Börringe Priory

Börringekloster Castle (Swedish: Börringeklosters slott), formerly Börringe Priory (Swedish: Börringekloster), is a castle built in 1763 on the ruins of a medieval Benedictine priory in Svedala, Scania, in southern Sweden.

The priory was founded about 1150 under Eskil, Archbishop of Lund, for Benedictine monks. However, by 1231 Börringe Priory is mentioned in Liber Census Daniae as a convent located on the island of Byrdingø in Börringe Lake, on land which Valdemar II of Denmark had once set aside for hunting. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the convent was later also known as St. Mary's Priory.

The building complex began small, but with the income from donations of money and rent properties, the priory was able to expand into three ranges attached to the church forming a four-sided enclosure to separate the nuns from the world. The nuns slept in the dormitory, another range contained a refectory and cellars, and a third was used for laywomen who lived in the priory, often the unmarried daughters or sisters of noble families who lived a religious life but were not strictly bound by the vows the nuns took. Occasionally, a widow exchanged her worldly goods for the opportunity to live out her life at the priory which provided room and board until her death. Housing these women was one source of income for the priory. Other income came from rent properties such as farms. While not specifically mentioned another common source of income was part of the tithes from nearby churches given by the Archdiocese of Lund for the maintenance of the nuns. Lastly the priory might also receive royal support in the form of rights to fishing grounds in Börringe Lake or landing rights for commerce over streams or rivers.

The priory was rebuilt over several decades during the 14th century in the Gothic style out of brick. Religious leadership and the internal running of the community was the responsibility of the prioress, while a prior, often a local noble who paid for the privilege, was responsible for representing the nuns in worldly affairs.

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