Børglum Kloster

Børglum Kloster er i dag ejet af hofjægermester og kammerherre Hans Henning Rottbøll, som er 6. generation af familien Rottbøll. Familien købte godset med tilhørende fæstebønder i 1835. Hans Rottbøll overtog som kun 23 årig godset efter sin far.

Kammerherren og hans hustru Anne bebor sammen med deres 4 børn hovedbygningens 85 værelser. Han driver et landbrug med planteavl og åbner klostret for publikum med forskellige udstillinger.

Hofjægermester (titlen findes ikke på engelsk) (hunting master of the court) is a honorary court title awarded to a limited number of land owners (godsejere) by the Danish monarch.

Kammerherre har oprindeligt været en fremtrædende embedsmand – ofte en adelig – med adgang til kongens kammer (deraf titlen). I dag anvendes den som ærestitel. Der udnævnes fortsat kammerherrer. Det er den siddende regent, der afgør, hvem titlen skal gives til. Oftest bliver den givet til afgåede højere embedsmænd eller til besiddere af større godser.

A chamberlain (kammerherre) is a senior royal official in charge of managing a royal household. Historically, the chamberlain superintends the arrangement of domestic affairs and was often also charged with receiving and paying out money kept in the royal chamber.

Om klosteret

I Vikingetiden og den tidlige middelalder var Børglum Kloster en kongsgård, hvor fordums konger opholdt sig midlertidigt og kongsgårdene fungerede som administrationsbygninger

Kong Knud

I 1086 ankommer den danske konge Knud Svendsen (senere Knud den Hellige) til sin kongsgård i Børglum. Han vær på rejse rundt for at få indført nogle nye love, blandt andet tiende - en skat som alle bønderne skulle betale til kongen og at alle fremmede skulle have samme rettigheder som danskerne.

På den tid var det de frie mænd, der vedtog lovene, kongen kunne kun komme med forslag.

Men vendelboerne ville ikke betale skat og efter flere dages diskussion på tinget vedtog man et ultimatum til kongen: "Hvis du ikke straks forlader Vendsyssel, så slår vi dig ihjel". Kongen var hermed i realiteten afsat som konge i Vendsyssel. Oprøret bredte sig til resten af landet og Kong Knud blev jaget gennem Jylland og det hele endte med at han blev dræbt foran alteret i Sankt Albani Kirke i Odense.

Middelalderen

Præcis hvornår klosteret er grundlagt vides ikke, men eksisterede formentlig omkring bispesædets oprettelse i 1060. Præmonstratenserordenen (de hvide munke) etablerede sig på Børglum fra midten af 1100-tallet. Præmonstratenserordenen blev stiftet af Norbert af Xanten (kaldes også Norbertinermunke), der i 1120 grundlagde ordenen i den nordfranske by Prémontré. Brødrene kander sig kannikker eller korherrer - ikke munke - fordi man skal have en præsteuddannelse for at blive optaget i ordenen. Stillingen som leder af klostret - abbed eller præpositus var livsvarig og på næsten alle områder enevældigt (med undtagelsen hvis der skulle idømmes straffe)

Broder Eskil

Omkring år 1200 ville man gerne bygge et nyt kloster på et andet sted. En sådan klosterflytning krævede en tilladelse fra selveste paven, så derfor sendte kannikkerne i 1214 broder Eskil af sted til Rom med en ansøgning. Efter en lang og besværlig spadseretur, hvor han sultede, blev overfaldet og ramt af sygdom, ankom Eskil i november 1215 til Rom i en sørgelig forfatning - nøgen og forkommen. Eskils ordensbrødre lånte ham noget nyt tøj og penge til at betale den notar, der skulle behandle ansøgningen. Han fik tilladelsen og så gik turen tilbage til Børglum.

I et kloster nær Rhinen møder vi igen Eskil i en ynkelig og forkommen stand. Han var blevet overfaldet af røvere på vejen hjem. Samtidig var Paven i mellemtiden død, og hvis tilladelsen til klosterflytningen skulle være gyldig, ja så måtte den nye pave også skrive under! Så Eskil måtte tilbage til Rom igen. Først i 1217, efter 3 år, kommer Eskil tilbage til Børglum med sin dyrt købte tilladelse og man kan gå i gang med at opføre et klosteranlæg og domkirke som vi ser idag. Klosterkirken var domkirke til 1554.

