A paper read to the Hull & District Theological Society by Dr Jack Cunningham (Dept of Theology, Bishop Grosseteste University College, Lincoln) on 15 October 2008
Changing fashions- the coming of the Reformation to Iceland
The coming of Reform
When Lutheranism arrived in Iceland some time in the 1520s it was restricted to the German merchant community who had built the first Lutheran church at Hafnarfjörður on the bay of Faxaflói, north of modern day Reykjavik, no latter than 1537. The church was maintained by a brotherhood in Hamburg that called itself St Anna-Bruderschaft. Four years earlier the Althing (the Icelandic parliament) had indicated that they were aware of the Reform movement when they passed a resolution pledging allegiance to the King of Norway but vowing to continue in ‘the holy Faith, which God has given to us, and which the Holy Fathers have confirmed.’ The decree was signed by the country’s two bishops, Ögmundur Pálsson from the southern diocese of Skálholt and Jón Arason from the northern diocese of Hólar, as well as ‘the best men of Iceland.’ Immediately after the Althing Ögmundur sailed for Norway, he returned the following year having secured the endorsement of the decree from the Council of the Realm.
The first indigenous indication of the new faith that comes to our attention apparently appeared at Skálholt, close to the episcopal throne. It was only natural that the southern diocese should be the first to show signs of the influences of the Reformation since its geographical location and possession of the major port provided greater exposure to foreign influence. We are told that Jón Einarsson, an ecclesiastical administrator, preached a sermon some time between 1524-28 which denounced the invocation of saints as idolatry. The accounts usually end with Einarsson being reprimanded by his Bishop, or even being forced out of his church; however the newest research indicates that Einarsson was much admired by his superior and his name is never associated with the Reformation in later sources.
Other prominent members of Ögmundur’s household did however begin to incline toward Lutheranism and a small cabal became active, including Oddur Gottskálksson (the son of a previous bishop of Hólar) who had studied in Denmark and Germany and become a secret convert to the new evangelicalism after an inner turmoil had induced him to pray for three nights. At Skálholt he became Bishop Ögmundur’s trusted secretary though he was at the same time covertly working on an Icelandic translation of the New Testament with the help of Luther’s translation and Erasmus’ Vulgata. An important work on Icelandic literature admits that this was not nearly as epoch making in the history of language as the German, Danish or Swedish translations; nevertheless it did provide an important function and it had historical consequences, not just for Iceland. ‘It was precisely at this fateful juncture that the destinies of Norway and Iceland parted company.’ Instead of using the Icelandic Bible the Norwegians used the Danish, ‘thus cutting their cultural roots in the old soil.’ The bishops’ annals tells us that Oddur hid in the byre and pretended to be copying statutes in order to evade his superior. The work was published in Roskilde, Denmark by the Royal Press in 1540 with a forward by the Danish King. Later Oddur went on to translate the Postils of Antonius Corvinus (1546), a useful book designed to help priests with their sermons on Sundays and Holydays; it made an important contribution to the eventual Reformation. Other translations published posthumously include Bugenhagen’s Passion and Resurrection (1558), as well as Luther’s Shorter Catechism (1562). In 1556 Oddur was drowned crossing the river Laxá on his pony.
A second member of the group, Gizur Einarsson, was an assistant to the Bishop. Gizur’s pedigree lent him considerable respect in ecclesiastical circles. His aunt Halldóra was Abbess of the convent of Kirkjubaer and one of the most powerful women in Iceland. She had been keen to cultivate her nephew’s education and after showing early promise his Bishop sent him to university in Hamburg. A decision based on tradition but misguided given the religious developments in the city. As it happened Gizur became a convinced evangelical after studying for some years in Germany where he heard Luther and Melanchthon preach at Wittenberg. When he returned to his native land around 1533-4 he was already under suspicion and neither his bishop nor his Aunt would host him; it appears that he stayed with his mother in Þykkvabaer.
