Monastery | Manor | Museum
Monastery
Dueholm Monastery was founded before 1371 by the Order of St. John, also commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller. The order arose during the crusades and established monasteries throughout Europe to fund the defense of Christianity in the Holy Land. Their hospital services in particular were a valuable souce of income for the order. Dueholm Monastery was the sixth monastery established by the order in Denmark.
During the Reformation in 1536, the properties of Danish monasteries were seized by the Crown, including Dueholm, which was among the last places to be reformed. The monks were allowed to stay at the monastery, but initiation of new members was strictly forbidden. The last prior, Master Jacob Jensen, died November 1559.
Royal Fief
Dueholm Monastery was turned into a royal fief and given to the vassal Niels Lange by King Christian III in 1539. The duties of a vassal included collecting taxes as well as providing troops for the king's army. Duties also included upkeep of the fief, but the buildings of Dueholm slowly began to fall into disrepair. The situation worsened when Dueholm was occupied in 1627 by Geman troops, who used much of the main building's wooden structure as fuel.
Repair attempts were mostly futile as Dueholm was once again occupied in 1657, this time by Swedish troops. The wars were expensive for the Crown, which now had to liquidate estates, including Dueholm, to creditors.
Manor
The Crown sold Dueholm in 1664 to Poul von Klingenberg, but the estate changed hands frequently during its first many years. 1752 saw the beginning of a new era for Dueholm when its steward of 20 years, Anders Christensen Tøttrup, bought the manor. This ushered in a period of calm for Dueholm, which was expanded and improved through four generations of Tøttrups.
This came to an end in 1845, however, and the estate once again saw a frequent change of hands for the remainder of the century. The land was subdivided and sold off, and in 1898 only the courtyard, the garden, and a bit of meadow remained. Plans were made to demolish the old main building and subdivide what remained of the area.
Museum
The Historical Museum of Morsland, which was established in 1901, found itself in 1908 in need of rooms for its collections and exhibits. The museum set its sights on Dueholm and immediately started raising funds to purchase the main building. Half the money was successfully financed through the government budget, while the rest was granted by Nykøbing Municipality.
On October 24, 1909 the museum welcomed its first visitors to Dueholm Monastery. Throughout the 1900s the museum acquired the surrounding buildings, which now house exhibits, and in 2015 the museum was renamed to the more modern Museum Mors.
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