A Scene of Events: The Secular Use of Mendicant Friaries in Late Medieval Denmark

lntroduction
A Scene of Events:
The Secular Use of Mendicant Friaries
in Late Medieval Denmark
Morten Larsen
In 1432, during one of the numerous conflicts between the Danish King
and the Hanseatic League, the antagonists met in the town of Horsens in
claustro fratrum minorum in refectorio communi1
– the refectory in the Franciscan
friary – to discuss different matters. The chosen location may seem special
as the Danish King – Erik of Pomerania – had a !arge fortress just outside the
town gates, and since the Franciscan friars were not directly involved in the
king’s war.
However, the incident is far from unique, and several medieval written
sources offer insights into the secular use of the Danish mendicant houses. All
the same, the architectural and archaeological source material from Denmark
regarding the building culture of the mendicant orders is weil preserved and
researched acquainting us with a valuable insight into the structure, Iayout, and
development of these ecclesiastical institutions. Thus, a comparative study of the
written sources and the archaeological evidence can generate a new Ievel of
understanding to the social rote of the mendicant orders.
It is the aim of this article to give an overview of the different characteristics
of the secular use and compare this to the structural development of the
mendicant houses in the Danish Middle Ages. First, it is however necessary to
offer a brief survey of the mendicant orders in Denmark and some generat
aspects of their material culture.
Establishments of tbe mendicant orders in Denmark – an overview
From the date of papal recognition and onwards, the mendicant orders
spread quickly across a !arge part of Christian Europe. In Denmark, the
Dominican friars arrived already in 1 22 1 , where they were given a house in the
episcopal town of Lund. The Fraueiseans arrived some years later in 1232 and
1 Regesta Diplomatica Historire Danieee 2 ser., I, no. 4973.
38
were given a house in the town of Ribe. During the next 50 years, the friars
settled in most Danish towns of imp01tance. After that, i t was not until the
fifteenth century that new mendicant houses were established and the country
saw the coming of a third mendicant order, the Carmelites.2
By the time of the Reformation a total of 28 Franciscan, 1 9 Dominican
and eight Carmelite friaries had been established; this amount constitutes
approximately 40% of the total number of monastic establislunents in the
Danish Middle Ages, mirroring the great importance of mendicant monasticism
in high and Jate medieval Denmark. 3
Quite a few of these friaries are panially preserved today (often wielding
a new function), and several are also known from archaeological excavations.
Since the 1 950s, !arge urban excavations have unearthed remains of numerous
mendicant friaries, suggesting that the mendicant houses were far more complex
institutions in regards to their plan arrangements and material culture than
previously believed. However, most synthesising work was done in the early
twentieth century, and the ]arge amount of data accumulated after this point is
still in a process of evaluation. 4
The character of secular events
Our primary sources regarding the character of the secular events are the
written ones, which are preserved in a !arge number. In most cases it can be
difficult to decipher whether or not an event took place within the actual friary
or simply on fi“iary grounds since phrases like ‚·at the Dominicans“ can have
several possible meanings. In some cases more detailed accounts of actions and
places are mentioned, and often phrases like „in the Franciscan Friary in the
small room“ indicate that the event took place within the building complex
itself, despite not mentioning the exact location. In the following sections some
different examples of secular events will be examined primarily on the basis of
written sources.
Political and juridical uses
In the late medieval period, the royal court sessions are often mentioned to
have taken place wirhin different mendicant houses. The Danish realm was
throughout the medieval period characterized by the travelling itinerant kingdom,
and the royal household was therefore on continuous move. Despite the
2 Scriptores Minores Historire Danieee Medii JEvi vol. 2 (Copenhagen: Selskabet for
Udgivelse afKilder til dansk Historie, 1 922), 293, 373.
3 Viihelm Lorcnzen, De danske Franciskanerklostres Bygningshistorie (Copenhagen: C. E. C.
Gad, 1 9 1 4); idem, De danske Dominikanerklosires Bygningshistorie (Copenhagen: C. E. C.
Gad, 1920); idem, De danske Karrneliterklostres Bygningshistorie (Copenhagen: C. E. C.
Gad, 1924).
4 OlafOisen, ‚·De danske middelalderklostres arkreologi“, hikuin 23 ( 1 996): 18-19.
39
fact that the Danish Crown had numerous estates throughout the kingdom,
several of the king’s juridical acts for some reason took place within different
mendicant friaries. King Christopher of Bavaria ( 1 440-1448) held court in the
Franciscan friary of Ribe in 1443, and his successors, King Christian I (1448-
1 4 8 1 ) and King Hans ( 14 8 1 – 1 5 1 3), held several royal coutts in the Franciscan
friary of Copeilhagen and the Dominican friary of Odense. A source dating from
1504 even mentions King Hans having a dedicated courtroom in the Dominican
friary of Odense. 5
Not only the royal court sessions were held on friary grounds, but
different political negotiations also took place within mendicant houses. In 1 325,
a dispule between a group of Danish noblemen and the German town of
Kampen was settled in Wismar „at the Dominicans“. Eskil Skaane, a friend and
relative of the Danish noblemen, had been killed in Kampen and the town
council of Wismar had agreed to mediate between the two parties. None of the
friars were mentioned in the legal dispute – all business was settled between the
Danish noblemen, the citizens of Kampen, and the Wismar town council.6 Another
example refers to one of the several conflicts involving the trade privileges
of the Hanseatic League, which was resolved between the English king and the
representatives ofthe League in a Dominican friary in London.7
In the examp!es mentioned above, the fi“iars themselves are very anonymaus
which probably was quite common. All actions are merely the work of
people from outside the friary, albeil there are examples of the friars thernselves
actively taking patt in whatever political argument or dispute their convents
accommodated. In the Holy Roman Empire, there are numerous examples of
friars being involved in politics and even imperial elections are known to have
taken place within friaty walls. In Denmark, it is clear that the friars themselves
sometimes participated in the ongoing political turmoil and especially during the
conflict between Church and Crown in the thirteenth century, the friars actively
took part on both sides. The Dominican fi:iars in Aarhus sided with the king’s
party resulting in excommunication. This however did not prevent the friars
from hosting the provincial chapter of all Nordic Dominicans in 1 272.8
Death, burial and commemoration
From an archaeologica! perspective, the most striking evidence for actions
of a religious connotation is the !arge amount of burials within the friary precinct.