Also associated with the Skálholt group was Pétur Einarsson, the son of a priest form Staður in Ölduhryggur. He was also educated abroad and on his return to Iceland he impressed Bishop Ögmundur who assigned him a living and promised him future patronage. However the Bishop was clearly becoming cognizant of a possible impending threat and in return for these favours he demanded a pledge of loyalty. The young protégé was almost certainly an evangelical at this stage and the Bishop was to receive a poor return on his trust. Pétur became involved not only in the Reformation of Iceland but he also facilitated its invasion. He went on to play a key role in the Reformation in his country eventually becoming a commissioner of the Proconsul in Bessastaðir. Yet he was never able to shake off the stigma of being associated with what were popularly considered to be sacrilegious and traitorous acts. In particular the charge of enriching himself at the dissolution of the Monastery of Viðey in 1539 where he acted as conveyor of plundered property. He was undoubtedly ambitious and single-minded; some of his actions may also be regarded as ruthless, nevertheless there is no reason to question his genuine commitment to the cause. A forward thinking man, he is also said to have been the first person in Iceland to wear spectacles, causing him to be dubbed ‘Speckled Pétur.’
Marteinn Einarsson, (a brother of Pétur but unrelated to Gizur) also became involved with the group. He was brought up in England where he attended school and stayed for nine years. We do not know when Marteinn was ordained to the priesthood: we do know that he was a priest in 1530. It is also probable that he came to the new faith under the influence of Oddur. Later he was to take over the superintendentship of Skálholt at the death of Gizur, and immediately after this election he studied evangelical Theology for a winter in Copenhagen under the tutelage of John McAlpine, the Hans Machabeus Professor of Divinity and former Prior of the Blackfriars in Perth. Marteinn’s appointment was dissolved by the King in 1556 after he voiced his resistance to Crown confiscations of ecclesiastical properties. Marteinn provided two great services to the Reformation in Iceland: firstly, he was as an energetic and courageous leader of the nascent evangelical movement; and secondly, he made an important contribution toward forming an independent liturgical tradition by translating Lutheran liturgy into Icelandic for congregations that had previous recourse only to the Bugenhagen order of mass.
Gísli Jónsson was another member of the group who had descended directly form a Priest, he was born in Hraungerði in Flói. At an early age he was sent for an education to Alexíus Pálsson, a prominent priest and later Abbot of Viðey. In 1529 Gísli entered the service of Bishop Ögmundur. It then seems likely that he spent some years in Germany since contemporary sources tell us that he could speak fluent German. Gísli was a close friend of Oddur Eyjólfsson and later he married his sister Kirstín Eyjólfsdóttir. Some scandal attaches itself to Kirstín since she gave birth to her brother’s child whom she named Gísli. The senior Gísli then went to considerable lengths to draw a veil over the incident when he personally sought and obtained permission from Christian III for an Act of Grace in order for them to marry. Gísli was an active translator as well as an editor and publisher. He translated the Margarita Theologica and in 1558 he printed Bugenhagen’s History of the sufferings of Christ, translated by Oddur Gottskálksson. He also edited sections of the Book of Joshua, though his attempt to publish and popularise the Gíslasálmar (Book of Psalms) in Icelandic was not successful due to its poor quality of translation. Gísli was to become the Superintendent of Skálholt in 1558 when Marteinn Einarsson resigned.
This young group of educated men provided the intellectual foundations of the Reformation in Iceland. They were humanists as well as Reformers and they had received their education in the heart of Protestant Europe. They met secretly in the house Oddur Eyjólfsson where they supported and encouraged one another. Whilst they could never be described as the driving force of a Reformation that owed more to Crown policies than indigenous movements, they nevertheless facilitated change to a considerable degree.
A Reformation from above
The Skálholt group managed to conceal their religious sympathies from the Bishop, no doubt assisted in this by the fact that in the intervening years Ögmundur had grown blind. In spite of this handicap the aging Bishop grew suspicious of the members of his household. When his failing sight forced him to appoint an assistant he looked outside the circle of protégés and chose his nephew, Sigmund sending him to Trondhjem to be consecrated. Only when Sigmund died suddenly a short time afterward did he choose Gizur, perhaps recognising the moderate qualities of his faith and settling on him as the least of all evils. In 1538 Ögmundur ordained Gizur a priest and at the Althing the next year he was declared the Bishop’s legal successor.
