Ancient See of Børglum
Encyclopedia
Børglum
Børglum is a Danish village with a population below 200 in Hjørring municipality, Region Nordjylland .-History:...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, comprised the ancient districts of Vendsyssel
Vendsyssel
Vendsyssel is the northernmost traditional district of Denmark and of Jutland. Being divided from mainland Jutland by the Limfjord, it is technically a part of the North Jutlandic Island. Vendsyssel is part of the North Denmark Region....
and Thy, which between them included the whole of the north of the Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
peninsula beyond the Limfjord
Limfjord
The Limfjord is a shallow sound in Denmark that separates the island of Vendsyssel-Thy from the rest of the Jutland Peninsula. It extends from Thyborøn Channel on the North Sea to Hals on the Kattegat. It is approximately 180 kilometres long and of an irregular shape with several bays, narrowings,...
.
The see was first established at Vestervig
Vestervig
Vestervig is a settlement and parish in Denmark, located in Thisted municipality in Region Nordjylland . Vestervig has a population of 658...
, when the diocese was formed in 1059 out of the Diocese of Viborg
Ancient Diocese of Viborg
The former Roman Catholic diocese of Viborg, in Denmark existed from 1065 to the Protestant Reformation. It was created from the Diocese of Ribe.-History:...
which had previously included the whole of Jutland, on the death of Bishop Val. Magnus, first Bishop of Vestervig, was drowned in the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
in about 1060, while returning home after his consecration by Adalbert I
Adalbert of Hamburg
This article is about Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen. For other uses, see Adalbert .Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen was a German prelate, who was Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen from 1043 until his death...
, Archbishop of Hamburg. Albrik, Dean of Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, was the second bishop (1066–85). It was originally a suffragan of the archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen until 1104, when the Diocese of Lund
Diocese of Lund
-External links:* from Nordisk Familjebok, in Swedish...
was elevated to an archdiocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
and became Børglum's metropolitan see.
Vestervig was the residence of Saint Thøger, a missionary from Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
in eastern Germany, and chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
to the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
king Saint Olaf. After Olaf's death in 1030 Thøger withdrew to Vestervig, where he built a little church of thatch and wattle
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
, and preached Christianity to the local people. He died on 24 June 1067, and was canonised in spite of the opposition of King Svend Estridsen and Bishop Albrik. Eventually Saint Thøger became the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of the diocese. Albrik's successor, Bishop Henry, was chaplain to King Canute IV
Canute IV of Denmark
Canute IV, later known as Canute the Holy or Canute the Saint , was King of Denmark from 1080 until 1086. Canute was an ambitious king who sought to strengthen the Danish monarchy, devotedly supported the Roman Catholic Church, and had designs on the English throne. Slain by rebels in 1086, he was...
, later Saint Canute, and accompanied him during his stay in Vendsyssel in June 1086.
Bishop Sylvester (1134–36) transferred the see to the royal estate at Børglum. At about the same time a monastic foundation was settled here, the later Børglum Abbey
Børglum Abbey
Børglum Abbey was an important Premonstratensian abbey of medieval Denmark, located in Børglum parish, in the commune of Hjørring, approximately five kilometers east of Løkken in north central Jutland .- Origin :...
, although there is little information about its exact nature. In about 1180 the Premonstratensian
Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
canons of Steinfeld Abbey
Steinfeld Abbey
Steinfeld Abbey is a former Premonstratensian monastery, now a Salvatorian convent, with an important basilica, in Steinfeld in Kall, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- History :...
in Germany settled here. In about 1220 the Bishop of Børglum made the abbey his seat; the abbey church became the cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of the diocese, and its canons formed the diocesan chapter with power to elect the bishop.
The last two bishops were Niels Stygge (Rosenkrantz) and his nephew, Stygge Krumpen
Stygge Krumpen
Stygge Krumpen was a Danish clergyman and bureaucrat, who was the secretary of king Christian II of Denmark and the last catholic bishop of the Diocese of Børglum from 1533 to 1536, having been coadjutor bishop since 1519. He was the brother of Danish marshal Otte Krumpen...
. Niels Stygge (b. 1455) was Bishop of Børglum from 1486-1533. Stygge Krumpen became coadjutor bishop
Coadjutor bishop
A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese, almost as co-bishop of the diocese...
in 1519, and diocesan bishop in 1533. He made some efforts to stay the progress of Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, but was imprisoned from 1536, when the Reformation
Reformation in Denmark
The Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein was the transition from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism in the realms ruled by the Copenhagen-based House of Oldenburg in the first half of the sixteenth century...
was formally introduced into Denmark, to 1542. He was then endowed with the property of the nunnery of Asmild near Viborg, though obliged to maintain the nuns, and died there in 1551.
In the territory of the former diocese of Børglum there are notable churches at Vestervig and Børglum, the former dating from the beginning of the twelfth century, and both of them previously cathedrals.
Besides Børglum Abbey the diocese contained the following Benedictine nunneries: Frejlev Abbey (1268–1554), Hundslund Abbey (1268–1536) and Ø Abbey (1160-1542). There were also Vestervig Abbey
Vestervig Abbey
Vestervig Abbey, also known as Vestervig Church, was established in about 1059 making it one of Denmark's most ancient religious houses. The abbey is located at Vestervig, Thisted, in extreme northern Jutland.- History :...
(Augustinian canons), which lasted from 1110 to 1526; the Commandery of the Knights of St. John at Dueholm (1351–1539); and the Carmelite priory at Saeby (Mariested), which lasted from about 1460 to 1536.
A relatively unknown fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
is titled "The Bishop of Børglum and his Warriors".