A
wooden and a stone
church were both erected on the site before the abbey was built. The stone church was erected in the 1040s at the latest, and is the
oldest known stone church in
Sweden (excluding
Skåne). According to
radiocarbon dating, the oldest
Christian man buried there died in the period 780-970. From other radiocarbon evidence, the Christian burials seem to have begun during the 10th century. A rich lady named Sigrid, probably a widow, donated the property to the cistercian monks, but
the queen tried to revoke the donation and instead seize the property herself. The queen's attempts failed and the monks established the abbey in 1150. The Varnhem Abbey was sponsored by the
House of Eric which in turn was granted burial privileges there. Three kings from the House of Eric lie buried in the abbey church:
Canute I of Sweden,
Eric X of Sweden and
Eric XI of Sweden. In 1234, the abbey was
ruined by fire. The catastrophe led to a period of blooming, since
Birger jarl and other mediaeval financiers rebuilt the abbey, this time more beautiful and imposing. The abbey church, which at first had been built in
Romanesque style, was completed in
Gothic style after the fire. In 1260 there was an opening ceremony for the church, which was the largest in Sweden at the time. The abbey's property was confiscated in 1527 in accordance with the
Reduction of Gustav I of Sweden, and the abbey buildings were burned by
Danish forces 1566 during the
Northern Seven Years' War. In the middle of the 17th century,
Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie received the abbey as a gift from the Swedish queen
Christina. De la Gardie restored the church and established a
family mausoleum in it, while the remaining abbey buildings were left to decay. The church was thoroughly restored 1911–1923. Archeological
excavations of the central part of the abbey were made 1921–1929, and again 1976 and 1977. In May 2002, the grave of Birger jarl was opened. The scientific analysis that followed, strengthened the belief that the three skeletons in the grave are the remains of Birger jarl, his son duke Eric Birgersson and Birger's wife
Mechtild of Holstein. Today, only the abbey church remains standing, surrounded by ruins. The number of tourists visiting Varnhem has grown manyfold due to
Jan Guillou's books about
Arn. ==Buried in Varnhem==