Skovkloster

St. Peders Kloster, later called Skovkloster, was an important early Benedictine house at Næstved, Denmark.

St. Peders Priory, later Skovkloster, was founded by the powerful noble, Peder Bodilsen, his mother, Bodil, and his brothers, Henning and Jørgen with several donations (Danish:gavebrev) in 1135. Among them they gave town lands and many other farms scattered across Zealand and Falster. Archbishop Eskild, who was a personal friend of Bernard of Clairvaux, was enthusiastic about the establishment of a religious house at Naestved. Skovkloster's royal charter from Erik Lam in 1140 is the oldest still in existence for any monastic house in Denmark. The original monastery and church lay inside the town on the main square of Great Naestved but no trace of it remains. The small original church was constructed out of granite in Romanesque style without a tower. A second church across town was constructed of granite, dedicated to St. Morten a few decades later which also belonged to St. Peders. The archives of St Peders have been remarkably preserved at Herlufsholm. Among other documents is the most complete account ledger for any monastic house in Denmark. These documents provide insight not only into the daily workings of St. Peders, but other houses as well. The National Library has in its collection the Naestved Annals (Danish:Årbogen) as well as lists of benefactors and an obituary book (Danish: dødebog).

The establishment of St. Peders put Naestved on the map; there had been two small villages, Great Naestved and Little Naestved, on the banks of the Suså since Viking times. They grew together grew into the third largest town in Denmark and the largest on Zealand through trade. It was a logical place to offload goods and passengers going into or out of Zealand.

The monks built a Romanesque church in Naestved called 'St. Peders' which was a simple single nave building without a tower completed by 1200. St. Morten's church was rebuilt on its present location in the mid-13th century. Naestved was a good location for additional houses; the Franciscans arrived about 1240 and the Dominicans established a house at Naestved before 1266. The prior of St Peder's was also the lord of the city, and the market fees were paid directly to the monastery for the maintenance of the house and its operations. Even today the city's coat of arms has the keys of St. Peter on it as a reminder of the city's origins.

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