Black Friars' Monastery

The Black Friars' Monastery, Svartbrödraklostret, also called the convent of Stockholm, was a Dominican monastery on the island of Stadsholmen (City Island) in central , founded by King Magnus IV in 1336 when he donated a plot of land located in the southern part of Stadsholmen to the Black Friars. By order of Gustav Vasa the monastery was demolished in 1547, but some of the vaults are still preserved and can be visited. Today Svartmangatan (Blackman Street), which led down to the monastery, is still reminiscent of the Black Friars' era.

The Black Friars or Dominicans, as they were also called, was a mendicant order founded by Saint Dominic in 1216. The name 'Black Brothers' refers to the friars style of dress, wearing black, hooded robes. In 1220, the friars came to Sweden to build convents in Sigtuna and Strängnäs. They soon sought a plot of land to construct a homeless shelter, or abbey, also in Stockholm, and found a suitable piece of land at the southern bridge between Stadsholmen and Södermalm. But the king's vogt at Three Crowns Castle declared that property unlawful for them. According to another source, the friars bought a house at the southern bridge in 1289, where they lived during their trips to Stockholm.

It was not until the year 1337 that this issue was resolved. The recently crowned King Magnus IV donated one of his crown lands, located inside the old thirteenth century at today's Prästgatan–Österlånggatan, to the Black Friars. The following year he also gave a larger sum of money to the Black Friars, but the monastery could not be built until the Pope Clement VI issued a permit in 1343. The reason for the delay was discord between him and the friars in Strängnäs. Toward the end of the fourteenth century the monastery had already acquired certain fame.

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