Nysted Friary, located in Nysted, on the island of Lolland in southern Denmark, now in Guldborgsund municipality in Region Sjælland, was the last occupied Franciscan friary in Denmark after the Reformation. History Foundation to dissolution Nysted Friary was founded in 1286 in the coastal town of Nysted on land donated by the lords of Kærstrup and Kjeldstrup farms. It was one of the earlier friaries in Denmark, under the jurisdiction of the Custody of Odense in the Franciscan Province of Dacia. It must have been one of the more prominent houses because the annual chapter meeting of the Franciscans in all of Scandinavia was held there six times between 1283 and 1415, but after that year it was only held there twice more, perhaps because other houses had become more important, and there were simply many more Franciscan establishments in the province. The friary was built just east of the town of Nysted in a traditional quadrilateral pattern with four wings around a central cloister, with a chapel forming one of the sides. The friary also had a hospital which kept a mortality book to record the deaths. While the book itself has not survived it is referred to in other documents. What makes this significant is that the hospital accommodated important members of the Danish court and noble families who were ill, among them bishop Valdemar Podebusk, Lyder Colbaltus Kabel, and Anders Sjundesen of Kærstrup, perhaps a descendant of the founders of the friary. In the late 15th century the Franciscans at Nysted were divided by the ongoing conflict that regularly plagued the entire Franciscan order, over how strictly they should interpret the original Rule of Saint Francis, and especially the vow of poverty. The Observants insisted that the monks should conform to the strict rule, and so should avoid owning property and wealth. The Conventuals argued for a more liberal interpretation of the rule, and for a little more comfort as the friary's wealth and income increased. In 1477 the conflict came to a head when the Observants beat up the Conventuals and threw them out of the friary. Two years later the Conventuals in their turn chased the Observants out with cudgels. In time the rift healed, but the stricter interpretation of the rule was enforced until the Reformation. In 1483 the friary sold off two of its properties to Herr Eskil Gøje. The next year the