Archaeological excavations in several friaries have encountered bmials at
5 Repertorium Diplomaticum Regni Danici Medievalsi 2 ser., no.s 3603, 3939, 80 lOb, I 0181 ,
10262, 1 1 057.
6 Diplomatarium Danicum 2. ser., IX, no. 200
7 Diplomatarium Danicum 4. ser., I, no. 555.
8 John B. Freed, The Friars and the German Society in the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: The Medieval Academy of America, 1977), 1 3 5-38; Kjeld de Fine Licht et
al., ed., Danmarks Kirker. Arhus Amt, vol. 3 (Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet, 1 976), I 004.
40
very different locations. A friary churchyard is often known, hut hurials also
appear within the church and in particular in the cloister walks and garth.
Despite heing the foci of several archaeological excavations, there are still many
questions in relation to the social structure of hurials on the friary precinct: Who
was buried where?
The friary churchyard was probably used by the laity. Written sources
suggest this, and also the sheer amount of hurials compared with the intensive
use of the cemetery indicates that it hardly were the friars themselves who were
laid to rest there. Since the mendicant houses were independent ecclesiastical
institutions, they had no patish affiliated a.nd thus no obligations regarding
burial. Consequently, the hurials on the lay cemetery are interpreted as referring
to people coming from the outside world who actively sought the friary as a
place ofhurial. Morphological analyses ofthe bone material on the lay cemetery
of the friary in Svendborg clearly show that the deceased had a vety different
place of origin compared to those individuals buried on the local parish
graveyard in Svendborg.9
More interesting are however the hurials within the actual building
complex. The actual church space was sometimes used for burial, and to some
extent it is probably the same tendency as known from the churchyard that
people from the outside world had bought a burial place within the friary church.
In Svendborg, Duke Abel Ahelsen was buried within the chancel in 1 279, and
excavations in the same place have unearthed blick built hurials of the late
Romanesque or early Gothic period. 10
Places, which in particular appear to have been sought, are the cloister
walks and garth: several burials in this particular area have been investigated at
numerous sites (fig. I ). Earlier research tended at interpreting these hurials as of
the actual friars, however the amount of women and children among the
deceased suggest that they are likely people from the outside world. The
interpretation of the burials in the cloister walks as the remains of the friars
themselves has in some cases proven difficult to be reinterpreted. In the
Dominican friary of Schleswig the !arge number of women and children among
the deceased was suggested to be the result of the moral decline of the late
medieval period when the friars supposedly fathered several children with their
concubines. 1 1
9 Hans Krongaard K.ristensen, The Franciscan Friaty of Svendborg (Svendborg: Svendborg
County Museum, 1 994), 85-98; Vicki Rytoft Lillegaard Kristensen, Svendborgs middlealderbefolkning.
Morfologiske afvigelser pti to kirkegärde (H.0jbjerg: Middelalder-arkreolo10g
isk Nybedsbrev, 201 2), 27-28.
11 Krongaard Kristensen, The Franciscan FriGiy ojSvendborg, 62-65.
Peter Caselitz, „Die menschlichen Skelettreste aus dem Dominikanerkloster zu Scbleswig“,
Ausgrabungen in Schleswig. Berichte und Studien 1 (I 983 ): I 26.
41
Fig. l : The cloister walk in the Dominican friary of Ribe is among the few still preserved
Danisb examples. Through several excavations, it has become evident that the (inner) cloister
was imensively used as public burial place during the medieval period. Photo: ML 2010.
From written sources we can gain some knowledge as to which social
classes were buried within the friary precinct. It was quite cornmon for the
guilds in some Danish towns to have an actual burial arrangement with the
mendicant friars. In 1 5 1 6, the shoemakers‘ guild in Odense even got a specific
part of the friary churchyard reserved for their members defined as the area
south west of the main portal of the church. 12 The nobility may also have found
their final resting place within the friary precinct as suggested by a few written
sources; however the material is scant.
The royal family also found the friaries to be attractive burial places. King
Erik Plovpenning ( 1 24 1 – 1 250) was first 1aid to rest in the Dominican friary of
Schleswig after being murdered by his own brother and successor Abel. 13 The
king’s bones were 1ater moved to Ringsted, where his father and kin rested.
King Erik K1ipping (1259-1286) supposedly had an interest in being buried in
12 Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraer vol. 2 (Copenhagen: Selskabet for Udgivelse af Kilder til
dansk Historie, 1904), 374-75; Lars Bisgaard, „Begravelse i gilderegi i middelalderen“,
hikuin 27 (2000): 70-73.
13 Deen Lafrenz, Kirchen, Klöster und Hospitäler. Die Kunstdenlanäler der Stadt Schleswig
vol. lll (Munich/Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1985), 300-01 .
