Ørslevkloster , Fjends herred, Viborg amt.

Ørslevkloster, ab. 12 km northeast of Skive
Ørslevkloster sogn, Fjends herred, Viborg amt.

The church forms the north wing of Ørslevkloster's four winged house; it consists of apse, choir and nave from the Romanesque period with late Gothic additions - a tower to the west and a porch on the north side. A chapel on the north side of the choir was removed recently after a long time's decay. The Romanesque building is similar to the village churches of the area, but it is larger than standards. It is built in granite ashlars, and the apse, which is almost as broad as the choir, has a bricked-up round arched window to the east, while the original half cupola vault has been broken down recently; at the same time was the apse wall heightened to the wall height of the choir. Choir and nave have beamed ceilings and the high, broad choir arch is preserved with profiled kragbånd. The tower was added in the late Gothic period, the upper sections are mainly built in monk bricks, but large parts are face-walled with small stones. The bottom room of the tower has a cross vault. The porch is also late Gothic like the heavy buttresses on the south side of the nave at the klostergård.( kloster-yard). At the north side of the choir was once an extension, possibly a sacristy, it was later changed into a burial chapel for the family Berregaard. Its cross vault fell down 1835 damaging the sarcophagi, and in the 1950s the rests of the chapel were removed.



The front of the communion table is in rural Renaissance with lively, painted angel heads. The altarpiece is mixed in various pieces, since a high Renaissance piece in 1736 was equipped with wings and figures in an elegant bruskbaroque (in DK 1630-1660). A beam with carvings across the choir reminds about this; it has the coat of arms and names of Fr. Berregaard and Maria Lasson. Upon the confessional from the same period is placed a small Netherland Renaissance altarpiece with alabast relief. Large Baroque candelabres from the end of the 1600s. A Romanesque granite font with a smooth basin. South German baptismal bowl ab. 1575. A sounding board above the font in achantus Baroque, similar to the pulpit from 1740. Richly carved manor pews from the end of the 1500s with Hans Lindenov's coat of arms. In the nave hangs a large Renaissance chandelier.

In the choir epitaph and grave stone over the freebooter Mogens Heinesen, who was executed in 1589 and after the reverse of the judgment in 1590 was buried her.



Ørslevkloster was founded in the early Middle Ages for nuns, probably from the Benedictine porder. It is mentioned already in the middle of the 1200s and was governed by a prioress. (1468 Ingeborg Mogensdatter) and a prior (1275 Johannes, 1336 Niels Pedersen), who was appointed or which election was confirmed by the Viborg bishops until the ruling period of Chr. I., when the nuns received a letter from the king that told them that no prior could be forced on them against their will. This resulted in a feud in the reformation period with the Viborg bishop. The kloster probably owned some estate, and it had its own birk (judicial district)(until 1800). At the reformation Ø. came under the Crown and was endowed or pawned to nobility, (1537 Henrik Rantzau, 1538 Mogens Kaas(Sparre-K.), 1542 Jens Rotfeld, 1546 Oluf Munk, 1566 fru Mette Oxe, widow after Hans Barnekow, 1568 Hennicke v. Hagen, 1571 fru Anne Lykke, widow after Otte Krumpen, 1575 Malte Jensen Sehested. The nuns still had their maintenance in the kloster, the last prioress was Kirstine Thomasdatter (+ 1581) , the last nun jomfru Mette Mogensdatter (+ 1595), was in 1587 endowed with 2 farms and 1 bol (small farm) in Søby, Kobberup parish in order not to suffer anything when the kloster was sold. In 1584 Fr. II exchanged Ø. with 52 farms, 10 bol, 27 houses and 1 mill to Hans Lindenov (+ 1610), then it belonged to his son Hans Lindenov (+ 1620), and his son Anders Lindenov, who still owned it in 1638, but soon after he died, and it came to his father's half-nephew, rigsråd Hans Lindenov (+ 1642) and his daughter Christence Lindenov (+ 1681); she was married 1) to Axel Gyldenstierne (+ 1637) and 2) to Claus Sested (Sehested?) (+ 1649) and she conveyed 1679 Ø. and Strandet to her daughter's daughter Sophie Amalie Friis (of Haraldskær) , 1682 married to generalløjtnant Johan Rantzau (+ 1708), their daughter Christence Lindenov Rantzau brought Ø. to her husband generalløjtnant grev Christian Frederik Levetzau of Restrup, who in 1719 sold Ø. and Strandet to major, later etatsråd and landsdommer Iver Nicolaj Sehested of Nøragergård, who in 1724 sold both farms (manors) to oberstløjtnant Frederik Berregaard, + same year, whose widow Marie de Lasson (+ 1747) owned it. Later owners: Bünau, Lerche, Bering, Richter, de Hofman, Fønss, Grotrian, Malling, In 1962 rigsgevinde Olga Sponneck.

The main building is listed in class A, it surrounds together with the church a square yard with an entrance via a walled gate between the apse of the church and the end of the east wing. It is in its plan mostly a late Gothic klosterbuilding, but it was marked by a renovation in 1700. In 1920 the building was in decay, and the east wing and a part of the south wing were repaired. In the beginning of the 1930s the owner threatened to break down the not-renovated sections and later maybe the whole manor, but after rigsgrevinde Sponneck took over in 1934 a thorough renovation took place with support from "Det særlige Bygningstilsyn" and from Ny Carlsbergfondet, and some medieval details were brought to light on the west wing of the building. In the east wing is bricked-up an ashlar from a communion table with a reliquary.



Names in the Middle Ages: Hejlskov (1530 Heygellskowg); Hald (*1319 Haal, 1566 Hald); Ørslevkloster (1268 Høstcløf, * 1275 Østerløff).

Lærkenborg was established in 1760 by Jakob Lerche, who lived here after having sold Ørslevkloster. Various owners up til present.

In Ørum lived in the 1. half of the 14th century Lave Grummesen (Saltensee) and ab. 1360 his son Niels Bratze, whose widow Aase Eskildsdatter Falk still lived in 1400.

Listed prehistorics: a 70 m long hill in the heath at Virksund, 42 hills, of which 6 are in a row east of Bøstrup; southwest of Hald is a large group with two other hills.
Demolished or destroyed: 100 hills, they were placed especially close to each other at Hald and at Lund and Bøstup. - Several kitchen middens are known along Virksund and at Ørslevkloster Sø. In a hill at Hald was found an oak coffin with things from Bronze Age: dagger, belt plate, tutulus (jewelry plate in bronze) etc.

Source: Trap Danmark, Viborg amt, 1962

photo Ørslevkloster 2003: grethe bachmann