Klostertorvet

Historie

På torvet foran klostret (Sæby Kirke) lå byens torv - tæt på havnen. Det var den centrale plads for al handel.

I middelalderen var det udelukkende i privilegerede købstæder, der måtte drives handel, håndværk og sejllas. Omkring Sæby lå et 4 mil (30 km) frihedsbælte, hvor indenfor al handel skulle foregå over Sæby.

I 1524 fik biskop Stygge Krumpen købstadsprivilegier for Sæby med rettigheder til at drive handel. Klostertorvet var middelalder- og renæssancebyens centrale plads med handel, kirke og kloster. Her lå købstadens tingsteder,d.v.s. domstole, herredstinget under åben himmel på torvet, og rådstuetinget i et to etagers rådhus, et prægtigt rådhus, teglhængt og med blyindfattede ruder.

Her på torvet stod også Kagen, Skamstøtten, hvor dødlen kunne straffe de dømte, skærer hænder af tyve osv. Galgen lå ved indfaldsvejen uden for byen.

I løbet af renæssancen forfaldt havnen, byens handel svigtede og det prægtige rådhus faldt sammen p.g.a. dårlig vedligeholdelse.I 1667 var huset så meget i forfald at det måtte nedrives. Et nyt blev bygget, men i dårlig kvalitet og i 1801 var der kun det lille rådhus, der i dag ligger ved torvet tilbage.

Reformationen skabet store omvæltninger. Ikke så meget kirkeligt i Sæby, men på det verdslige område. Byen blev kongens ejendom, og fik selvstyre, borgervalgt magistrat og den store mæcen, børglumbispen, der havde støtter byen og beskyttet den rettigheder forsvandt.

Ulovlig handel fra Fladstrand tiltog. Dels var det sværere at håndhæve, nu byens ejer formelt set var kongen helt over i København, og dels blev havnens forhold dårligere, så skibe ofte var tvunget til at benytte havnen ved Fladstrand i stedet for Sæby. Det var ulovligt at handlig i Fladstrand, der ikke var købstad og lå inden for Sæbys 4 mils frihedsbælte.

I 1681 flyttedes toldstedet til Fladstrand for at lette handlen, og det var et stort tab for Sæby.

Først i 1800-tallet oplevede byen igen vækst, men byen voksede mod vest til indfaldsvejene for enden af Algade, hvor Fiskertorvet blev den nye centrale handelsplads. Husene omkring klostertorvet stammer fra 1700 og 1800-tallet, men torvets udstrækning og områdets byplan svarer til middelalderens.

History

On the square in front of the monastery (Sæby Church) was the town square - close to the harbour. It was the central place for all trade.

In the Middle Ages, trade, crafts and sailing were only allowed in privileged market towns. Around Sæby was a 4 mile (30 km) freedom belt, within which all trade had to take place over Sæby.

In 1524, Bishop Stygge Krumpen was granted town privileges for Sæby with rights

to conduct trade. Klostertorvet was the central square of the medieval and renaissance town with trade, church and monastery. Here were the town's offices, i.e. courts, the county council under the open sky in the square, and the council meeting in a two-storey town hall, a magnificent town hall, brick-hung and with stained glass windows.

Here in the square also stood the Kagen, the Pillar of Shame, where the cadaver could punish the condemned, cut off the hands of thieves, etc. The gallows were located on the approach road outside the town.

During the Renaissance, the harbour decayed, the town's trade failed and the magnificent town hall collapsed due to poor maintenance.By 1667, the house was in such disrepair that it had to be demolished. A new one was built, but of poor quality, and by 1801 only the small town hall that now stands by the square remained.

The Reformation brought great upheavals. Not so much ecclesiastically in Sæby, but in the secular sphere. The town became the property of the king, and was given self-government, a citizen-elected magistrate and the great patron, the børglumbispen, who had supported the town and protected its rights, disappeared.

Illegal trade from Fladstrand increased. On the one hand, it was harder to enforce, now that the town's owner was formally the king all the way in Copenhagen, and on the other hand, the harbour conditions became worse, so that ships were often forced to use the harbour at Fladstrand instead of Sæby. It was illegal to trade in Fladstrand, which was not a market town and was located within Sæby's 4 mile freedom belt.

In 1681 the customs office was moved to Fladstrand to facilitate trade, and this was a great loss for Sæby.

It was not until the 1800s that the town experienced growth again, but the town grew westwards to the approach roads at the end of Algade, where Fiskertorvet became the new central trading place. The houses around Klostertorvet date from the 1700s and 1800s, but the extent of the square and the layout of the area are similar to those of the Middle Ages.