Thy for 200 år siden

The priest Knud Aagaard (1769-1838) had an excellent career within the church, but he is especially remembered today for his efforts to describe the conditions in the areas where he worked. Aagaard wrote a description of Thy around the year 1800, i.e. just after the agrarian reforms, when the staff bond was abolished. This means that the former tenant farmers were becoming self-owners, which has caused major social upheavals, not only in Thy, but throughout Denmark. In this article, some reflections are made on the basis of the publication Thy som det var år 1800 – før Nationalpark Thy (Thy As It Was in the Year 1800 – Before National Park Thy) (Møller 2021), which is based on Aagaard's Description of Thy.