42
the Franciscan friary of Odense, albeit his body was intened in the cathedral of
Viborg after he was murdered in 1 286. 14
One of the most extravagant hurials on friary ground was the dedicated
burial choir of the royal family established in the Franciscan friary of Odense
du ring the reign of King Hans (148 1 – 1 5 1 3 ) and Queen Christine. The entire
chancel of the church was refitted with new choir stalls for the friars, a !arge and
lavishly decorated altar piece made by one of that time’s finest sculptors Claus
Berg, vaulted burial chambers, and series of plates and epitaphs comrnemorating
the royal family and displaying the royal lineage of the king and queen. 8oth the
king and queen along with some of their children were laid to rest here until the
friary church was demolished in the early nineteenth century. However, it was
not without problems. When King Hans died in 1 5 13, the clergy at the cathedral
of Roskilde claimed the tights to bury the king, since the late regent’s father,
Christian I, had established a burial chapel for the royal house of Oldenburg in
Roskilde. The queen dowager however did not agree with the clergy in
Roskilde, and petitioned the pope on the matter. Eventually she was granted the
right to bury the King in Odense. 15 In a way, the refitting of the friary chancel
was something more than establishing a burial. lt was a memorial display with
the objective of establishing a cornrnemorative culture around the royal family.
This growing emphasis on corrunemorative acts could take different
material fonn and despite not being buried within the friary, some noblemen or
high standing citizens established annual masses to conunemorate the deceased,
and from several friary churches dedicated altars are known to have existed (fig.
2). – The late medieval friary church could take different architectural forms,
however most predominant in Denmark is an asyrnrnetrical two-aisled plan
arrangement where the slightly smaller side-aisle gave space to altars and burials
ofpeople from the outside world (fig. 3 ). 16
14 Jergen Nybo Rasmussen, Peder 0/sen som de danske franciskaneres hsi torieskriver
(Copenhagen: Den Danske Historiske Forening, 1976), 70; Jens Vellev, „Den forsemte
kongegrav“, Skalk vol. 6 (1974): 10-15.
15 Birgitte Beggild Johannsen, „‚Fore wor ( . . . ) sirele bestands og salighetz skild.‘ Om kongelige
stiftelser og sjrelcgaver fra kong Hans‘ og dronning Christines tid,“ Kirkehistoriske
Sam/inger ( 1 999): 7-50; Mogens Vedse et al., ed., Danmarks Kirker. Odense Amt, vol. 3
16 (Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet, 200 I), 1771-72.
Otto Graf, „Kiassitikationsprobleme der Beuelordensarchitektur,“ Univ. Diss. (Stungart,
1995), 195-205; Wolfgang Schenkluhn, Architektur der Bettelorden (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche
Buchgesellschaft, 2000), 136; Viihelm Lorenzen, „Toskibede Kirker i Danmark,“
Architekten 6 ( 1 904): 477-83; idem, „Franciskanerkirker i Danmark,“ Kirkehistoriske
Samfinger ( 1 904): 372-99.
43
Fig. 2: On the chancel walls of several friary churches, the coat of anns of nobles who
established annual masses to pray for and commemorate them were painted. In the same way
as different noble lineages in the early medieval period established monasteries in their family
namc, the noblemen and bourgeoisie of the late Middle Ages established the same memorial
cult based on the mendicant churches. Thc shown example is from the Dominican church in
Aarhus, the frescoes dating primarily from the fifteenth century. Photo: ML 2010.
Fig. 3: Plan of the Franciscan church of Nrestved, excavated in the 1950s. The church has a
complicated buildings history, dating from the foundation in the thirteenth century until its
demolition in the sixteenth century. In the course of the late Middle Ages a side-aisle with
different smaller chapels was erected, hence giving the church its characteristic asymmetrical
plan arrangement. From: Erik Skov, „Nrestved grabradrekloster“, Nationalmuseeis Arbejdsmark
( 1 959): 59.
44
Acts of charity and piety
In the hausehold accounts of Queen Christine, dating fi·om the first half of
the sixteenth century, several entries mention the donation of alms to the poor.
The pious queen lived most of her life (especially after her husband’s death in
1 5 13) at Nresbyhoved Castle outside Odense, and thus several of her donations
went to the mendicant establishments in Odense, in particular the Franciscans
which she greatly favoured. Her hausehold accounts – besides mentioning
several donations to the town ’s mendicant brethren – often refer to the donation
of alms to poor people, and in several cases this took place on the Franciscan
friary churchyard or within the actual friary itself. 1 7
Setting the scene – the structuring of a building complex
In regard to the intemal structure and Iayout of a friary complex, it is
interesting how the friars coped with these public activities whilst at the same
time upholding the functions of an ecclesiastical institution ruled by different
monastic constitutions and fol lowing a distinct way of life. The urban friaries
were probably characterised by a distinct spatial structure that took these
problems into consideration.
Space can be acknowledged as a social construct, which to some degree
milTors itself in material culture. Space is not just something that exists – it is
actively made and defined by someone with a purpose, and vice versa
experienced and perceived by someone. lt can be either present as a manifest
material thing (i.e., a room surrounded by walls), or defined by social or cognitive
boundaries that leave no future material evidence for us to examine. 18
Despite neither written nor archaeological sources reveal the full extent of
secular activities in the friaries precincts, they still contain valuable information
regarding the architecture and structure of space in Danish friaries. In this case,
it is interesting how space was used actively by the convent to attract and
manipulate the laity, and conversely how the laity perceived the concept of
monastic space.
The dynanlies of material culture
When the friaries were dissolved at the time of the Reformation, most
convents were characterized by fairly !arge complexes structured around one or
more cloisters. Most of these !arge brick-built friaries had a long and complex
line of development with different intensive phases.
17 18 Dronning Christines Hofholdningsregnskaber (Copenbagen: Gyldendal, 1904), 93, 139.
For a discussion on material versus social and metaphorical space in monastic sturlies see,
e.g., Megan Cassidy-Welch, Monastic Spaces and their Meanings (Tumhout: Brepols,
2001), 2-12; Roberta Gilchrist, „Community and Self: Perceptions and Use of Space in
Medieval Monasteries“, Scottish Archaeologica/ Review 6 (1989): 55.
