Halsted Priory (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

: Halsted Kloster), formerly a small Benedictine house, is a manor house and estate located close to

Nakskov Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is situated in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 12,495 (1 January 2022). To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the ...

on the island of

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitan ...

in southeastern

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

. The estate was renamed

Juellinge Juellinge, prior to 1672 known as Valbygaard, is a manor house located on the Stevns Peninsula, Stevns Municipality, some 50 kilometres south of Copenhagen, Denmark. The Baroque-style main building and two buildings from the beginning of the 19th ...

when the Barony of Juellinge was restored for

Jens Juel-Vind Jens Juel-Vind (1694 – 20 December 1726), baron of Juellinge, was a Danish chamberlain and landowner. Early life Juel-Vind was born in 1694, the son of Friderich Vind of Harrested and Baggesvogn, and Sophia Catharina, Baroness Juel of Juellinge. ...

in 1721, but its old name was restored when the barony was dissolved in 1921. Holsted Priory is still owned by the Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs family. The

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

main building is from 1847-49. It is flanked by Halsted Church to the north and the old main building from 1591 to the south. The old main building has been renovated with support from

Realdania Realdania is a private association in Denmark which supports projects in architecture and planning. It was established in 2000 following the sale of Realkredit Danmark to Danske Bank, when a fund of approximately 20 billion kroner (EUR 2.7 billio ...

and is now operated as a local cultural centre. The Baroque-style park covers approximately 6.5 hectares of land. The estate is also home to a golf club.

History

The Benedictine priory

Halsted Priory is a crown property dating from the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to 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 s ...

era. A granite parish church was built on the site in the 12th century. A papal recognition of the priory was written in 1177. Halsted is next mentioned by name in Valdemar Sejr's 1231

Danish Census Book The Danish Census Book or the Danish book of land taxation ( la, Liber Census Daniæ), ( da, Kong Valdemars Jordebog) dates from the 13th century and consists of a number of separate manuscripts. The original manuscripts are now housed in the Da ...

. Erik Plovpenny's daughter Jutta came into possession of Halsted in 1284 but unexpectedly died the same year. She willed it to the abbot of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

priory in

Ringsted Ringsted is a city located centrally in the Danish island of Zealand. It is the seat of a municipality of the same name. Ringsted is situated approximately 60 km from Copenhagen. Tourism and transport Ringsted is one of Denmark's busies ...

. The existing church at Halsted was constructed around the earlier church in conjunction with the building of the daughter monastery which was dedicated to St. Samson the Breton. The church became a pilgrimage site for commoners and royals alike for the veneration of St. Samson, because the church had a reliquary with his head in it. The priory was built in a roughly rectangular shape with space for a dormitory, refectory, kitchens, storage, cellars, and space for lay brothers. No contemporary description of Halsted Priory survives. Given the time period in which it was built, it can safely be said that the buildings were built in Gothic style out of brick as evidenced by the church which still stands today. The interior spaces had vaulted roofs. Halsted was a small house, but must have had at least a few income properties; these would normally have been gifted or willed to a monastery in return for prayers for the souls of the recently departed. The only historical event known to involve the priory was when Prince Erik, the son of

Christoffer II Christopher II (; 29 September 1276 – 2 August 1332) was King of Denmark from 1320 to 1326 and again from 1329 until his death. He was a younger son of Eric V. His name is connected with national disaster, as his rule ended in an almost total ...

, lay at Halsted for 14 days before being moved to his final resting place at

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 ab ...

. In 1510, the Hanseatic League sacked nearby

and then sailed up the fjord to Halsted, where they set fire to the priory and both the east and west ranges. The priory was restored and was made an abbey, but the winds of change were blowing in Denmark and would within a decade empty the priory permanently. The last abbot of Halsted, Jens Fugl, was installed in circa 1520. The priory archives were entirely lost; the only remaining document today is a single letter of indulgence dated 1517. By the 1520s many Danes were extremely unhappy with the financial burdens the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

church imposed on them. In addition to forced payment of tithes and fees for every conceivable service, peasant tenants were also required to work fields and farms owned by the many religious institutions that were a part of everyday life in Denmark at the time.

Christian II Christian II (1 July 1481 – 25 January 1559) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union who reigned as King of Denmark and Norway, from 1513 until 1523, and Sweden from 1520 until 1521. From 1513 to 1523, he was concurrently Du ...

