Vreta Abbey

Vreta Abbey, 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 municipality of Linköping in Östergötland.

History

The exact year of the foundation is not known. The abbey was founded by King Inge I of Sweden and Queen Helena [she later entered it herself as a nun] on the orders of Pope Paschal II, which gives a date range for the foundation: Paschal became pope in 1099; the date of Inge's death is disputed, but probably occurred around 1105 or a little later. In the following decade King Inge the Younger and Queen Ulvhild made large donations to it.

Vreta Abbey was a house of Benedictine nuns until 1162, when it was turned into a Cistercian nunnery. The first Cistercian abbess was Ingegerd, sister of Charles VII. A second sister, Helena of Sweden, widow of Canute V of Denmark, entered Vreta as a nun after being widowed in 1157, and other members of the Swedish and Danish royal families were also here. It was a prestigious establishment, thought to be the burial place of the kings Inge the Younger, Filip Halstensson and Ragnvald Knaphövde. It served as a school for daughters of Sweden's ruling families and nobility. Vreta Abbey has entered folklore as the scene during the 13th century of a number of prominent abductions of girls for marriages disapproved of by their families [ see Maiden Abduction from Vreta] .

Vreta was the mother house of Askeby Abbey near Linköping, Riseberga Abbey in Närke and Solberga Abbey in Gotland.

The buildings burned down in the early 1200s, but were rebuilt, and a new church was dedicated in the presence of Magnus Ladulås and Queen Helvig of Holstein in 1289.

After 1527, as a result of the Reformation the abbey was forbidden to accept any new novices, but was otherwise treated very leniently. It continued in use as a school for daughters of the nobility and a retirement place for old noblewomen, and in 1529, the King allowed the last abbess, Sigrid Botholfsdotter (d. 1538), to buy it, and its activities continued undisturbed. In 1536 the King Gustav Vasa gave the abbey and its assets to his Roman Catholic mother-in-law Ebba Eriksdotter Vasa, the mother of the Queen consort Margareta Leijonhufvud, also a Roman Catholic; Ebba Eriksdotter spent her last years here and died in 1549. There were still nuns here in 1562, and the last two of whom, Brita Gisledotter and Kirstin Månsdotter, died in 1582.

ite and buildings

The church continued in use as a Lutheran parish church and still stands today, distinguished by its possession of a medieval hagioscope. The remaining buildings were mostly allowed to fall into ruin.

Between 1916 and 1926 the ruins were excavated, and large portions to the north of the church, which was itself restored between 1914 and 1917, remain visible. The finds, including an unusual wooden waterpipe, are on display in the adjoining museum.

Apart from the church, the only monastic building completely preserved is the barn, although some walls were reconstructed in the 20th century. The stones from the former refectory were used to build the tower of Linköping Cathedral.

Notes

ources/External links

* [http://www.arkeologiuv.se/projekt/ost/2006/2006_vreta_kloster/index.htm Riksantikvarieämbetet: Vreta kloster 2006] sv icon
* [http://www.kulturarvostergotland.se/eriksgata/cistercienserkloster.htm Cistercienserkloster längs Eriksgatan i Östergötland] sv icon
* [http://www.kulturarvostergotland.se/eriksgata/linkoping-skanninge-bildsida.htm Eskilstunakistan och Stenkilska gravkoret i Vreta] sv icon
* [http://wadbring.com/historia/sidor/vreta.htm Vreta kloster och kyrka (Bengans historiesidor)] sv icon
* [http://www.virtualsweden.se/page_det.asp?cat_did=10 Se er om i Vreta kloster! (images)] sv icon
* [http://www.vretaklosterforening.se/ Föreningen "Klosterliv i Vreta"] sv icon
* [http://runeberg.org/sqvinnor/0058.html Runeberg.org] sv icon

References

*Sixten Dahlquist: "Ett kyrkligt och kulturellt centrum", Vreta klosters hembygdsförening, 1956, ISSN|0348-9086
*Erik Lundberg: "Vreta kloster - Svenska fornminnesplatser nr 6", Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1964
*Gustaf-Adolf Andræ: "Klosterbrev från Vreta - Verklighet och fantasi" (1975), Noteria tryckeri, Klockrike, 1999, ISBN 91-85694-91-6
*Gustaf-Adolf Andræ: "Det hände i klostret - År och människor vid klostret i Vreta", Noteria förlag, Klockrike, 1981, 1998, ISBN 91-85694-12-6
*Dick Harrison: "Jarlens sekel", Ordfronts förlag, Stockholm 2002, ISBN 91-7324-999-8
*Föreningen klosterliv i Vreta: "Klosterliv i Vreta - Förhistoria, andligt liv, daglig strävan, klostrets byggnader, nunnor och annat folk", LTAB, Linköping, 2003 (2:a uppl.), ISBN 91-630-6927-X

* Signum svenska kulturhistoria, "Renässansen" sv icon