Guldholm Abbey

Guldholm Abbey was a Cistercian monastery on the Langsø near the town of Schleswig, formerly in Denmark, now in Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It was founded in 1191 and abandoned after less than twenty years; some of the community went on to establish Ryd Abbey.

History

Guldholm was located on a peninsula of land in the Langsøen nær the Schlei/Slien owned by Bishop Valdemar of Schleswig (1158-1236), an illegitimate son of King Canute V of Denmark, and bishop of Schleswig from 1184 to 1191. It was reported to him that the Benedictine abbot, monks, and nuns at St. Michael's Abbey in Schleswig had fallen into immoral behavior and had earned a reputation for drunkenness. The bishop decided that the best way to reform the monks was to move them from the temptations in Schleswig, and establish a new house far enough away that the monks wouldn't cause more trouble.

The monks apparently were moved unwillingly to Guldholm in 1191 to begin work on a new monastery. At some point, Guldholm became Cistercian, where the monks worked in the fields to earn their daily bread and meat.

In 1192, Bishop Valdemar and Duke Valdemar (later King Valdemar II) of Denmark got into a serious disagreement about who was going to rule in the Duchy of Southern Jutland. Bishop Valdemar fled to Sweden to avoid arrest. The following year he organized a fleet of 35 ships and harried the coasts of Denmark with an eye to overthrowing King Valdemar, believing he had a claim on the throne. Bishop Valdemar was quickly captured and imprisoned in the tower at Søborg Castle on Zealand for the next 14 years.

Guldholm was abandoned and the monks who didn't run away went north to the banks of Flensborg Fjord near the little hamlet of Ryd and began work on a new Cistercian monastery, Ryd Abbey, in 1210.