, Denmark's last Catholic king, was exiled, leaving

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zol ...

on the throne. Frederik attempted to find a middle ground between the newly fervent

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

and the fiercely traditional Catholics. Funds used to support small religious houses like Halsted simply evaporated. Being a daughter house made the priory vulnerable to funding cuts, and it was impossible for the small, out-of-the-way priory to continue operating. Denmark became Lutheran in October 1536 under

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

. Halsted was permitted to keep its monks until 1537, when the priory reverted to the crown.

Crown property

After it returned to the crown, the abbey became a royal fief. The first '' lensmand'' was Otte Rathlou, who had supported

economically during the

Count's Feud The Count's Feud ( da, Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a war of succession that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. In the international context, it was part of the European wars of religi ...

. Later vassals included

Peder Oxe Peter is a common masculine given name. It is derived directly from Greek , ''Petros'' (an invented, masculine form of Greek ''petra,'' the word for "rock" or "stone"), which itself was a translation of Aramaic ''Kefa'' ("stone, rock"), the new n ...

, Jørgen Grubbe and Erik Rosenkrantz. From 1588 to 1631, Halsted Kloster served as the

life estate In common law and statutory law, a life estate (or life tenancy) is the ownership of immovable property for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death when ownership of the property may re ...

for dowager queen

Sophie Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of ...

. She resided at nearby

Nykøbing Castle Nykøbing Castle ( da, Nykøbing Slot), now demolished, was located on today's Slotsbryggen in Nykøbing Falster, Denmark. Completed in 1594 in the Renaissance style, it replaced an earlier building from the 12th century.Magdalene Sybille. From 1670 to 1685, Halsted Kloster and the crown land on Falster served as life estate for dowager queen Sophie Amalie. Part of the land was laid out as a golf course in the 1980s.

The Juel family

In 1719, Frederik IV ceded Halsted Kloster to

in exchange for

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is th ...

. The older buildings were in sad disrepair, as noted in a crown inventory. In 1721, the estate was renamed Juellinge and becamer the administrative centre of the Barony of Juellinge. After Jens Juel-Vind's death in 1726, Juellinge was passed to his son Jens Krag-Juel-Vind. In 1738, he also inherited stamhuset Stensballegaard from his mother Ida Helle Margrethe Krag's side. After Jens Krag-Juel-Vind's death in 1776, Juellinge and Stensballegaard were passed on to his son Frederik Carl Krag-Juel-Vind. He added -Friis to his name when he inherited Frijsenborg following his mother Sophie Magdalene von Grams's death in 1810. After Frederik Carl Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs' death in 1815, Frijsenborg was passed on to his eldest son while the Barony of Juellinge was taken over by his younger son Carl Ludvig Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs. In 1816, he was granted royal permission to use the title of count in spite of the fact that Juellinges was a barony. Jullinge

Carl Ludvig Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs died without children in 1838. Juellinge was therefore endowed to his nephew, Frederik Julius Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs. In 1921, the barony was dissolved as a result of the ''lensafløsningslov'' of 1919; the name was changed back to Halsted Kloster in 1922.

Architecture

The modern building called Halsted Priory was constructed in 1847–49 with Gothic elements to recall the original building on the site. Juellinge was sold by the Juel Vind family in 1921 and the name Halsted Priory was restored to the property. Only the church remains of the old monastery complex. It the oldest remaining church on

Today

The estate has a total area of 2,347 hectares; of these, 313 hectares belong to the manor. Of the remainder, 1,105 hectares are farmland, 1170 hectares are woodland and 72 hectares are used for other purposes. The Baroque-style park is open to the public from April through September.

List of owners

* (1177-1305) The Crown * (1305-1538) Halstedkloster * (1538-1719) The Crown * (1719-1726)

* (1726-1776)

Jens Krag-Juel-Vind Jens Krag-Juel-Vind (15 June 1724 – 30 April 1776), Baron of Juellinge, was a Danish nobleman, Supreme Court justice and landowner. Early life and education He was born at Juellinge (now Halsted Priory), the son of Jens Juel-Vind (1694-1 ...

* (1776-1815) Frederik Carl Krag-Juel-Vind-(Frijs) * (1815-1838) Carl Ludvig Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs * (1838-1885) Frederik Julius Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs * (1885-1907) Jens Christian Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs * (1907-1926) Frederik Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs * (1926-1959) Niels Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs * (1959-present) Mogens Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs

References

External links

Official website
{{Lolland Listed buildings and structures in Lolland Municipality Benedictine monasteries in Denmark Monasteries dissolved under the Danish Reformation Houses completed in 1591 Houses completed in 1849 Gothic Revival architecture in Denmark Buildings and structures associated with the Juel family