Rødkilde Gods
When you drive on Strandvejen outside Vester Aaby, you are in Rødkilde country. The estate itself is not open to the public. But it has been a part of the area’s history for a very long time. The history of the manor can be traced back to around the 14th century. The earliest-known owner of Rødkilde was Tyge Lauridsen Abildgaard. He owned the farm until 1314 and was a knight and chamberlain to the king, Erik Menved. But he clashed with the king and was convicted of treason. As a result, he also lost Rødkilde. Today, 320 of the estate’s 400 hectares are farmed on the basis of varied crop rotation, alternating between white clover, common meadow-grass, spinach seed, rapeseed and even marigolds. Yet farming accounts for only 11% of the revenue. Most comes from selling ATVs – all terrain vehicles. Today, it is difficult for an estate to make ends meet if they concentrate solely on farming.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, the situation was very different. Estates, the king and the Church forced free farmers to become copyholders. When a farmer took a copyhold, he was allowed to live on a farm and cultivate the land that belonged to it, in exchange for paying taxes to the landowner in the form of money, crops and/or labour.
The copyhold system began in the mid-13th century. 150 years later – in the early 15th century – only just over 10% of farmers were freeholders: a number that was further reduced and almost halved by the 17th century.
