page_title: Skjalm Hvide
section_title: Skjalm Hvide's sons founded Sorø Abbey
hierarchical_section_title: Skjalm Hvide / Skjalm Hvide's sons founded Sorø Abbey
caption_attribution_description: Blyplade fundet i Sorø Klosterkirke med indskrift om, at Absalons bedstefar Skjalm ligger her: HIC IACET SCELMO AV DONI ABSALONI ARCHIEPI. Nationalmuseet i København
context_page_description: Skjalm Hvide, was the Earl of Zealand in Denmark in the end of the Viking Age and up to his death. Skjalm's father was Toke Trylle, whose father was Slag, based on Absalon, a medieval account scanned, translated and published by Google.
  Skjalm Hvide was very rich. He was one of the most influential and powerful chiefs in Denmark in the Middle Ages, and the most powerful chief of his era, i.e. the late Viking Age, late 11th century and early 12th century. He is regarded as the founder of the Hvide Clan, the name Hvide signifying the color white. During the transition ending the Viking Age and a few centuries ahead, the Hvide clan was a dominant factor in the Danish power politics.
  In 1062, on August 9, Skjalm Hvide together with the King Sweyn II of Denmark fought in the Battle of Niså, a naval battle off the coast of Halland, in what today is southwestern Sweden. The enemy were the forces of the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, who had claimed the Danish throne since 1047, and had launched raids into Denmark ever since then.
  With his invasion of Danish territory in 1062, Harald wanted to decisively defeat the Danes, and thus finally be able to conquer Denmark.
context_section_description: Around the lifetime of Skjalm Hvide, it was common practice for the wealthy and powerful to found religious houses, most typically for the following reasons: Expiation of a sinful life; to gain a stage to arrange commemorative and religious masses and events; to have a venue to provide services for the poor; or just out of religious zeal or devotion; or for any combination of the above.
  Accordingly, on a land owned by Skjalm Hvide until his death in c. 1113, his sons Ebbe Skjalmsen and Asser Rig in 1140 founded the Sorø Abbey, which became the preeminent and wealthiest monastic house in all of Denmark during the Middle Ages. It acquired property all over Denmark, with an income larger than that of the royal family. Near Sorø, Ebbe also erected the Bjernede Church, and Asser established a Benedictine House, just a few years before his death in 1151. Asser lived as a monk for the last years of his life.
  A decade after the passing of Ebbe and Asser in 1151, Asser's son Absalon in 1161 founded the town of Sorø where the Sorø Abbey is located. In 1167, Absalon also founded what became the city Copenhagen. In 1161–1201, he erected on the abbey grounds Sorø Klosterkirke, i.e. the Sorø Abbey Church. The church became a burial site for the noble Hvide family members, including for Absalon himself in 1201, behind the main altar, when the church construction was completed. It became a burial site also for three Danish kings; Christopher II, Valdemar IV Atterdag, and Oluf II, as well as Queen Margaret I of Denmark, who later was moved to the Roskilde Cathedral (Danish: Roskilde Domkirke).
  Today, the Sorø Klosterkirke church remains an excellent example of early Brick Gothic architecture. From 1625 onward, the site of the Sorø Abbey has also been the site of the Sorø Academy (Danish: Sorø Akademis Skole), a well-known educational institution.
  The most famous residents of the Sorø Abbey have included the Danish historian, theologian and author Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220) ("Saxo the Literate", or "Saxo the Learned", literally "Saxo the Grammarian", a.k.a. Saxo cognomine Longus), who was born around the time when Skjalm Hvide's sons Ebbe Skjalmsen and Asser Rig – the founders of the Sorø Abbey – are believed to have died (both in c. 1151).
  Saxo the Tall (Danish: Lange), as he was called at Sorø, only later became called "Grammaticus", as a result of his excellently written Latin. Saxo's skill as a Latinist was praised by Erasmus, who wondered how "a Dane of that age got so great power of eloquence". Based on Saxo's writings, he is believed to have been either a clerk or secretary to Archbishop Absalon, the son of Asser Rig and grandson of Skjalm Hvide.
caption: A lead–plate with text found at the Sorø Abbey Church, which tells that Absalon's grandfather is here. The text reads in Latin: "HIC IACET SCELMO BY DONI ABSALONI ARCHIEPI". National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen.
exif: {"Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image ExifOffset": "78", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2087", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1718"}