Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/161

 ICELAND 153 parishes for the most part embrace very large districts, and their revenues being utterly in- sufficient for their support, they have recourse to farming ; they have the reputation of being the best blacksmiths in Iceland. There are six medical districts, with medical officers sta- tioned at Reykiavik, Vatnsdalr, and Akureyri, a fourth in the west, a fifth in the south, and a sixth in the Vestmanna islands. Quite recently three missionary stations have been established by the Roman Catholic church. Christianity was voted the national religion in 1000 by the althing. The island was afterward divided into the two bishoprics of Holar and Skalholt. " The bishops," says Baring-Gould, " were elect- ed by the althing, and even the saints were canonized by popular acclamation." With the introduction of the church came the knowl- edge of Latin letters. In the year 1057, Isleif, bishop of Skalholt, introduced the art of writing with the Latin alphabet. Monas- teries, hospitals, and schools were established. Several monks, especially the Benedictines of Thingeyra monastery, contributed largely to the literature of Iceland's golden era. In 1551 the Lutheran form of worship was introduced by Christian III., and after much bloodshed became the only established religion ; but much of the old ceremonial still remains. There is no evening service, and the morning service is still known as "the mass;" the minister retains the old chasuble and cope, and over the altar can be seen triptychs, crucifixes, and pictures of saints. Iceland was discovered in 860 by Naddoddr, a Norwegian viking, who called it Snjaland (Snowland). In 864 it was visited by Garthar Svafarsson, a Swede, who sailed around it and wintered on the east shore of Skjalfandi bay, and called his discov- ery Garthaskolmr. Enticed by the description which he gave of it, Floki, another viking, sailed into Vatnsfiord in the west, and took possession of a portion of land. But the loss of his cattle during the winter compelled him to break up his settlement. After spending another winter at Hafnarf jorthr, he returned to Norway in the summer. The island received its present name from him ; and the glowing account given of it by some of his companions induced two Norwegian chieftains, Hjorleifr and Ingolfr, to visit it. They formed the first permanent settlement, in 874 at Reykiavik, and other chiefs with their retainers and thralls soon followed them. The Islendinga 16k, the earliest monument of Icelandic literature, says that the first colonists, who were all pagans, found that they had been preceded by Culdee anchorites and Irish settlers, who abandoned the island on the arrival of the pagan Norse- men. The report of an Irish monk had first led several of his brethren to sail for the north, touching at the Faroe islands, nnd reaching Iceland in 725, where they settled on the islet of Papoen on the E. coast, and at Papyle in the south. They were called Papar by the Norsemen, and left behind them bells, crosiers, and Irish books. The oppression of Harold Ilarfagr drove a large number of Norwegian chiefs and their families to Iceland, and this was further increased under the reign of St. Olaf. About 928 Iceland became a republic, and so remained for 300 years. In 030 a code of laws was adopted, and an annual meeting of the bonders was fixed for midsummer on the plains of Thingvalla ; this gathering was called althing. In 1262 the majority of the people took an oath of allegiance to Haco, king of Norway, Iceland remaining independent, with her own laws and constitution, and the althing continuing to be the supreme legislative au- thority. After the union of the Danish and Norwegian monarchies in 1387 the king of Denmark was acknowledged sovereign of Ice- land. A provision in the act of union of 1262 stipulated that the king should annually sup- ply the inhabitants with six ship loads of goods. This gradually made the commerce of Iceland a royal monopoly, and in 1602 it was farmed out to a Copenhagen company, in whose hands it remained till 1787. As Iceland only raises cattle and chiefly exports dried fish and wool, its people were thus placed at the mercy of the traders for the bare necessaries of life. The price of goods rose four fold during the next three years, while the price of fish fell, the domestic industries dwindled away, poverty increased, and the population decreased in the same ratio. During these three years 800 per- sons died of starvation in one district, and 9,000 perished in the whole island. Notwith- standing these facts, the Danish government continued to enforce its own trade laws, and in 1684 a royal proclamation enacted that all traffic must pass through the Copenhagen com- pany, and that on no conditions should the Icelanders trade with others, " neither on land, nor on sea, nor in the harbors or fiords, or in any other place whatsoever." In the 18th century volcanic eruptions repeatedly desolated the land, converting some of the most fertile and populous districts into hideous wastes, and followed by famine and disease. In 1762 an epidemic broke out among the sheep, and 280,- 000 died or had to be slaughtered. In 1783, the year of the most fearful eruption, 11,000 cows, 27,000 horses, and 186,000 sheep died. The population, which had steadily decreased since 1602, had sunk in 1785 to 39,000, and was further diminished by 9,000 deaths from starvation. In 1786 the project was seriously entertained of removing the remnant of tho population from the country, but the royal commissioners demanded instead a relaxation of the trade laws. Commercial freedom came by slow degrees, prosperity returned, and the population increased. In the 16th and 17th centuries, when absolute monarchy was intro- duced, it was expressly stipulated by the Ice- landers that, while acknowledging the sover- eignty of tho Danish crown, they should retain their own national laws, rights, and freedom. By degrees, however, the legislative powers of