45
In the earliest phases of settlement, the individual convents supposedly
lived in preliminary houses that were later replaced by actual (often brick-built)
buildings. Thus already in the mid-thirteenth century a lavishly decorated brick
architecture is known from several friaries (e.g., the Dorninican houses of Ribe,
Viborg, and Aarhus); but despite the extravagant architecture, the building
complexes appear small. Since the mendicant orders unlike !arger land-owning
monasteries had an economy based on alms-giving, the amount of buildings in
the early phase of settlement appears to correspond with the needs of the
individual convent. The complexes contained a church, an east wing with
dormitory, sacristy, chapter house, and the brothers‘ parlour, and occasionally a
wing opposite the church housing kitchen and refectory – thus being a complex
containing the basic functions of the institution. These fairly small complexes
tend to exist more or less unaltered up during the fourteenth century. 19
ln the fifteenth century and primarily in the second half, a vetitable
building boom occurs. All the Danish friaries seem to expand heavily and
several new wings and adjoining houses appear as known from, e.g., the
Franciscan friaries of Odense, Ystad, and Schleswig (fig. 4a-c).20 The new
establislunents dating after 1400 (for instance the Carmelites) also seem to build
massive extravagant friaries, and the ascetic building custom of the thirteenth
century seems completely abandoned.2 1
Despite this tendency towards a modest building activity during the early
phases of settlement in contrast to a more intensive building programme in the
late medieval period, the friaries were for most characterised by several small ad
hoc building programmes. All additions and alterations seem to be individually
assigned to the different convents; however, the result by the time of the Reformation
gives a far more homogenaus picture of the material culture than
displayed in the earliest phase of settlement.22
19 Henrik Grrebe, Ribe Skt. Katharina? Kloster. S ognekirke og Hospital (Ribe: Historisk Samfund
for Ribe Amt, 1 978), 69; Erik Levin Nielscn, ‚·Viborg Sortebmdreklostcr.
Antikvariske iagttagelser siden 184T‘, MIV 4 (1974): 44-55; Morten Savsa, Dominilwnerklosteret
i Arhus. Klosteranla?gget pä baggrund af bygningsarka?ologsi ke undersl!g! elser
udfert i Iidsrummet 1833-2003 (H0jbjerg: Middelalderarkreologisk Nyhedsbrev, 2011),
126-33.
20 Lafrenz, Kirchen, Köster und Hospitäler, 137; Ewald Gustafsson, „Gräbrödraklostret i
Ystad. En byggnadshistorisk översikt,·‘ Skänska kloster. Skänes Hembygdsforb und Arsbok
(1987/88), 128-34; Morten Larsen, „Franciskanerklosteret i Odense. En arkreologisk un21
dersagelse afdet middelalderlige bygningskompleks,“ MA thesis (Aarhus, 2012), 94-100.
Hans Krongaard Kristensen, „Korsgangsmotivet ved danske klostre“ in Aspekter af dansk
klosterva?sen i middelalderen, ed. I.-L. Kolstrup (Aarhus: Aarbus University Press, 2000),
22 47-48.
Hans Krongaard Kristensen, „Establishments ofthe Mendicant Orders“ in The Archaeology
of Medieva/ Europe vol. 2, ed. Martin Carver and Jan Klapste (Aarbus: Aarbus University
Press, 20 I I) , 467.
46
c. 1300
c. 1350- 1400
Figs. 4a-c: Axonometrie reconstruction of three phases of the building history of the Franciscan
friary of Odense seen from the south. The last decades prior to the Reformation show a
veritable boom in construction works. The buildings history also reveals that the complexity
of buildings gradually increased with the construction of a second cloister. Drawings: ML
2012.
Conceptions of monastic space
A friary is first and foremost an institution. It is a place where the friars
live and work in the service of God and his word. The older traditional monastic
orders were primarily to be found in a solitary setting in the countryside, where
the monks in pious seclusion sought contemplation and prayer. The reclusive
47
way of life emphasized by the traditional monastic orders does not agree with
the image of the late medieval mendicant friaries and their generat openness
towards secular activities.
The fact that medieval monastic complexes were divided into different
spatial hierarchies is weil known from different examples. Rural monasteries in
!arge parts of northern Europe were divided into different cloisters mirroring the
different Ievels of access for monks and laity. The monastery was thus divided
into three overall parts, the outer court, the inner court, and the cloister – the
latter was solely accessible by the monk.s themselves, whereas the first ones
were used for storage, stables, guesthouses, etc. and were thus more publicly
orientated.23 Despite being in opposition to the traditional rural monasticism, the
mendicant orders probably in the same way structured their convents on the
basis of different modes of hierarchy – however their conception of space is
different.
The mendicant orders obviously perceived themselves as something
different to the established monastic orders, not just in tetms of their distinct
way of life with a primary subsistence derived from alms, but also semantically.
It is evident from the written sources that the Fraueiseans and the Dominicans
regarded themselves as ‚brothers‘ (jratres) who lived in ‚houses‘ (domus) or
‚places‘ (locus) opposite, for instance, to the Benedictines who mention
themselves as ‚monks‘ (monachus) living in ‚monasteries‘ (monasterium) or
‚cloisters‘ (claustrum).24 This distinguishing between monastery and house
might also indicate that the different orders had multiple ways of understanding
themselves and their way of life. Moreover, it offers an insight into how the
friars understood the concept of space – or at least that their conception of space
was different from that of the rural monasteries.
However, giving space to secular activities while at the same time being a
religious institution bound to some monastic ideals could cause a series of
problems regarding the structure of space within the friaries that the brethren
should acknowledge and cope with. Below, this problem will be discussed with
emphasis on the plan arrangement and spatial structure of the friaries.
