Odense adelige jomfrukloster
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Collective home and library for unmarried ladies of rank

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The red brick building on Albani Square was built in 1504-08 by the last Catholic bishop of Odense, Jens Andersen Beldenak as a fortified bishop's palace. After the Reformation in 1536, the palace was owned first by royalty and then by nobility. Karen Brahe took…

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Collective home for unmarried ladies of rank

Time / Periode 1504 1508
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The mediaeval Catholic abbeys were closed down during the Reformation in 1536. But in about 1700, the monastic concept was revived with the homes for unmarried ladies of rank. They were a kind of collective housing where unmarried noblewomen could live together in a chaste environment appropriate to their rank. Unlike the mediaeval abbeys, religion was not heavily in focus. But the women had to be orthodox – in other words Lutheran-Evangelical. Homes were established in Roskilde, Odense, Vemmetofte and Vallø. The Odense home had room for eight well-read spinsters from only the best families. After all, the abbey's huge collection of books shouldn't go to waste.

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Collective home for unmarried ladies of rank

The mediaeval Catholic abbeys were closed down during the Reformation in 1536. But in about 1700,…

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