Chronicle of The Expulsion of The Greyfriars - Chapter 11 Concerning The Friary in Halmstad

Chapter 11 Concerning The Friary in Halmstad

Herein is explained the method whereby the friary in Halmstad was invaded and the brothers expelled in the following words:

13 January 1531 the priest and heretic Hans Hemmingsdyng came from Falsterbo1 to Halmstad, he was a perverse Lutheran, and he was called to the town by the citizens the preach the word. If only it had been the word of God!

A few days after his arrival in Halmstad town he gathered a great crowd of citizens together with the town masters, he went after noon into the brother's church and while the assembled accomplices listened, he scolded the brothers for three things: that the brothers were spiritual thieves, soul murderers, and deceivers against the common people, and they continued that one could not prove the Grayfriars rule from the holy scriptures.

Brother Mads Madsen, who at the time was the Guardian answered him for all the brethren and a great crowd of the congregation's hearing:

"St Paul commanded in 2 Timothy 2:14, where he says 'Strive not about words to no profit, which only subverts the hearers.' Therefore, your charges according to every court pro is void, I mean that your are the prosecutor with a false accusation, you over reach yourself and it is not right that you be both witness and judge. Therefore I reject you as one who renders only spite and are not our judge, and I will appeal the case against you before the archbishop and the chapter in Lund, where I can cleanse myself and mine before learned men against this false charge which you have brought against us and witness as clear as the sun that our rule is apostolic and truly evangelical."

Later on Septuagesima Sunday2 in the first lesson that was held where Brother Søren Jacobsen, who was later mortally wounded in Ystad during the persecution of the brethren, said in his lesson toward the conclusion that the three vows (poverty, chastity, and obedience) and the commandments of the rule (of St Francis of Assisi), its (detailed) contents and essence were clearly taken from the gospel of Christ.

The aforementioned heretic, Hans Hemmingsdyng, was present to catch the preacher during his lesson as the scripture-wise and Pharisee were want to attack Jesus. When he heard that, he became angry and incited the citizens against the brothers, first inside the friary church once the lesson was completed and thereafter in the parish church where he swore that he (Brother Søren) will never preach to them (the brothers and congregation) again, if (he did) they would attack the brothers and prevent them from preaching and holding mass.

But when the brothers immediately held services, they (the citizens) promised after receiving advice from several clever citizens counsel that they would wait until after noon. After noon of the aforementioned Septuagesima Sunday the masters of the town, town councillors, and town bailiff and many other citizens of the Lutheran sect took first the chalice from the brothers, next they plundered the altars and removed the book of the mass and other books from the book cabinet into the sacristy. The town bailiff received the keys to the sacristy and locked everything in there.

It was also forbidden to the brothers after that time to ring the bells at the appointed times. All these things the citizens instituted by the authority they took to themselves without orders from a higher authority, (and that) after just hearing from the devilish priest Hans Hemmingsdybg. The brethren received, however, permission to remain in the friary until they had procured foot gear, but not all of them left the friary when the time elapsed. In order to bring to pass what the Lutherans desired, the nobleman Holger Gerson, the mayor and the counselors went into the friary and obtained from them a promise that six of the brothers might remain in the friary, though with the conditions that they might not hold mass, not preach God's word, not go out begging, or go out to the surrounding farm towns without the mayor's permission, or otherwise encourage anyone in the old praiseworthy rituals against the Lutheran sect, or even hear the scriptures.

But because one of the six mentioned brothers, specifically the above named Brother, Søren Jacobsen on the first Sunday in Lent listened to two person's confession, he was expelled along with the others. But the rest of the brothers in the friary were expelled or left on their own in the Lord's year 1531, the week of Laetare3.

It should also be noted that in Roskilde there is to be found a letter of recommendation concerning the brothers behavior and the seal of the friary.

One should also note the goods which were sold or taken from the aforementioned Halstad Friary, but were promised to be returned over time etc. This concerns the following:

First Master Gerhard Olsen, mayor of the town of Halstad in 1530 shortly before Christmas took by force a gilded chalice which his father, Oluf Petersen gave the convent; it was never recorded in the royal register4 because his mother, who lived at the time, continually encouraged him to leave it for ecclesiastical use for which it was given.

Later the same Gerhard Olsen received a farm which lay next to the churchyard south of the friary that Brother Laurentius Byldtzman, when he was Guardian, allowed to be purchased for 160 marks. That farm Gerhard desired to have in exchange for a half farm which his sister a little earlier had willed to our friary in Halmstad.

Later the Halmstad town bailiff, Niels Skriver, got by force a copper or brass kettle from Jon Styng's house, which was placed in pawn to him by the Guardian for 15 marks despite that it was in common business worth at least 20 marks. It was not included in the register because of an oversight by the scribe.

And furthermore Hans Bagge, received a farm which lay next to the friary next to the water mill, which Nielse Erikssen who then lived in Halmstad, willed to the brothers the one half when he himself died, and the other half part after his wife's death, and they both died before the dissolution of the friary.

And furthermore Herr Holger Grerson Ulfstand, before the retirement of the Guardian Mads Madsen, received four silver weapon (sheaths) for which the friary received no compensation. And he also loaned 1 short saw, and another saw which was located in the four-sided archway.

And furthermore Herr Holger took under his protection, at Brother Mads Madsen's request, a chapel with attached house in Skanør, which the friary had built there.

And furthermore the same Herr Holger received of the friary 20 boards 36 feet long, 3 (tylvter) and two of wood, 28 feet, four boards 34 feet long, 5 boards of 32 feet, 10 boards of 40 feet. for all of this the brethren received four tuns of Rye, 6 tuns of barley, and five tuns of oats. Grain was particularly expensive in the land that year. Furthermore the aforementioned Herr Holger gave 13 or 14 marks to the brethren who were chased out. Similarly. Hologer Gersen's wife got a faultless little clock which she promised to return if the friary was reestablished.

Brother Siger received the large comforter on behalf of Herr Holger's persistent petition which the town bailiff permitted him to obtain until he should return it when it was required. Brother Siger also got (Brother) Vilhelms' little sermon book.

Likewise Halmstad's Lutheran pastor by the name of Jasper, who at one time had been a brother of the order, but who had become the most perverse heretic, received the large concordance to the published Bible, which the town bailiff permitted him to take against the time when he should surrender it in time. The same Jasper received a coverlet with the permission of the town bailiff.

So much for the friary in Halmstad.

1 Falsterbo is a town on the tiny westernmost peninsula of Skåne lies opposite south Zealand.

2 Septuagesima Sunday is the third Sunday before Lent begins. It marks the beginning of the Pre-Lenten season of the old church calendar.

3 Laetare Sunday is the fourth Sunday in Lent, the half-way point until Easter. It usually falls in March.

4 The royal registry refers to a comprehensive inventory of religious houses commanded by King Frederik I. It included not only land and income properties but specific valuable items which had been donated over time to the various religious institutions in Denmark. The Franciscans viewed the registry as the 'thin edge of the wedge' that would eventually end in the dissolution of the monasteries.