During this period Denmark, the sovereign state of Iceland, had been engaged in civil war. The new king, Christian III was a convinced Lutheran who had been tutored by Wolfgang Utenhof, a Wittenberg graduate. He had travelled extensively in Germany and been present at the Diet of Worms. After his victory Christian made concerted efforts to introduce the Reformation to Denmark. On 12 April 1536 parliament voted to remove the old bishops and replace them with other ‘Christian’ bishops and superintendents and in 1537 the King issued the Church Ordinance. On 12 December that year Luther wrote to the King expressing his approval of the reorganisation. The following year it was sent to Iceland and read in front of the two Bishops at the Althing. The Althing’s reply is not preserved though a circular from this time from Ögmundur warns of ‘a certain grey friar [who] preached new heresy and infidelity.’ In March 1539 the Bishop described the Ordinance as heterodoxy and he urged the clergy of his diocese to await a communication from Rome before they acted. In the same year he expressed himself candidly to the King, though he was careful enough not to refer directly to the Ordinance,
We will maintain the faith and the Church ceremonies that have been agreed upon by our wisest and most learned, and which do not run contrary to the Norwegian laws. But if your Lordship’s government desire to implement any doctrine contrary to our understanding, then we humbly request your Royal Highness may grant us permission to take our leave with our moveable belongings, that we may seek a refuge somewhere in a land which will be shown to us by God.
The furtive initial stages of Reformation were soon to manifest themselves more overtly via the actions of the foreign authority. The Danish Governor’s accommodation was situated at Bessastaðir, a peninsular in the south that was exposed to harsh gales and had access to only two small farms. To rub salt into this wound they were close to a well endowed and well constructed monastery situated at Faxaflói on the sheltered Island of Viðey. This was obviously a jewel in the crown of the diocese of Skálholt and to add to its significance, Bishop Ögmundur had once been its Abbot. On Whit Sunday 1539 the Governor’s representative, a German named Didrik van Minden, apparently disgruntled by his rather spartan provisions, and acting on the assumption that the monastery had been granted by the King to the Governor, led a raiding party on Viðey. Rowing across the bay with thirteen retainers he dispersed the monks and appropriated the building and lands, including 20 cows, 120 sheep and 620 stockfish. Later Gizur Einarsson had intended to convert the monastery into a school but he was thwarted when the new occupants proved reluctant to relinquish such a prize holding. The affair produced a good deal of popular outcry and that summer at the Althing Ögmundur questioned the Governor’s assistant about the warrant or laws that entitled him to abuse a monastery as he had done. Didrik allegedly replied that the ‘pest[ilence] could take the law.’ On 30 July 1539 Ögmundur and his council of twelve priests excommunicated Governor Claus van der Marwitzen and van Minden. Their belongings were declared devolved to the Icelandic Church and their fortune was devolved to the King. In addition the Bishop wrote to the King presenting his version of the incident. There was more at stake here for the Bishop than a sacrilegious act, he was about to announce his retirement and he intended to spend his remaining life among the well appointed cloisters of Viðey. The letter was signed by all the clergy of Skálholt and a good many of the laity. The attitudes and actions of these government representatives were doubtless the result of a general malaise caused by the civil war in the kingdom. The opportunism that sparked the raid was indicative of officials awarding themselves liberties they neither possessed nor would have claimed in more irenic times.
Undaunted by official and popular outcry, van Minden set off in August with ten men intent on repeating the dissolution at the convent at Kirkjubaer and the monastery of Þykkvabaer in the South-East . On his journey, in a clear act of colonial antagonism, he decided to stop and spend the night at Bishop Ögmundur’s residence. In spite of being well received he roundly abused his host who in turn warned him that the members of his diocese would not tolerate such behaviour. Hearing his words Jón Hedinsson, a priest and councillor to the Bishop, sent word out to the people of the district informing them of what had taken place. An impromptu boendur force was mustered and van Minden and his men were killed shortly afterwards on 10 August 1539. The case was tried in Iceland before a jury and the farmers who had taken part were each acquitted. The court also concluded that no wergild (compensatory fine) should be paid since those who had died had done so while committing a criminal act. The Althing of the following year endorsed this decision and granted Ögmundur a full dispensation. It went on to dismiss van der Marwitzen claiming that his criminal acts had disqualified him and made him unfit to receive the Royal tax. For his part, the Governor dispatched a report to the King in which he laid the blame for the incident squarely at Ögmundur’s feet accusing him of instigating the boendur.
