The early churches of Aarhus It is unknown exactly when people first settled near the mouth of the Aarhus River on the east coast of Jutland. Certainly in the 700s there was a
Viking town there. Recent research has dated the building of the first city wall to 934. Aarhus must have been a town of some importance in the
Viking Age, as there are six
runestones in or near the city. The name is known as Aros, Arus, Aarhus or Aars, as early as the 15th century. The city's charter of 1449 names it "Aarss". After the
Reformation in Denmark, the name "Aarhus" became current. Aarhus' first church, Holy Trinity Church, a
timber structure, was built during the reign of
Frode King of Jutland around year 900 on top of the city's
pagan burial site in what was then the center of town. The first
bishop was
Reginbrand, a
missionary bishop of Aros in 948 under the
Archbishop of Hamburg. Aros came under the rule of the Archbishop of
Viborg in 1060. According to
Adam of Bremen, Aros was made a dependent
diocese before 998. This timber church was the center of the local veneration of St.
Niels of Aarhus (also called St. Nickolas). St. Niels was a younger son of
King Canute V. As a young man, Prince Niels lost interest in life at
court and withdrew to the village of Skibby near Aarhus and built a church with his own hands. He lived a
saintly life and helped the people in the area around Aarhus. One day, as he and a few men from the town were felling trees to build the church at
Viby near the sea, one of the men complained that he was thirsty. St. Niels prayed for water and a spring appeared to slake the man's thirst; St. Niels's Spring has run ever since. It has been a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of years and many miraculous healings are said to have taken place there, especially on
St. John's Day. On his death bed in 1180, St. Niels asked to be buried in "the little church by the sea" (St. Clements). He was buried in the churchyard at St. Clements.
Aarhus Cathedral The construction of Aarhus Cathedral began in the decade after year 1190, by Bishop
Peder Vognsen (d.11 April 1204) of the powerful
Hvide family from
Zealand. Bishop Vognsen built the cathedral around St. Clement's church because local people venerated St. Niels, and Vognsen wanted to harness that devotion for his cathedral. Vognsen also established the
cathedral school of
Aarhus Katedralskole, before the cathedral was completed. The church was finished in 1300 in typical
Romanesque style with half-rounded arches supporting a flat timber ceiling. The second St. Clements was built of large red
bricks, a new building material that became popular all over Scandinavia and
northern Germany for ecclesiastical and public buildings. Four
chapels were built into the north
transept. The episcopal chair was moved from Our Lady Church to St. Clements.
vaults (with paint restored in 1999), windows and the back of the
altar in the Aarhus Cathedral However, in 1330, the cathedral and much of the town burned down, and the church was abandoned until 1449. By then the
Gothic style of architecture had reached Denmark, and the cathedral was enlarged in stages until it reached its present size in year 1500. The
nave was lengthened to 93 meters, the longest in Denmark. The transept was widened, and the typical
Gothic vaulting raised the ceilings and permitted high windows which fill the building with light. The
Reformation changed life in and around the cathedral in many significant ways. In 1524
Hans Tausen (1494–1561), the Danish
Luther, taught a
Good Friday sermon at Antvorskov Abbey proclaiming the doctrines of Luther. His superior ordered him imprisoned in the
Hospitallers monastery in
Viborg, Jutland. Tausen taught from his cell and ordinary people responded with enthusiasm. His superior tried to silence Tausen, but a near riot forced his release. In the beginning, he was allowed to preach in the open air but his supporters broke open a
Franciscan church, and soon Tausen had more followers than the church could accommodate. Within a year, he was the king's own
chaplain. Luther's ideas quickly spread to Aarhus and soon the townspeople demanded the right to hear the
liturgy in Danish. The bishop and
canons attempted to stop the spread of the Lutheran doctrine in their
diocese, but Tausen had caught the imagination of the people and they would not be cowed by anything the bishop might threaten. Most nobles were staunchly
Catholic, and that brought even more support from common people. By 1528 most of the cities had begun the process of reforming their churches. Tausen taught that tearing apart ancient churches was wrong and that orderly change should be used to reform the church.{{cite web|url = http://denstoredanske.dk/Sprog,_religion_og_filosofi/Religion_og_mystik/Danske_folkekirke/Hans_Tausen|title= Hans Tausen In 1533
Frederik I died and his son,
Christian III was proclaimed King of Denmark at the Viborg Assembly (Danish:
Landsting), but the State Council denominated by the Catholic bishops refused to accept the election and called upon
count Christopher of Oldenburg to assist in restoring Catholic Christian II to the throne. This resulted in a two-year war called the
Count's Feud. Despite the odds, Christian III prevailed and in the summer of 1536 arrested several of the bishops and threw them into prison. The last Roman Catholic Bishop of Aarhus,
Ove Bille (d. 1555) was imprisoned in the summer of 1536 when Denmark officially became a Lutheran nation.{{cite web|url =http://denstoredanske.dk/Dansk_Biografisk_Leksikon/Kirke_og_tro/Biskop/Ove_Bille|title= Ove Bille|publisher = Dansk Biografisk Leksikon The tower is the tallest in Denmark at 96 meters. It received its present form in 1931. In 1642 lightning struck the tower and set it ablaze, destroying some of the historic bells, but damage to the interior of the church was minimal. == Interior ==