Niels of Aarhus
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File:Hellig Niels' Kilde 2.JPG
Saint Niels of Aarhus or Niels the Holy ({{langx|da|Niels den Hellige}}; before 1157 - 1180) was a Danish prince who lived an ascetic life and was revered as a saint in Aarhus until the 18th century even though he was never canonized.{{cite web|url= http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/nielsaar |title= Den hellige Niels av Århus (~1150-1180)
|publisher= Den katolske kirke |access-date=January 1, 2019}}
Biography
Born Niels Knudsen, he was an illegitimate son of King Canute V by an unknown woman. He was a brother of Bishop Valdemar of Schleswig. He was probably named after his great-grandfather King Niels of Denmark.
As a young man, Prince Niels lost interest in life at the court and withdrew to the village of Skibby near Aarhus,Skibby is located at the lake of Årslev Engsø, west of Aarhus. where he 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 another 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 (Hellig Niels' Kilde) 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 Church. Aarhus Cathedral was later erected near the site and became the center of the local veneration of St. Niels of Aarhus (also called St. Nickolas).{{cite web|url= https://aarhuswiki.dk/wiki/Skt._Nicolaus%27_kilde_-_Hellig_Niels%27_kilde_ved_Strandvejen |title= Skt. Nicolaus' kilde - Hellig Niels' kilde ved Strandvejen|publisher= Aarhuswiki|access-date=January 1, 2019}} Carl Frederik Bricka (1887 - 1905): [https://runeberg.org/dbl/12/0204.html Niels (Hellig Niels)] Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (p. 202), Vol. XII {{in lang|da}}
Notes and references
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External links
{{Commons category|Hellig Niels' Kilde|Holy Niels' Spring}}
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Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:Danish Roman Catholic saints
Category:Roman Catholic royal saints
Category:12th-century Christian saints
Category:Illegitimate children of Danish monarchs
Category:12th-century Danish people
Category:12th-century Christian monks
Category:Medieval Danish saints
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