When Gizur Einarsson heard of the murder of van Minden he was in Hamburg seeking an audience with the King as the suggested successor to Ögmundur, who had by now announced his full retirement. The grim news was embellished with rumours that the Bishop of Skálholt had ordered the executions and that he intended to extend his campaign of murder to the German traders who were wintering in Iceland. Gizur obviously felt himself under some threat as an Icelandic ecclesiastic in a German city and he wrote an enraged letter to Ögmundur accusing him of endangering his life. Curiously he wrote at the same time to the King and attempted to exonerate his Bishop.
Gizur was appointed, though not yet consecrated, superintendent and on his return to Iceland in 1540 he received a rather surprising welcome as the new Superintendent at the Althing where he laid before them the Ordinance with a letter from the King demanding its adoption. This was greeted by a heated exchange orchestrated by Arason until finally the Ordinance was rejected. The Althing then sent a letter to the King from twenty-four of its members indicating their position and adding a petition that requested a new government. It complained that the old one did ‘not know or keep the law of the land and is not of the Old Norse tongue [Icelandic]’. The King’s situation forced him to be conciliatory: he recalled the Governor van der Marwitzen, and even went so far as to imprison him.
The event caused Christian III to take a more active interest in Iceland. He responded by sending his emissary, Christoffer Huitfeldt, along with two warships and two hundred soldiers to investigate the crime. A significant reaction from an impecunious and war weary realm. The King had preferred an even more direct and violent response but in deference to the commercial interest of the traders of Hamburg, he took a more restrained course of action. This may seem like a rather remarkable indulgence for the people of a foreign city to receive, however the commercial sector of the Hanseactic port had considerable influence because of their economic investment in Iceland. An investment that Christian III could ill afford to disregard.
Huitfeldt arrived in Iceland in May 1541 with three directives: to oversee the adoption of the new code, to elicit an oath of allegiance from the Althing, and to enforce a new landshjálp (tax). In this he would be assisted by Gizur Einarsson who been universally accepted by the clergy of the diocese as their sitting Superintendent on 28 June 1540; the document of acceptance even included the names of Alexíus Pálsson, Abbot of Viðey and Abbot Halldór of Helgafell. An impressive declaration of support, however Gizur must have been only too aware that his position would have little substance so long as Ögmundur was still present. It is worth noting that there was a fundamental distinction in the superintendentship of Gizur in that he was a Royal and not a papal appointee. He was the King’s servant, dependent on him and with all the social prestige such a close association would bring with it. With this in mind there were also clear indications that the Catholic Icelandic elite were experiencing a certain level of insecurity with regard to former privileges and rights of ownership. Conditions were placed on Gizur obliging him to respect former warranties. However difficulties quickly arose in the Autumn of that year when the new incumbent began the task of ordering the diocesan bookkeeping. According to tradition Ögmundur was obliged to hand over the see in the same condition that he had received it. The same tradition stipulated that Gizur was entitled to claim back any property or lands that had been unlawfully escheated. Contemporary sources provide evidence of a great many disputes at this time from farmers counter-claiming that their naturally inherited estates were being threatened. The fraught nature of these disputes was added to by a complex law that stated that it was the landowner who owned the church if the church owned less than half of the adjoining land. Gizur seems to have inherited a diocese from his predecessor that was in a state of economic neglect. Although in Ögmundur’s favour it has to be said that he had not enjoyed a trouble free incumbency, which had begun with the burning of his Cathedral Church. A disaster that had to be reverted with money from episcopal funds.
