Hjørring

Hjørring stands on a hill in Vendsyssel, at the northern end of Jutland. Coins were struck here in the mid-twelfth century, and the regional assembly met in the town throughout the Middle Ages. Its three early churches of St John, St Olaf and St Catherine stood around the hilltop settlement. King Eric IV granted its oldest known market-town charter in 1243.

The regional assembly ceased to meet in the 1520s. The Count's Feud brought heavy payments, and the Reformation ended the nearby monasteries of Børglum and Vrejlev, which had dealt with the town. Plague struck in 1602; imperial troops were quartered here in 1627–1629 and Swedish troops occupied it in 1644. Fire destroyed seventeen farms in 1647, and another occupation followed in 1657–1658. Much of Hjørring burned again in 1819.