Træskulpturen i urtehaven forestiller broder Eskil

Børglum Kloster is today owned by court huntsman and chamberlain Hans Henning Rottbøll, who is the 6th generation of the Rottbøll family. The family bought the manor with its tenant farmers in 1835. Hans Rottbøll took over the estate from his father when he was only 23 years old.

The chamberlain and his wife Anne, together with their 4 children, live in the 85 rooms of the main building. He runs an agricultural business with plant cultivation and opens the monastery to the public with various exhibitions.

Hofjægermester (hunting master of the court) is an honorary court title awarded to a limited number of land owners (godsejere) by the Danish monarch.

Kammerherre was originally a prominent official - often a noble - with access to the king's chamber (hence the title). Today it is used as a title of honour. Chamberlains are still appointed. It is the ruling monarch who decides to whom the title should be given. Most often it is given to deceased senior officials or to holders of major estates.

A chamberlain (kammerherre) is a senior royal official in charge of managing a royal household. Historically, the chamberlain superintends the arrangement of domestic affairs and was often also charged with receiving and paying out money kept in the royal chamber.

About the monastery

In the Viking Age and the early Middle Ages, Børglum Kloster was a royal manor, where kings of the past stayed temporarily and royal manors served as administrative buildings

King Canute

In 1086, the Danish king Knud Svendsen (later Knud the Holy) arrived at his royal manor in Børglum. He travelled around to introduce some new laws, including the tithe - a tax that all peasants had to pay to the king and that all foreigners should have the same rights as Danes.

At that time, it was the freemen who passed the laws, the king could only make suggestions.

But the people of Vendland did not want to pay the tax and after several days of discussion at the tinget, an ultimatum was issued to the king: "If you do not leave Vendsyssel immediately, we will kill you". The king was thus effectively deposed as king of Vendsyssel. The rebellion spread to the rest of the country and King Canute was chased through Jutland and it all ended with him being killed in front of the altar in St Alban's Church in Odense.

The Middle Ages

Exactly when the monastery was founded is not known, but it probably existed around the establishment of the diocese in 1060. The Premonstratensian Order (the White Monks) established itself at Børglum from the mid-12th century. The Premonstratensian Order was founded by Norbert of Xanten (also called Norbertine monks), who founded the order in 1120 in the northern French town of Prémontré. The friars call themselves canons or choirmasters - not monks - because you have to have a priestly education to be admitted to the order. The position of head of the monastery - abbot or prepositus - was for life and in almost all respects absolute (except if punishment was to be imposed)

Brother Eskil

Around the year 1200 they wanted to build a new monastery in another place. Such a move required permission from the Pope himself, so in 1214 the canons sent Brother Eskil to Rome with an application. After a long and arduous walk, during which he starved, was assaulted and fell ill, Eskil arrived in Rome in November 1215 in a sorry state - naked and desolate. Eskil's friars lent him some new clothes and money to pay the notary who would process his application. He got the permit and then made the trip back to Børglum.

In a monastery near the Rhine we meet Eskil again in a pitiful and dilapidated state. He had been attacked by robbers on his way home. Meanwhile, the Pope had died, and if the permission to move the monastery was to be valid, well, the new Pope had to sign it too! So Eskil had to go back to Rome again. Only in 1217, after 3 years, Eskil comes back to Børglum with his expensively bought permission and they can start building a monastery and cathedral as we see today. The monastery church was the cathedral until 1554.

The wooden sculpture in the herb garden depicts Brother Eskil

Bispesæde

Frem til Reformationen i 1536 fungerede Børglum ligeledes som bispesæde. I dette tidsrum var det bispernes opgave at sørge for , at stiftets økonomiske grundlag var i orden, hvorimod det var klostrets kannikker der stof for at praktisere kristendommens forkyndelse og driften af hospitaler, skoler og fattigvæsen.