As Gizur set out on a programme of reappropriation tension grew between him and his old patron. Harsh letters were exchanged in which they reminded each other of their confirmed oaths. Gizur had apparently sworn an oath of obedience to the Bishop, and the Bishop had in turn sworn not to dispose of ecclesiastical holdings. In a letter of 1540 Gizur denied ever having made such an oath and he accused Ögmundur of selling the fortunes of Skálholt Cathedral. At the same time as he was pointing an accusing finger Gizur was desperately in need of building an alliance of his own. Rather ironically he found that building a support base obliged him to employ the time honoured method of distributing land, property and privileges; the very charge he was levelling at his Bishop. In a letter to Jón Arason in the winter of 1541 it was Ögmundur’s turn to complain. He told the Bishop of Hólar that many people had received estates, ministries and other privileges from Gizur in return for support. Nor was the deterioration in their relationship merely about economics. Circumstances may have coerced Ögmundur into nominating Gizur as his successor but it is clear that his evangelical leanings were a cause of concern. Ögmundur did much to inhibit Gizur’s efforts to spread the Reformed doctrine. So successful was the Bishop in promulgating a negative image of Gizur that any attempts to promote the Reformed faith were largely met with a sneering rejection from the Skálholt clergy.
The new Superintendent position began to grow precarious, in spite of his efforts he had managed to glean little support and he was beginning to suspect that certain individuals were plotting treason. In these circumstances it became apparent that he needed to draw the Danish into the situation. So long as they did not interfere the old Bishop would continue to be the focus of peoples’ loyalty and he would be left to rely only on the support of a small group of intellectuals, his brothers and the few opportunists that he had managed to persuade to join him. Gizur set about a frantic letter writing campaign addressing several to the ‘Provost Sigillus.’ In others he appealed to two Icelandic officials, Þorleifur Eiríksson and Erlendur Þorvarðsson. The latter was a powerful man and typical of the type of rowdy personality that would snatch the opportunity to gain power on the back of any type of social upheaval. Suspecting that Ögmundur was forming an alliance with his old enemy Jón Arason, Gizur set up a meeting with Erlendur at Eyrarbakki. He rightly guessed that Erlendur would be a formidable ally if Ögmundur was planning to hand over Skálholt to Arason. Such a move would have been perfectly legal given that it could reasonably be claimed that since the Archbishop of Nidaros had been deposed and the Bishop of Skálholt was retired, Arason was the senior clergyman of the Archdiocese. Regardless of this Gizur accused the two Bishops of treason.
Working on his own initiative Huitfeldt set about the arrest of the aged Bishop in an unedifying incident that did little to endear the Danish regime or promote the Reformation to the Icelandic people. Ögmundur had been warned by friends to retire for safekeeping to the Monastery of Þykkvabaer. Making his way there the Bishop stopped at Hjalli, at his sister’s farm, where he stayed for a while. Whilst he was there, sometime in either May or June, 14 men were sent out with orders to arrest him. Ögmundur was taken from his bed in the middle of the night, roughly treated and sent with little clothing to Bessastaðir where a ship was waiting to take him to Denmark. From the ship the Bishop instructed a priest to lead his captors to his valuables that he had hidden on his sister’s estate. If the pitiful account of what took place is to be trusted then the Danes were indiscriminate in their plundering.
Among the treasure was an agnus dei that she [the sister] owned…which she retrieved; but when they [the Danes] returned south they promised once more that they would release him [Ögmundur] if they had it back. His sister gave it to them but nothing happened. Thereon they promised him freedom if he surrendered his lands to the King. This he did but they were by rights his sister’s property, which she swore under oath at the Althing, but she never recovered them…When the Bishop reached [Denmark]the King was reputed to be unhappy that he had been taken as he was blind, and had him placed in a monastery where around the feast of Candlemas he died.
