for the abbey in Austria, see Rein Abbey, Austria

Rein Abbey, Austria

Rein Abbey is a Cistercian monastery in Rein near Gratwein, Styria, in Austria. Also known as the "Cradle of Styria" , it is the oldest surviving Cistercian community in the world.- History :...

Rein Abbey was a Roman Catholic religious house for women located in Rissa

Rissa, Norway

Rissa is a municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årnset...

 on the Fosen

Fosen

Fosen is a traditional district in Trøndelag, consisting of the municipalities Osen, Roan, Åfjord, Bjugn, Ørland, Rissa, Agdenes, Snillfjord, Hemne, Hitra and Frøya. The district is dominated by forested valleys, lakes, coastal cliffs but also shallow areas, and in the interior mountains reaching...

 peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 to the northwest of Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

, in Sør-Trøndelag

Sør-Trøndelag

- References :...

, Norway

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...

.

History

The abbey, built on a prominent elevation in an otherwise flat landscape, and dedicated to Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...

, was founded in or shortly after 1226 on his ancestral estate, on which there already stood a castle, by Duke Skule Bårdsson

Skule Bårdsson

Skule Baardsson or Duke Skule was a Norwegian nobleman and claimant to the royal throne against his son-in-law, King Haakon Haakonsson. Henrik Ibsen's play Kongs-Emnerne is about the dispute between Duke Skule and King Haakon.-Biography:Skule Baardsson was born around 1189...

, apparently in fulfilment of a vow after recovering from an illness. The first abbess was Duke Skule's half-sister, Sigrid Bårdsdatter; his daughter, Margret of Norway

Margrét Skúladóttir

Margrete Skulesdotter was a Norwegian Queen consort, spouse of king Haakon IV of Norway and Queen consort of Norway from 1225 to 1263.-Biography:...

, queen of Håkon Håkonsson, spent her last years there; and many other women of the aristocracy entered it. While there is no definite information on what order, if any, it belonged to, it seems to have been a collegiate foundation, or house of secular canonesses, for noblewomen.

The buildings were struck by lightning and burnt down in 1317, but quickly repaired.

During the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 the abbey was dissolved and its assets taken over by the Crown. In 1531 the powerful and wealthy Ingerd Ottesdatter Rømer

Inger, Lady of Austraat

Inger, Lady of Austraat [Rømer] was her era's wealthiest landowner in Norway, a daughter and ultimate heiress of the Younger Rømer family of Norway, a political intriguer , and her fame was the inspiration for Henrik Ibsen's somewhat fanciful play Lady Inger of...

, otherwise Ingrid til Austrått

Austrått

thumb|The manor’s entry portal with the coat of arms carved in [[soapstone]].Austrått or Austrått Manor is a manor in Ørland municipality, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. Since the 10th century Austrått has been the residence for many noblemen, noblewomen and officials who played a significant role in...

, a leader of the Norwegian aristocracy, had herself elected administrator of the abbey, and was thus able to protect the abbess and canonesses; the abbey's estates also became hers, and continued in the possession of her descendants.

Site

Some remains of the abbey structures are still to be seen among later buildings, but the site has only once been investigated archaeologically, in 1861.

Sources

• Norges klostre i middelalderen: Rein kloster