Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/682

 ICELAND

616

ICELAND

the Norseman, Floke Vilgerdarson. This immigration {Landnahme) continued for sLxty years. The colo- nists (noblemen, with their serfs, among whom were men of Germanic and Celtic origin) divided the soil among themselves, and the chieftains not only con- tinued to exercise judicial prerogatives over the low tenants and serfs, but also performed the functions of high-priests igoTii). Freemen, however, might claim their rights in the moot or public assembly (tiling). The people at the beginning of the tenth century num- beretl about 25,000, divided into some thirty clans, which about 930 formed an independent republic with an aristocratic constitution. The government and the administration of justice were vested in the .Mthing, which met annually in June and in which freemen and their families could take part. But this body was not always able to exercise its powers, and it happened quite often that internal quarrels were .settled by the sword. Thirty years later the country was divided into four quarters, subdivided in turn into thing-districts. To simplify business, there was a special court of law for each district, under the general jurisdiction of the Althing. A committee Xlogriitla), to which each quarter sent twelve repre- sentatives, carried on the administration in the name of the Althing. The republic was on friendly terms with the Kingdom of Norway, the two countries having fixed the respective rights and obligations of their citizens by treaty. But it was not long before King Olaf Ilaraldsson (1024) and Harold Hardrada (100(3) made unsuccessful attempts to bring the island into dependence on Norway.

The inhabitants had in the meantime been con- verted to Christianity, and for a long while the Cath- olic bishops exertetl over them a powerful and beneficial mfluence. At their instance the old laws (firSgas) were written down in 1117. Unfortunately, soon afterwards bloody feuds broke out among the chief nobles of the State, in the course of which Sturla attempted to make himself king. The people, tired of protracted wars, offered no resistance to King Hakon the Elder when, in 12.58, he appointed Gissur Thorwaldsson Governor {J ad). A few years later the whole island swore allegiance to the new master, still insisting, however, on retaining certain privileges (1302). It is certain that this act did not make Ice- land, strictly speaking, a province of Norway. Nor- wegian Iceland is always referred to in public docu- ments of the fifteenth, and in chronicles of the six- teenth, century as a dominion of the Crown (see Styffe, "Skandinavien under Unionstider", Stockholm, 1880), and at first it retained its constitutional organ- ization. In the year 1281, however, a code of laws was introduced by the judge, Jon Einarsson, patterned on the Norwegian laws (jonsbok). Hakon II hav- ing died (1380), his son Olaf, who since 1376 had ruled Denmark, ascended the throne, and under this mon- arch the present union of Denmark and Iceland was consummated. During the reigns of Christian III and his successors the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the island was dissolved, and Luther's teachings were forced upon the people, who were deprived of all their rights. In 1662 its representatives were compelled by force of arms to acknowledge the absolute sovereignty of the King of Denmark, and in 1800 the Althing, whose powers, it must be noted, had previously been reduced to a minimum, was finally suppressed. Forty-three years later it was revived, at first as an advisory body only. There followed long and violent constitutional conflicts with Denmark, which was weakened by foreign wars and internal troubles, and the king at length saw himself obliged to yield to the demands of the Icelanders. Since 1904 the Iceland patriots have in the main succeeded in the achieve- ment of their wishes: national independence and autonomy in the administration of their own affairs. De jure, the country is again autonomous; de facio,

this is not yet recognized by Denmark. The future is shrouded in darkness.

Church IIistouy. — The Norsemen, who settled in Iceland, from the end of the ninth century, were pagans; and, as we have already ob.served, it was one of the functions of their chieftains, called gnhi, to con- duct religious services. But, as the Icelanders made frequent journeys, and often to distant lands, they were soon brought into contact with Christian popu- lations, from whom they gained a knowledge of a higher civilization. Thus was the soil prepared in advance for the seed of the Gospel. The first na- tive missionary was one Stefnir Thorgilsson (996), commissioned by King Olaf Trygvesson. The some- what abrupt methods which characterized his reli- gious zeal brought him at first but a small following, but, about the year 1000, Gissur and Hjalti, two highly esteemed Icelanders who had been exiled from the country, on returning from Norway Christians, soon obtained a decree from the .41thing whereby pagan practices were suppressed, and the people com- pelled to accept baptism. The actual conver.sion of the nation of course was only achieved after long and laborious efforts and the careful instruction of the people. The names of the missionaries and of their bishops are only known in part and there is no in- formation concerning their work. It must at any rate have been fruitful of results, for only fifty years later (105G) the country was given a bishop of its own, suffragan to the Archbishop of Hamburg, with his see at Skalholt, while in 1106 a bishopric was erected at Holar. These two dioceses were first under the .\rchbishopric of Lund, later (1152) under that of Trondhjem, and until the middle of the .si.xteenth century were in close communion with Rome. The bishops were selected by the Althing, but the nomi- nees were consecrated by the metropolitan. Many of their prelates were distinguished for their virtue and wisdom. (For details see Baumgartner in "Kirchen- lexikon", s. v. "Island".)

The priests of Iceland frequently went to French and English universities to make their stuilies. Many among the clergy and laity made ]5ilgrimages to the hallowed spots of both East and West. Canon la>v was in force at an early period (1053). There sprang up a number of monasteries, such as the Benedictine Abbeys of Thingcirar, Munkathverii, Kirkjubaer, and the Augustinian convents of Thykkviboer, Flatey, Videy, Mofiruvellir, and SkriSa. " .A strongly intellec- tual atmosphere pervadeil these monasteries. They were centres of learning and literature, and thoroughly national in character. It is beyond question that it is principally to her Catholic clergy that Iceland is in- debted for the origin and prosperous growth of her earlier literature, down to the middle of the sixteenth century" (Hermarm, vol. II. p. 91).

There were religious as well as historical treatises. The "Lilja" of Eystein Asgrim.s.son, an Augustinian monk of Thykkviboer, was particularly celebrated as "the most soulful and artistic poem of the Middle Ages" (ibid.), and was highly appreciated long after the introduction of Protestantism. Works of learn- ing also issued from these cloister cells. Thus we find that an attempt was made in Munkatliveni as early as the middle of the thirteenth century to translate the Bible into tlie vernacular. Abbot Brandr Jonsson was thoroughly versed in Latin literature. Even the "Nialssaga" seems to have originated at Munkath- verd. But scholars and artists were to be found not alone in the monasteries, but among the secular clergy, of whom some 300 were distributed among 220 churches (many of which were built of stone). Thus it is related of Tor.stein Illugason (1335) that he ex- celled in calligraphy, painting, and wood-carving. The churches were adorned with mural decorations, sculptures, and metal-work, and were provided with priestly vestments, relics of which have been pre-