A hierarchical plan arrangement
In a conference article from 2009, the German researcher Matthias
Untennann pointed out that the Fraueiseans typically structured their convents
around two separate cloisters milToring the opposition between the secluded
claustral section and the semi-public section.25
23 J. Patrick Greene, Medieval Monasteries (London: Leicester University Press, 1992), 6- 1 1 ;
Glyn Coppack, Abbeys and Priories (Stroud: Tempus, 2006), I 09-1 1 .
24 Lorenzen, De danske Franciskanerklostres Bygningshistorie, 1 3 1 ; Krongaard Kristensen,
„Establishments of the Mcndicant Orders“, 466-67.
25 Maubias Untermann, „Öffentlichkeit und Klausur. Beobachtungen zur franziskanischen
Klosterbaukunst in der Provinz Saxonia“, in Glaube, Macht und Pracht. Geistliche Ge-
48
The interpretation of the cloisters as mirroring different Ievels of access
and hierarchy within a monastic building complex is fairly interesting. Untermann’s
idea can easily be e!aborated and developed when seen in context with
the Danish material, where the numerous urban excavations of the past fifty
years have uneatthed archaeological traces of several buildings outside the main
cloister of the mendicant friaries. Thus, there is a sound proof of the existence of
a dual-cloister plan arrangement similar to that described by Untermann.
Untermann suggested that the dual-cloister plan appeared already in the
thirteenth or fourteenth century in the north German region; however, this is
more uncertain in regards to the Danish material.26
The early buildings in the Danish friaries primarily belong to what can be
termed the inner cloister, whereas the late medieval buildings mostly can be
characterised as additions to the inner cloister (as, e. g., seen in the Franciscan
friary of Odense). Despite the possibility of older wooden stmctures preceding
the late medieval brick buildings, it is fairly conspicuous how many constmction
works that tend to be initiated after 1400, why a mere conversion from wooden
to stone built buildings does not seem plausible. Wooden built stmctures
however continued to be common in many friaries until the Reformation, and
from the rest of Europe, it also seems very common to find elaborate wooden
buildings in monastic complexes. The fact that we occasionally in an
archaeological context have found timher framed houses in the friaries‘ outer
cloisters (as seen in, e.g., the Franciscan friaries of Ribe, Viborg, and perhaps
Nyk.0bing)27 suggests that wooden structures probably were far more common
than previously acknowledged. So in terms of dating the rise of the dual-cloister
plan arrangement, it is not until the fifteenth century that we have concise
evidence of its existence, however it can be fairly older.
Despite our problems in ascettaining and dating probable wooden
structures of the high Middle Ages, the numerous brick-built constructions of
the late medieval period offers an excellent insight into the nature and
development of the friaries‘ buildings culture.
The Franciscan friary of Odense is partially preserved and displays this
dual-cloister plan arrangement (fig. 4c). The buildings surrounding the inner
cloister (the southem) comprise of the east wing with dormitory, chapter house,
parlour, and sacristy and a middle wing (between the two cloisters) comprising
oftwo sections – a freestanding refectory building dating probably from the late
thi!teenth century, and a late medieval building which integrated the older cloister
walk and created an attachment between the refectory and the east wing. No
meinschoflen des Ostseeraums im Zeitalter der Backsteingotik, ed. Oliver Auge et al.
(Rahden: Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH, 2009), 199-208.
26 Untennann, „Öffentlichkeit und Klausur“, 2 0 1 .
27 Kong Frederik den Ferstes danske Registranter (Copenhagen: Selskabet for udgivelse af
Kilder til dansk Historie, 1879), 463; Hans Krongaard Kristensen, Midde/a/derbyen Viborg
(Aarhus: Centrum, 1 987), 60; Lis Andersen, „Ribe Gräbmdrekloster – det sidste kapitel“,
Mark og Montre (2003): 36.
49
west wing was ever erected, but all buildings were combined to the church and
the gate house by the cloister walk. The northem cloister consisted of several
smaller buildings which in time combined to form an independent court. The
complex was accessed through the southem cloister. The northem cloister was
more secluded and primarily consisted of buildings related to the daily life and
work of the friary.28
Fig. 5: Part of the preserved remains of the outcr courts in the Franciscan ftiary of Yiborg.
The building to the left is the elongated east wing which, despite being heavily rebuilt in
modern times, still displays the small window openings of the late mcdieval economy
building. The building to the right comprises of at least two major building phases and
contains a bricked up barrel-vaulted passage (partly visible in thc bottom-right comer)
indicating that thc friary probably consisted ofseveral hierarchical units. Photo: ML 2010.
The Franciscan friary of Viborg shows a unique way of development. The
situation in the thirteenth century shows a very open spatial structure where the
convent buildings are placed in a continuous line, probably in order to connect
the church and claustral buildings to an older stone-built building far to the
north. The situation in the early sixteenth century however reveals that the
buildings were more systematically an·anged around several smaller cloisters.
Two main cloisters (of which one is still partially preserved) existed, and in
relation to the outer cloister an additional wing was constructed. The fact that a
small barre! vaulted passage is embedded within the structure suggests that
perhaps even a third outer court ex.isted in relation to the complex (fig. 5). The
southern cloister is partially excavated and probably contained some of the same
functions as its parallel in Odense, whereas the northem cloister comprised
several buildings designed for storage and other functions related to the daily
28 Larsen, Franciskanerklosteret i Odense.
50
work and economy.29 Despite ending with the almost same type of plan
arrangement as the friary in Odense, the starting point was fairly different. The
same tendency towards more than one (or two) cloisters is suggested by
archaeological excavations in the Franciscan fliary of Ribe. 30
Not all friaries had a plan consisting of dual-cloisters; however it should
be acknowledged that no friaries can be considered „complete“ since the
Ref01mation on the very height of the bui lding intensity of the late Middle Ages
marked the end of monastic construction works. Some however had a plan
arrangement comparable with the dual-cloister setring due to several buildings
that were more or less linked together in the outer cloister. Also, as mentioned
above, social or cognitive spaces sometimes leave few or no traces in the
material record.
