Lysekloster - The monks and nature

The monks of Lysekloster had a lot of contact with other countries, especially England. They imported and grew different types of plants in the cloister gardens and these spread to other parts of the country. The first fruit orchards in Hardanger were planted by the monks, since they once owned the farm Opedal in Ullensvang. Today it is difficult to say exactly which plants they imported to Norway, but perhaps garden-owners of today can thank the monks for the issues they have with bishop's goutweed. Bishop's goutweed was grown in the olden days as a vegetable and medicinal plant. Freshly crushed leaves have been used as a remedy for treating sores and rheumatism. This umbellifer was associated with vicarages since early on, and some places, such as in Ullensvang, it was known as "Bishop's cabbage". The monks also knew how to utilize the land outside of the cloister gardens; they planted and maintained the forests and also developed grazing land. The cultural landscape surrounding the cloisters is essentially as old as the cloisters themselves.

Among the most valuable for the monks was the salmon fishing in Oselvo. Fishing rights was a hefty point of conflict between the farmers along the waterways and the monks. At the beginning of the 1300s the abbots claimed all of the fishing rights, and closed off the river with fish-catching devices made of fences that are called "laksegardar". This turned out to be illegal, and the abbot was expelled. Similar disputes arose with regard to the freshwater pearl mussel in the rivers.

Several species of fish from the carp family (especially the Crucian carp) are very hardy and tolerate transport over long distances. There is a general impression that the carp and Crucian carp were imported by the monks, but concrete evidence of this is lacking. In the 1700s and 1800s it was usual to have fish ponds as garden décor, perhaps also as a source of food. The Danish theologist Pontoppidan wrote that attempts were made to import carp to Bergen before the 1700s. But, the monks had left Lysekloster long before then. It is nonetheless notable that the places in Hordaland which still have these fish species are just the places where the monks were most active.

Soapstone was often used in the Cloisters. Some of the stone was mined from a small quarry in the vicinity, roughly 500 metres northeast of the ruins. Soapstone has also been transported by sea from other Middle Age quarries, perhaps from Vargavågen and in Kvernes and Ådland in Samnanger. After the reformation the cloister buildings were torn down. The soapstone was recycled, and used, for example, in the Rosenkrantz Tower in Bergen and Kronborg Castle in Denmark.