Der har været mange bispe, hvoraf specielt fire har medvirket til at tegne et meget dramatisk billede af Børglumbisperne:

• 1252-1260 - Oluf Glob, inspirationen til H.C.Andersens "Bispen paa Børglum og hans Frænde" fra 1861

• 1328-1344 - Tyge Klerk, røvede to nordtyske handelsskibe der var strandet ved vestkysten

• 1486-1519 - Niels Stygge Rosenkrantz, omtalt som grisk og levemand. Onkel til Stygge Krumpen

• 1519-1536 - Stygge Krumpen, den sidste biskop på Børglum - mere om ham nedenfor og egen biografi

Reformationen 1536

De sidste bispe inden reformationen var Biskop Niels Styggesen Rosenkrantz og hans nevø biskop Stygge Krumpen.

Biskop Stygge Krumpen var i besiddelse af næsten hele Vendsyssel med Sæby som privat udskibningshavn, for på den måde at undgå skatter og afgifter til Aalborg.

Som katolsk biskop skulle Stygge Krumpen leve i cølibat, men tilsyneladende levede han i et forhold til en fjern slægtning Elsebeth Gyldenstjerne, som i 1518 lod sig skille fra sin mand ridder Due Bonde. Stygge Krumpen lod Voergård bygge om til fæstning, og boede der med sin "vedsoverske".

I den (næsten) eneste borgerkrig i Danmark "Grevens Fejde" 1534-1536, bliver Stygge Krumpens fæstning på Voergård stormet og brændt af bondehæren anført af Skipper Clement. Det lykkedes Stygge Krumpen og Elsebeth Gyldenstjerne af flygte fra godset.

Ved den protestantiske reformation i 1536 fratages den katolske kirke og dermed også Stygge Krumpen al dens gods og besiddelser. Stygge Krumpen fængsles i 8 år. Hans dårlige eftermæle skyldes anklageskriftet mod ham. Forsvarsskriftet er blevet destrueret. Navnet Stygge, som egentlig blot er gammel dansk for "Stig", kan også have været med til at give dårlige associationer til hans væsen.

Ved reformationen forsvandt det sociale sikkerhedsnet for landets fattige, som tidligere var blevet varetaget af kirken og munkene.

Tiden efter reformationen

Klostret blev forlenet (udlejet) til forskellige adelsmænd, men blev ikke vedligeholdt og var i 1600 tallet kraftigt faldefærdigt. I 1669 overgik klostret for første gang til privat eje.

Laurids de Thurah

I 1750 giftede enken efter ejeren af Børglum sig med en af lendets dygtigste arkitekter, generalmajor og generalbygmester Laurids Lauridsen de Thurah. Han satte i løbet af kun 4 år det barokke præg på den middelalderlige kloster. Der er et gravmæle , men han er ikke begravet der.

Familien Rottbøll

Klosteret har siden 1835 og er den dag i dag, ejet af familien Rottbøll - kammerherre Hans Rottbøll og hans hustru Anne (uddannet sygeplejeske). De driver landbrug (planteavl, ingen dyr) og klosteret som museum og udstillingslokaler.

Klostret blev fredet i 1958, men ejeren skal selv vedligeholde klosterkirke med videre. Udskiftning af kirketaget kostede DKK 6 mill.

Christian Michael Rottbøll

Captain Christian Michael Rottbøll, 1917-1942, var den nuværende ejers onkel (Søn af Henning Rottbøll) Han meldte sig i 1940 som frivillig i Finlandskrigen og da han modtog meddelelse om den tyske besættelse af Danmark 9. april 1940, beslutted han, at han ville deltage aktivt i modstandskampen. Det lykkedes ham at komme til England, hvor han blev medlem af SOE, Special Operations Executive. Blev i 1942 kastet ned med faldskærm på Sjælland, som leder af SOEs arbejde i Danmark. Efter 1/2 års arbejde i den sparsomme modstandsbevægelse, blev han opsporet af tyskerne, som sendte dansk politi ud for at arrestere ham. Obduktionsrapporten konstaterer at to danske betjente den 26. september 1942 skød Michael med 12 skud på tæt hold efter først at have brækket hans arm. Michael blev 25 år gammen.