One of the best preserved complexes of this type is the Franciscan friary
of Schleswig. The complex is organised around an inner cloister, however the
west wing and the east wing are extended to the north and thus set the
bow1daries for an outer cloister. The buildings surrounding the outer cloister are
characterised by an elaborate domestic architecrure and especially the Gotische
Saal, with its grand interior and hypocaust gives the impression of a formidable
room for a refectory. In the inner cloister, the west wing is clearly integrated into
the actual cloister walks, and also gives room to a beautifully decorated entrance
way.3 ‚
The same tendency appears at some Dominican fiiaries. Tn Odense a
series of small buildings which were partially excavated in the 1 970s and 1 990s
indicate that the complex expanded beyond the inner cloister in the late Middle
Ages.32 Also, in Viborg the east wing was elongated already in the thirteenth
cenrury and by the Reformation an inner cloister was erected together with an
outer cloister defined by a reetangular addition to the long east wing. 33 Although
these complexes were not entirely surrounded by buildings, the overall Iayout
indicates that the friaries were far ]arger and more complex structures.
Not acknowledging that the friaries took up a !arge quantity of urban
space has in previous research often produced a series of problems and misinterpretations,
and especially the idea among scholars of an ideal monastery consisting
of merely a church and three adjoining wings around a cloister is hard to
eradicate. The Franciscan friary of Flensburg is partially preserved, and the
standing remains are often interpreted as respectively the east wing, the south
29 Krongaard K.Jisteosen, Midde/alderbyen Viborg, 58-6 1 .
30 Jakob Kieffer-Oisen, „Ribe Gräbmdrekloster“, hikuin 23 (1 996): 107-16; Aodersen, „Ribe
Gräbr0drekloster – det sidste kapitel“, 23-40.
31 Lafrenz, Kirchen, Kösrer und Hospitäler, 130-210.
32 The excavations are for most unpub1ished. Fields repons in Odeose Bys Museer: SBT78,
OBM 9775. For a general introduction see Mogens Veds0 et al, ed., Danmarks Kirker.
Odense Amt vol. 3, 1756-58.
33 Nie1sen, „Viborg S01tebmdrek!oster. Antikvariske iagttagelser sideo 1847“, 44-55.
5 1
wing, and adjoining houses to the east. 34 However, the results of building
archaeological surveys and field archaeological excavations are not consistent
with the traditional interpretation, yet the rendition is still upheld in recent
publications. 35 The buildings are more likely to be linked with an outer cloister,
and the friary church and east wing are to be found far to the north.
Entrance and access
The fact that most friaries were organised around at least two cloisters,
alters the conception of space and spatial relations within the complex considerably.
In relation to the secular use of the monastic buildings, it is primarily
the inner cloister linking directly to the friary church that is interesting. Often a
structured fom1 of entrance and access to the complex designed for the secular
world is found here.
There are different examples of the modes of access to the cloister walk;
most common is perhaps an entrance through the west wing. A characteristic
feature regarding the Danish friaries is the tendency to displace the west wing in
relation to the church nave, thus creating a small square in front of the gables.
From there, a grand entrance Ieads into the church, and in the gable of the west
wing, the entrance to the claustral buildings is situated (fig. 6). 36 The specific
form of entrance varies between convents, but the overall composition remains
more or less the same – in a few convents where a west wing was never erected,
e.g., the Franciscan friary of Ystad, the access is often refened to a designated
gate house. From here, there is direct access to the cloister walks. 37 Upon
entering the complex there are different structural Iayouts detennining the way
visitors would be led.
34 Lorenzen, De danske Franciskanerklostres Bygningshistorie, 27-32; Ludwig Rohling, Die
Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt Flensburg (Munich!Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1955), 247-
59.
35 Frauke Witte, Archäologie in Flensburg. Ausgrabungen am Franziskanerkloster (Haderslev/
Flensburg: Gesellschaft fur Flensburger Stadtgeschichte e. V., 2003), 43-54.
36 Grrebe, Ribe Skt. Katharince Kloster, 37.
37 Gustafsson, „Gräbrödraklostret i Ystad. En byggnadshistorisk översikt“, 129.
52
—2-J􀅕 ,. .. ,. .. :r,J .\
i 􀃣-
J .;-
3 j
Fig. 6: Plan of the Dominican fhary of Aarbus as it looked prior to the comprehensive
restoration works ofthe nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The medieval plan arrangement of
the west wing can thus still be observed. From the entrance in the south gable, two barrelvaulted
hallways ( 1 0) Iead to a grand hall (9) and a porter’s cell (the vaulted room to the
south). From: J. P. Trap, Srarisrisk-ropografisk Beskrivelse af Kongeriget Danmark VI, 2″d
ed. (Copenhagen: Forlagsbureauet, 1 879), 6.
One of the most elaborated entranceways is found in the Dominican friary
of Aarhus. The entrance in the late Middle Ages was stmctured araund two
narrow hallways placed in an angle, with a porter’s cell placed just before
entering the cloister garth. Opposite of the porter’s cell a !arge and lavishly
decorated vaulted hall was placed; often this room is interpreted as suitable for
the conduct of secular activities (fig. 6-7). 38
38 de Fine Licht et al, ed., Danmarks Kirker. Arhus Amt vol. 3, 1 291-94; S0vs0, Dominikanerklosteret
i Arhus, 94-95; Morteo Larsen, „Udi predickebredris huuss. Aspekter af
tiggerordenemes samfundsrolle i middelalderens Danmark“, Kirkehistoriske Sam/inger
(2012): 1 8 .
53
fig. 7: The preserved late medieval hall in the west wing of the Dominican friary of Aarhus.
The hall is covered by six vaults carried by two reused granite pillars, and lavishly decorated
with late medieval frescoes. Photo: ML 20 I 0.
