Focus

In addition to the Cathedral, during the Middle Ages Ribe saw the construction of a large number of churches, monasteries, convents and chapels. One of them was Greyfriars Monastery, which was established in 1232 and evolved into a huge building complex during the Middle Ages. Many of the monastery’s buildings and much of its land have been excavated, and South West Jutland Museums have many splendid finds from the site.

A find from Greyfriars Monastery (established 1232) clearly demonstrates the relationship between an employer and a worker in the shape of a roof tile with an engraved drawing of an obviously irate monk.

The worship of the Virgin Mary was prolific during the Late Middle Ages. Mary was the Queen of Heaven, and the protector and mother of mankind. Her intercession with God on behalf of mankind is often portrayed in the art of the Late Medieval Period.

After the huge fire in Ribe in 1580, a large number of the houses in the town had to be rebuilt. Many elegant, gabled, half-timbered houses filled out with brick were constructed. Maybe builders used material from the demolished churches and monasteries, which were closed down after the Reformation, in the construction of the new houses.

While excavating in Ribe, South West Jutland Museums occasionally find pilgrim badges from the Middle Ages. They are small souvenirs cast in metal from journeys to pilgrimage sites, and were usually sewn onto clothes as little amulets, as proof that the wearer was a pious person and should be treated well.

The exhibition features a model of the Cathedral and its surroundings from the time that it was at its highest. The model, which portrays the Cathedral’s architectural history using sound and light, is based on written sources and studies conducted by building archaeologists and archaeologists.

The reconstruction of a medieval bishop’s vestments, constructed on the basis of written sources, surviving garments and, in particular, medieval visual sources, in which bishops are depicted in colourful and expensive robes.

The Protestant bishop’s vestments are reminiscent of the vestments, which the clergy still wear today in the Danish National Church. The reconstructed vestments in the exhibition are based on visual sources from the Reformation.