Munkeliv Abbey

Munkeliv Abbey was a Benedictine abbey located at Nordnes in Bergen, Norway. It was one of the oldest monasteries in Norway, and also one of the wealthiest and best-documented.

Munkeliv Abbey was founded as a Benedictine abbey by King Eystein I (Øystein Magnusson) in about 1110 and was dedicated to Saint Michael. The abbey was strategically positioned on the dominant height of Nordnes over the then newly established town of Bergen, with a view to encouraging the town's development. Its first centuries were successful and prosperous, but the arrival of the Black Death in the mid-14th century brought about a decline. In addition, the buildings suffered great damage in 1393 when the abbey was attacked by pirates. Thanks to its great wealth it managed to survive these catastrophes, but could not avoid a further decline.

In the 1420s it was taken over by the Bridgettines, with the Pope's approval, and was occupied as a double house by both monks and nuns. This was a very disturbed period: the abbey was again damaged by fire in 1455, when it was attacked by Hanseatic merchants pursuing Olav Nilsson, commander of the royal castle in Bergen, who had sought sanctuary in the abbey. During the 1460s the occupants of Munkeliv were obliged to seek shelter in Hovedøya Abbey in Oslo. The monastery was re-constructed by the Cistercians and reoccupied by the Bridgettines in 1480.

When the abbey was suppressed in the Reformation the Bishop of Bergen took it over for his residence and used the church as the cathedral of Bergen. The entire building complex however was destroyed by fire in 1536.

The monks' herb garden near the Puddefjord was later cultivated by the Bergen pharmacist, Løveapoteket, for medicinal plants until the surrounding areas were built up in the 19th century.

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