Alvastra (monastery)

According to the monastic chronicles, King Sverker I (d. 1155/1156) and his wife Ulfhilda invited monks to Sweden from the newly founded Cistercian monastery in Clervaux , the abbot of which was later to become a saint Bernard Klervosky . For several monks on the land that belonged to the Queen, a monastery was erected. The rest of the monks settled on about. Luren, that on the lake. Venern , however, soon moved from there to Warnhem.

After the death of the king and queen, their remains were buried in Alvastra. Many sturmans made significant land donations to the monastery in order to be buried in its walls after death. The Alvastrian monastery could not be compared in wealth with the Vadstensky or Nyudala monasteries, but during the Reformation , it owned 400-500 yards, as well as considerable land holdings.

The kings of the Sverker clan - Karl Sverkersson , Sverker Karlsson and Johan Sverkersson - have kept their favor to the monastery, and their ashes have also been laid to rest in this place. At the time of the Folkungs, thanks to the increased number of donations and the purchase of courtyards by the monastery, its wealth increased significantly. In 1279, King Magnus Ladulos granted the monastery exemption from all duties to the crown, and soon, after Pope Boniface VIII freed Cistercians from taxes in favor of the church in 1302, the tax burden was also reduced.

The abbots of the monastery enjoyed great respect, since they were in charge of all the other monasteries of the Order in the country. During the 15th century, the annual lodging fee levied from its daughter monasteries passed through the hands of the Alvastrian abbots. Several times they happened to come into conflict with the secular authorities. For example, in 1417, Abbé Johannes was accused of comparing King Eric to Emperor Nero in a letter to the Bishop of Skari, but the superior rejected the charge. On another occasion, the regent Svante Sture brought the Alvastrian abbot to justice for the fact that the monastery unjustly appropriated several estates.

The influence of the monastery was also promoted by the fact that several well-known persons were tonsured as monks. From Alvastra were the first Archbishop of Sweden, Stephanus, and the confessor of St. Birgitta Petrus Olai. Here in 1344, Birgitta’s husband Ulf Goodmansson died.

The surviving ruins of the monastery church testify that it was erected from limestone in the late Romanesque style in accordance with the canons of the Cistercian churches.

After the Västerås Riksdag of 1527, the abbot of the Thorkil Monastery agreed to pay the King 100 marks of the Artuts each year in exchange for release from standing and similar duties. But having learned that the monastery was poorly managed, and Torkil wanted to resign, the king gave the monastery to Niels Svensson in 1529 with the condition of annually paying rent at 100 marks, supplying some oil and providing decent maintenance to the monks.

Gradually, most of the monastic buildings fell into disrepair. Johan III , who wanted to arrange for himself and his sick brother Magnus something like a summer castle in Alvastra, expressed his displeasure to Count Peru Brahe for what he ordered to break the bricks from the walls of the monastery for the erection of buildings on Visingsø. He forbade the further analysis of the buildings, and also ordered to clean up the monastic church and maintain the garden in a well-groomed form. However, these, as well as many other plans of the king, have never been implemented.

The ruins of the Alvastrian Monastery are now under the jurisdiction of the Office for the Protection of Monuments of Culture ^[1] ( Swede. Riksantikvarieämbetet ) and are a popular tourist attraction.

• Alvastra (pile settlement)

• Nordisk familjebok. B. 1. - Stockholm 1904.

• Alvastra Monastery English
• Alvastra Monastery Ruins