Having entered the inner cloister there are several possibilities. In its
original form, the cloister walks acted as mediators between the convent’s
different buildings and roorns. As such there is nothing in the archaeological record
which contradicts this, a fact that also precludes us from knowing whether
or not the access ways within the friary itself were controlled by the convent.
We do know however that the accessibility of the outer cloister was difficult
which corresponds with the interpretation of this as being clausurated. 39
The accessibility between the inner cloister and the friaty church is
interesting since both spaces had a significant meaning to secular people. The
Danish friary churches were for a !arge part built on an asymmetrical two-aisled
plan, where the smaller side-aisle turned away frorn the claustral buildings – the
rnain aisle thus lay side by side with the cloister walks. In all regards, the pos-
39 Untennann, „Öffentlichkeit und Klausur“, 199-20 I .
54
sibility of the cloister walk being incorporated in the friary church as a kind of
combined cloister walk and side-aisle should be acknowledged. The
phenomenon is known from the Franciscan church in Odense and the
Dominican church of Holb􀂠k, and was probably far more cotnmon than
previously acknowledged. While the cloister’s first storey contained the actual
function as a cloister walk, the second storey acted as a kind of tribune within
the actual church space, displaying the coherence between the different monastic
spaces.40
“ . . . in the Franciscan friary in the smal/ room “
Upon entering, a number of questions occur as to the specific location of
secular events. Despite the plan indicating that the inner cloister was semipublic,
it is interesting as to which rooms and places that were used for what.
Written sources are mostly not very informative about this subject; however
some quite interesting locations are occasionally mentioned. In 1426, King
Erik of Pomerania held court in the sacristy ofthe Dominicans in Odense.41 The
friars must have had a fairly !arge sacristy, and archaeological excavations have
shown that a !arge reorganisation of the east wing actually took place in the
fifteenth centwy resulting in a fairly enlarged sacristy.42
In many cases it is only mentioned that the events took place within the
smal/ room, why the activities were thought to have taken place in the chapter
house.43 Despite being the central place of all decisions within the friary, the
interpretation of the vague expression „room“ as being the chapter house is
highly simplified. The word „room“ could possibly be interpreted as several
different spaces within the friary. Also, depending on the scale of activity one
should expect that smaller rooms may be fit. The chapter house as weil as the
refectory is used on an evetyday basis by the convent itself; that is why other
locations may be more logical.
No friary was built in strict accordance with an idealistic constitution.
There are of course a series of norms as to how a friary should be organised.
However (as the building history clearly suggests), friaries were greatly influenced
by numerous spatial factors such as the sutTounding urban topography
as weil as the ad hoc building process, resulting in different ways of adapting
and utilising the environment.44 Some parts of the friaries were more or less
40 Untermann, „Öffentlichkeit und Klausur“, 200; Larsen, Franciskanerklosrret i Odense, 75,
I I0 ; Mogens Yedsß et al, ed., Danmarks Kirker. Holbcek Amt vol. 5 (Copenhagen:
Nationalmuseet, 200 1), 2845-2849.
41 Repertorium Diplomaticum Regni Danici Medievalis 2. ser., no. 6242.
42 Unpublished field reports in Odense Bys Museer: SBT 8 1 .
4‘ E.g., in Yedse e t al., ed., Danmarks Kirker. Odense Amt vol. 3 , 1756.
44 L. A. S. Butler, „The Archaeology of Urban Monasteries in Britain“, in Advances in
Monastic Archaeology, ed. Roberta Gilchrist and Harold Mytum (Oxford: B.A.R, 1 993),
80-81.
55
alike (e.g., the plan disposition of an east wing in many cases bears resemblances
to other friaries), whereas other parts ofthe ftiaries are completely unique
in comparison to others.
The west wing is perhaps the best example. In most cases, it accommodates
the actual entrance way but apart from that there are few cornmon
features, and in some cases an actual wing was never erected displaying its
relative use. In the case of the Dominican friary of Aarhus, the wing held a !arge
and elegantly vaulted hall in connection with tl1e entrance way that generally is
believed to have been used for greeting visitors as weil as different secular
gatherings. In Holbrek, the west wing of the Dominican friary also holds the
entrance along with an intetior cloister walk and several smaller vaulted rooms
of different shapes and sizes. The same picture is known from the badly
preserved west wing of the Franciscan friary of Nykelbing as weil as the
Carmelite Friary ofElsinore.45
In the traditional rural monastelies the west wing was reserved for the lay
brethren; however this institution was abandoned by the mendicant orders. The
differentiated modes of organising the west wing, its significance in relation to
entrance and access as weil as its relative existence suggest that it had very
different uses, thus having the ability to accommodate both monastic as well as
secular events. The latter could be done without interfering with rooms designed
to uphold a friary’s function as ecclesiastical institution.
Why? The reasons for secular use
It is conspicuous how often the mendicant friaries are mentioned as a
scene of secular events but an intricate question is why. In many cases several of
these activities could easily have taken place within other institutional or private
buildings, town halls, guild halls, or royal castles. Even public squares would in
many cases seem to suffice. In relation to the introductory example regarding
the Danish king’s negotiation witl1 the Hanseatic League in the Franciscan friary
ofHorsens, it is thought-provoking why the King did not use his royal castle and
estate Bygholm just outside the town walls.
Politics, peace and practicalities
In the above example, it appears quite reasonable that the negotlatmg
parties wanted to meet on neutral ground, an explanation which also concurs
with the case on manslaughter between tl1e town of Kampen and the friends of
Eskil Skaane. Tense political and juridical arguments might for the sake of
45 Lorcnzen, De danske Franciskanerklostres Bygningshistorie, 80-83; idem, De danske
Karmeliterklosires Bygningshistorie, 52-55; Henrik Gra:be, „Holba:k Kloster. Sortebn
􀙼drenes hus indviet til S. Lucius“, hikuin 20 (1993): 33-52.
