page_title: Sorø Academy
section_title: Christian IV's equestrian academy (1623–1665)
hierarchical_section_title: Sorø Academy / History / Christian IV's equestrian academy (1623–1665)
caption_attribution_description: English: Resens Atlas fra 1677 over Sorø Akademies bygninger. et firfløjet klosteranlæg med fratergang samt klostermølle og kirkespiret der blev opført år 1623.
context_page_description: Sorø Academy is a boarding school and gymnasium located in the small town of Sorø, Denmark. It traces its history back to the 12th century when Bishop Absalon founded a monastery at the site, which was confiscated by the Crown after the Reformation, and ever since, on and off, it has served as an educational institution, in a variety of forms, including as a knight academy founded by Christian IV and a venue for higher learning during the Danish Golden Age. Danish writer and academian Ludvig Holberg bequested most of his fortune to re-establishing the academy in 1750 after a devastating fire.
context_section_description: Sorø Academy traces its history back to 1140 when Archbishop Absalon founded the  Cistercian Sorø Abbey in a remote woodlands setting on the shores of Lake Sorø on the island of Zealand. It developed into the most prominent and wealthy monastery in Denmark. After the Reformation in 1536, the Crown confiscated the Catholic Church's properties and the former abbey served first as an educational institution for Protestant priests before Frederick II turned it into a boarding school for an equal number of noble and commoner boys.
  Sorø Academy was founded in 1623 when Christian IV turned the boarding school into an Equestrian Academy. Later attempts were made to transform it into a university proper but it only existed as such for about 20 years before closing in 1665.
caption: Sorø Academy, Rosens Atlas, 177
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