Cistercienserklostre i landskabet – eksempler fra Sverige og Danmark

Several Cistercian male monasteries of the Clairvaux filiation were established in the middle ofthe 12th century in Scandinavia, where they existed until the Reformation in the beginning of the 16thcentury.An important point in the Cistercian rule was the question of universitas – uniformity. The purpose ofthis article is primarily to discuss the degree to which the historical and geographical sources make itpossible to investigate this subject and secondly to make a study based on empirical material from twoSwedish and two Danish monasteries: Alvastra in Götaland, Roma on the isle of Gotland in Sweden,Vitskøl in Himmerland in Jutland and Sorø on western Zealand in Denmark. In total these fourmonasteries are representative for the whole group.The study shows that in spite of the long time span and the long distances between France andScandinavia, the Cistercian order was to a very high degree able to maintain the uniformity. Thechurches were built according to the Fontenay style, the ground plans of the monasteries wereprincipally the same, agriculture based on granges was common in the early Medieval periode, but waslater replaced by small tenants. There was regular contact to the main monastery in France.But one statute was rarely respected: Monasteries should be built in places removed from populatedareas. This did not happen often, probably because the founders, who were kings, noblemen and highstanding clergymen, normally donated as their establishing gifts for the monasteries landed propertythat had been populated and cultivated for many years. This facilitated an easier start for the newlyfounded monasterie