56
peace have been better held on neutral ground46 – and friary space was probably
perceived as inviolable despite the fact that killings on monastic grounds did
occur.
Sometimes the holy asylum was taken to its Iimit, which a case from 1484
illustrates. A knight, who sought refuge in the Franciscan fiiary of Arboga in
Sweden after mutilating a woman, was given asylum since a group of angry
townsmen had tried to hunt him down. However, while feeling safe behind the
friary walls, he taunted the angry citizens on the other side, resulting in an angry
townsman forcing his way into the friary precinct and beating up the knight.
Eventually, the knight was fined for violating the woman but the angry townsman
was also fined for violating monastic space.47 The fact that several juridical
issues were settled on friary ground could also indicate the wish for imbuing
actions and decisions with a divine seal.
It should also be acknowledged that the friars in particular were interested
in hosting these events, since they probably provided the convents with significant
publicity and thus attracted people and money. Being dependent on alms
and donations, the commercialisation of thc friaries seems less curious.
More practical reasons might also have had influence on the choice of the
friaries as the scene of events. Being institutions characterised (especially in the
late medieval period) of numerous !arge buildings, it was a perfect place for
assembling several people. And the actual cloister could also frame events that
did not necessarily have to take place indoors. The !arge complexes were thus a
practical means for hosting !arge gatherings as, for instance, the weddings
between high noble families, as it occurred in the Franciscan friary of Ribe in
1 504.48
A culture of memory
In recent years a !arge focus in archaeology has been put on the active use
and reuse of places of memory. Things or places of significance from the past
are imbued with special meaning and may in some contexts be essential to
actions in the present day, and even though the monuments from the past were
built for a very different purpose, their meanings in the future might be quite
different. lt all depends on people’s active perception of monuments from the
past.49
46 Jens Röhrkasten, „Secular Uses ofthe Mendicant Priories of Medieval London“, in The Use
and Abuse of Sacred Places in Late Medieva/ Towns, ed. Paul Trio and Marjen de Smet
(Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2006), 136.
47 Jergen Nybo Rasmussen, Die Franziskaner in den nordischen Ländern im Miuela/ter
(Kevelaer: Verlag Butzon & Bercker, 2002), 2 10.
48 0. Nielsen, „Familieoptegnelser af !ver Juel til Stubbergaard og hans Sen Kjeld Juel“,
Danske Sam/inger I ser., I ( 1 865-66): 47-59.
49 Richard Bradley, The Post in Prehsi toric Societies (London & New York: Routledge,
2002), 12-14.
57
One of the most obvious examples of this phenomenon is the use (and
active reuse) of the cloister walks as scene of burial. As discussed above those
butied within the cloister probably were people from the outside world who
actively sought a final resting place by the orders. Also, the establishment of
chapels and commemorative masses show the importance of mendicant friaries
as scenes of social memory and tradition. By combining the memOlies of the
past with the actions of the present day, the friaries facilitated a space of
continuous social tradition aiding the society’s recollective memory and
habitus. 50
The friary can be interpreted as an institution or as the home and
workplace of the friars. In relation to the question of the secular uses of friaries,
it is however more i.mportant to examine the way the laity perceived the concept
of monastic space. Obviously, the urban friaries were places of special significance
trough the performance of different social activities.
The French anthropologist Mare Auge has a delicate way of explaining
this.51 The perception of space is dependent on how people identify themselves
with particular places. Some places with a permanent relational or historical
bond bear a specific meaning in regard to people’s identity – for instance the
home. Auge te1ms this spatial stmcture a place. Other spaces are in contrast
defined by not wielding an importance on a permanent relational or historical
bond, typically understood as places of transit; these places are characterised by
Auge as ’non-places ‚, since they in themsel ves do not wield any specific significance.
Only in relation to the activities conducted here, it generates a societal
meaning.
Despite the fact that Auge departed from a perception of the modern
world, where non-places could be interpreted as airpor1s, supermarkets or other
places of transit, the non-place theory might also be used to desctibe spatial
complexities in past societies. In that case, the friaries can be perceived as places
of transit. In many cases it is di fferent social issues and events that are settled on
friary grounds – meetings, courts, agreements, burials, alms giving – nothing
that could not have happened elsewhere, and also things that are part of the
activities of everyday life. In regard to this, the friary precinct is a place which is
imbued with a specific meaning and importance through the perfonnance,
perception and reproduction of these different social activities. The friary
complex thus gains a specific meaning in relation to society through the
activities of comrnunal gatherings.
50 Richard Bradley, The Post in Prehistoric Societies, 12; Gavin Lucas, The Archaeology of
Time (London & New York: Routledge, 2005), 84-92.
51 Mare Auge, Non-Piaces. Introduc/ion to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, trans. John
Howe (London/New York: Verso, 1995), 77-79.
58
Concluding remarks
The fact that mendicant friaries accommodated secular events in the
Middle Ages is well-known, and primarily the written sources offer an important
insight into the differentiated activities that took place there. However, the
practical way of coping with secular activities alongside sustaining a monastic
institution is a neglected research theme in Danish monastic archaeology. The
mendicant friars had a ve1y different perception of the concept of monastic
space, and it appears evident that the friars actively structured their space to
accommodate both functions by obtaining a hierarchical plan arrangement,
where different cloisters upheld different functions. Thus the inner cloister can
be interpreted as a semi-public sphere, where the different buildings (but perhaps
most commonly the west wing) gave space to different secular activities.
Vice versa, the laity perceived the monastic space as something special, generaring
the societal commemoration while at the same time being a central ecclesiastic
and public institution in the medieval urban space.
59
MEDIUM AEVUM
QUOTIDIANUM
65
KREMS 2013