Askeby Abbey (Swedish: Askeby kloster) 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 ...

nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

in operation from the late 12th century until 1529. It was located in Askeby outside

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

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History

Askeby Abbey was founded as a daughter convent of the

Vreta Abbey Vreta Abbey (), in operation from the beginning of the 12th century to 1582, was the first nunnery in Sweden, initially Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine and later Cistercian, and one of the oldest in Scandinavia. It was located in the present- ...

during the second half of the 12th century. It was placed under the authority of the

Alvastra Abbey Alvastra Abbey (''Alvastra klosterruin'') was a Cistercian monastery located at Alvastra in Östergötland, Sweden. History Alvastra monastery was founded in 1143 by French monks who belonged to the Cistercian Order. A number of monks and lay ...

: no member of the abbey was allowed to go outside the walls without a permit from the Abbot of Alvastra, not even the abbess herself, though she could receive guests in the abbey. Askeby Abbey did not belong to the largest of the Swedish nunneries, but it was wealthy and of some importance and often benefited by important people. Placed by the important road to

Söderköping Söderköping is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,992 inhabitants in 2010. Söderköping is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still refe ...

, it functioned as an inn for travelers. The abbey had the income from one third of the crown taxed fishing in

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

. The abbess of the abbey also had the right to appoint the priest of Sankt Olai kyrka at

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

which often caused conflicts with that city. In 1462, the Abbess Anna Jacobi and the nuns were given an official thanks from the Pope after their assistance to his envoy Martinus de Fregano, who had visited Sweden to gather funds for a crusade against the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

. In the late 15th century the discipline was lax; the abbess received guests in her personal chambers, and in 1490 the nuns were threatened with

interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits certain persons or groups from participating in particular rites, or that the rites and services of the church are prohibited in certain territories for ...

for socializing with the outside world. After the

Swedish Reformation The Reformation in Sweden is generally regarded as having begun in 1527 during the reign of King Gustav I of Sweden, but the process was slow and was not definitively decided until the Uppsala Synod of 1593, in the wake of an attempted Counter-Re ...

of 1527, the valuables of the abbey were confiscated and taken to the royal treasury in accordance with the

Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden The Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden, was an important reform during the Protestant Swedish Reformation, in which king Gustav I of Sweden ordered a reduction in church property and the return of land to the crown, making the national church depend ...

, and the management of the abbey was given to the abbess of Vreta Abbey. In 1529, all remaining members of the abbey were relocated to Vreta Abbey and Askeby Abbey was thereby dissolved. The buildings burnt down eight years later. The remains of the abbey are gone.

Askeby Church

Askeby Church (Swedish: ''Askeby kyrka'') was built together with a nunnery during the second half of the 12th century and was used until about 1530 by both the parish and the abbey. The sacristy was probably built in the late 15th or early 16th century. In 1609 the church burned down and the tower was almost completely destroyed. Only two floors of the original tower remain. The western part of the nave underwent major rebuilding 1876-1877. The tower rooms regained their medieval character in 1913. In 1951, the interior was restored, the exterior in 1970. Today the church serves the parish of Askeby in the

Diocese of Linköping The Diocese of Linköping () is a diocese within the Church of Sweden administering the Östergötland County, the north eastern part of Jönköping County and the northern part of Kalmar County. It comprises nine deaneries subdivided into 176 ...

. During 1955, a memorial stone was erected on site to the memory of Askeby Abbey.

Abbesses

(partial listing) * Margareta Lawransdotter (1349) * Bothild Petersdotter 1350-1356) * Ingrid Ingemarsdotter * Märta or Märita (Margareta) Haraldsdotter (1383-1413) * Kristina Magnusdotter * Anna Jacobsdotter (1450) * Ramborg Thordsdotter (1486-1489) * Sigrid Birgersdotter (1492-1501) * Karin Nilsdotter (1507) * Margareta (1512-1515) * Bothild Petersdotter (1515-1529)

References

Other sources

* Kjell O. Lejon (2008) ''Askeby kloster Om klostertid och klosterliv'' (Artos Norma bokförlag) {{Catholic Church in Sweden Cistercian nunneries in Sweden 12th-century establishments in Sweden Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Medieval history of Sweden Monasteries dissolved under the Swedish Reformation Linköping Municipality Buildings and structures in Östergötland County