Christian Michael Rottbøll ligger begravet ved den gamle domkirkes østgavl.

Office

Until the Reformation in 1536, Børglum also functioned as a diocesan seat. During this period, it was the bishops' task to ensure that the financial basis of the diocese was in order, while it was the canons of the monastery who were responsible for the practice of Christianity and the running of hospitals, schools and poor services.

There have been many bishops, four in particular have helped to paint a very dramatic picture of the Bishopric:

1252-1260 - Oluf Glob, the inspiration for Hans Christian Andersen's "The Bishop of Børglum and his Kinsmen" of 1861

1328-1344 - Tyge Klerk, robbed two North German merchant ships stranded on the west coast

1486-1519 - Niels Stygge Rosenkrantz, referred to as a pig and a man of life. Uncle of Stygge Krumpen

1519-1536 - Stygge Krumpen, the last bishop of Børglum - more about him below and own biography

The Reformation 1536

The last bishops before the Reformation were Bishop Niels Styggesen Rosenkrantz and his nephew Bishop Stygge Krumpen.

Bishop Stygge Krumpen was in possession of almost all of Vendsyssel with Sæby as a private shipping port, in order to avoid taxes and duties to Aalborg.

As a Catholic bishop, Stygge Krumpen was supposed to live celibate, but apparently he was in a relationship with a distant relative Elsebeth Gyldenstjerne, who divorced her husband knight Due Bonde in 1518. Stygge Krumpen had Voergård converted into a fortress, and lived there with his "vedsoverske".

In the (almost) only civil war in Denmark "The Count's Feud" 1534-1536, Stygge Krumpen's fortress at Voergård was stormed and burned by the peasant army led by Skipper Clement. Stygge Krumpen and Elsebeth Gyldenstjerne managed to escape from the estate.

The Protestant Reformation in 1536 deprived the Catholic Church, and with it Stygge Krumpen, of all its property and possessions. Stygge Krumpen is imprisoned for 8 years. His bad reputation is due to the indictment against him. The defence has been destroyed. The name Stygge, which is actually just Old Danish for "Stig", may also have contributed to giving bad associations to his being.

With the Reformation, the social safety net for the country's poor, which had previously been provided by the church and monks, disappeared.

The time after the Reformation

The monastery was lent (leased) to various noblemen, but was not maintained and by the 1600s was in serious disrepair. In 1669 the monastery passed into private ownership for the first time.

Laurids de Thurah

In 1750, the widow of the owner of Børglum married one of the most talented architects in the country, Major General and Master Builder Laurids Lauridsen de Thurah. Within only 4 years he put the baroque stamp on the medieval monastery. There is a tombstone , but he is not buried there.

The Rottbøll family

The monastery has since 1835 and is today, owned by the Rottbøll family - chamberlain Hans Rottbøll and his wife Anne (trained nurse). They run agriculture (plant breeding, no animals) and the monastery as a museum and exhibition rooms.

The monastery was protected in 1958, but the owner has to maintain the monastery church and so on. Replacement of the church roof cost DKK 6 mill.

Christian Michael Rottbøll

Captain Christian Michael Rottbøll, 1917-1942, was the present owner's uncle (son of Henning Rottbøll) He volunteered in 1940 for the Finnish War and when he received notice of the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, he decided that he would take an active part in the resistance. He managed to get to England, where he became a member of the SOE, Special Operations Executive. In 1942, was parachuted onto Zealand as head of SOE operations in Denmark. After 1/2 year of working in the sparse resistance, he was tracked down by the Germans, who sent Danish police to arrest him. The autopsy report states that on September 26, 1942, two Danish policemen shot Michael with 12 rounds at close range after first breaking his arm. Michael lived to be 25.

Christian Michael Rottbøll is buried at the eastern gable of the old cathedral.

Link og litteratur:

Gert Jensen: Børglum Kloster - fra kongsgård til herregård, forlaget Vestvendsyssel

http://www.boerglumkloster.dk/

Den store danske.dk om Børglum Kloster

Vendsyssel årbog 1940, side "1"

Børglum Kloster af cand. theol. Peter Riemann

Et par rettelser i Årbogen 1953