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX (; ; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death, in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope during the Western Schism.Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of t ...

gave dispensation to the canons at Børglum to alter their white habits to black, brown or any other dark color, due to the abbey's "being a place near the sea with frequent floods and the resulting mud." In 1422 the canons were permitted to wear undergarments for warmth and to add a

cowl A cowl is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, often worn by monks. It was developed during the Early Middle Ages. The term may have originally referred to the hooded portion of a cloak, though contempor ...

to their attire. One of the annual events for which Børglum was famous was the market on or near St. Bodil's day, June 17. Bodil's sacred spring which was a religious site back in

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

times was believed to have healing power. In 1500 a fire destroyed much of the old abbey church and a new church was begun, but in the later

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

with high arched ceilings. Work was slow, but by 1520 the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

had been rebuilt and work had begun on the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s to join the two together. The

in the 1520s and 1530s brought the reconstruction to a halt. The last bishop of Vendsyssel (and abbot of Børglum) was Stygge Krumpen, who was unable to halt the advance of the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

reforms. In 1536 he was arrested and imprisoned but after several years in confinement was eventually released when he accepted Lutheranism and agreed to marry. He was given the former nunnery of Asmild Abbey, near Viborg, as an estate, on the condition that he make provision for the care of the nuns who after its dissolution in 1536 had no other place to go.

After dissolution

Børglum Abbey was dissolved when Denmark became officially Lutheran on 30 October 1536. Its assets reverted to the crown and it became a royal property once again. The abbey church continued in use as the cathedral church for northern Jutland until 1554, when the Lutheran bishop moved the episcopal seat to the Budolfi Church in

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

. The vast Børglum Abbey estate was broken up and sold off or given to noble families. The abbey's main building became a large

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

and the outbuildings were either demolished or converted to farm use. In 1764, a Colonel Poulsen residing at Børglum Abbey was the recipient of what might be the first known mail bomb in history. The affair is mentioned in the 18th-century diary of Danish official and historian Bolle Willum Luxdorph. The entry for January 19, 1764, notes that a box was sent by mail, containing gunpowder and a firelock which set fire to it, severely injuring the colonel. He survived but on February 15 got a letter in German, saying that "soon the dose will be increased." The perpetrator was never found. Without constant attention the buildings began to deteriorate; the church especially fell into total disrepair. A local nobleman, Godslev Budde, received permission from Frederik II to demolish the incomplete transepts and enclose the church in the original basilica form.

Present day

As a manor house, the former abbey buildings at Børglum have survived to modern times. In 1958 the structures were given national historic status and protection. The remains of the abbey buildings now accommodate a museum showing the history of the sit

The church continues to serve as the local parish church. Børglum displays a modern copy of the

Bayeux Tapestry The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidery, embroidered cloth nearly long and tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest, Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William the Conqueror, William, Duke of Normandy challenging H ...

. The Børglum River in North Greenland was named after the abbey by Arctic explorer

Lauge Koch Lauge Koch (5 July 1892 – 5 June 1964) was a Danish geologist and Arctic explorer. Biography Lauge Koch was born in 1892 to Karl and Elisabeth Koch. His development as a scientist was greatly influenced by his father's second cousin Johan Peter ...

in 1938.Nunat Aqqi; Stednavne
/ref>

Notes

Sources

Børglum Abbey website

Diplomatarium Danicum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borglum Abbey Premonstratensian monasteries in Denmark Listed buildings and structures in Hjørring Municipality 1536 disestablishments in Denmark Museums in the North Jutland Region Christian monasteries established in the 1130s Monasteries dissolved under the Danish Reformation