Sources differ on whether he died on the journey or survived a few years after his arrival in Denmark living in the Monastery of Sorø. In any event he never set foot in his native country again. Gizur Einarsson is implicated in the event by a letter that he wrote in Low German to Huitfeldt urging him ‘not to let the old fox loose on the land again…lest the people raise an uproar.’ Jón Halldórson implicates Gizur further, claiming that he wrote to Ögmundur assuring him that he had no need to fear the King’s emissary. If this is true then it would seem certain that Gizur was guilty of a serious breach of trust. Other historians of the period are less certain of the complicity of Gizur in the affair. Whether guilty or not history has tended to be a harsh judge of Gizur Einarsson, often regarding him as some sort of Icelandic traitor. However it would be wrong to judge him by the standards of modern conceptions of national identity. Icelandic people would have regarded themselves as part of the Norwegian Kingdoms and it is anachronistic to assume that they had developed a sense of independent national identity at this stage. If we concede that Gizur betrayed his Bishop we cannot conclude from this that he betrayed his country. This said, his part in the affair did not go unnoticed and he was rewarded shortly after when he was sent to Copenhagen where he was examined by their theologians. Apparently satisfying the scholars Gizur was then fully consecrated as superintendent. Jón Arason was now the last remaining Catholic bishop in the Danish territories.
A revolt from below
When the Althing met at Þingvellir in 1541 it did so under drawn sword, Gizur Einarsson presented it with a translation of the Ordinance. The manuscript is still extant and it is interesting to note that Gizur took the liberty of shortening the text. Both the new landshjálp and the Ordinance were accepted by the diocese of Skálholt; Arason and the clergy of Hólar were not present . When Jón had received the reports of the arrest of his fellow bishop he had been on his way to attend the Althing. The news caused them to turn back. Instead of attending Jón and his son Ari communicated with Huitfeldt via a series of letters. One such letter swore allegiance before upbraiding the Crown for not honouring the established laws,
We received a communication this summer which bore the King’s seal, it stated that government officials would keep the laws and good Christian customs which have always been observed in our land. Placing our trust in this we set off for the Althing from the north to Kalmanstunga in Borgarfjord. There we received news that Bishop Ögmundur had been taken captive against his will and that his property had been taken without any judicial proceedings. From this we conclude that the provisions provided in the Royal letter which his Lordship has sent have in no wise been maintained. And of this we are certain, that the liberty, privileges and sworn agreements have been disregarded many times [recently] by the King’s government in our land.
Ari endorsed his father in similar tones; he pledged his allegiance but only in accordance of the old law book known as Jónsbók, as well as the Old Covenant. This letter was signed by most of the leading men of the country, with the notable exception of Gizur Einarsson. Ari was, at this time Lawman. A highly elevated position dating back to the thirteenth century which entitled him to select judges from among the members of the Althing. When he added his signature he attached his resignation which was duly accepted.
After this inauspicious exchange a surprisingly accommodating relationship appears to have been worked out between the northern Catholic and the southern Lutheran dioceses which seems to have been the result of a pact. It was a relationship that Jón Arason went so far as to describe as both ‘fraternal’ and an ‘unbreachable friendship.’ Possibly a unique example of trans-confessional co-operation in sixteenth-century Europe, it undoubtedly owed a good deal to Gizur’s approach to Reforming which was decidedly tentative. In spite of his bumpy start he began to display diplomatic skills that John Hood described as, ‘tempering the harsh wind of State Lutheranism to the shorn lambs…of the old regime.’
On June 15 1541 Arason called a diocesan council which agreed to pay the landshjálp and assist the Royal officials so long as they maintained the ‘Norwegian and Icelandic laws, old liberties and lawful customs.’ In the late summer of that year Huitfeldt delivered the much needed money into the Royal treasurey. Elsewhere, the Lawmen Erlendur Þorvarðsson, Þorleifur Pálsson and Pétur Andrésson von Tønsberg passed sentence on the murderers of van Minden who were banished and declared to be at the mercy of the King.
At Miðdalur in 1542 Gizur read the Ordinance to a gathering of his leading clergy and pressed them to provide a definite answer to it. In effect the Ordinance set out a programme of general reform in the ecclesiastical mechanisms whilst skirting over doctrinal issues. A tactical move, which sought to restructure the Church, with the minimum of fuss as a basis for a future programme of evangelisation. For this reason it employed loose terms over precise dictums. With regard to general improvements it decreed that there would be masters in each city and town to provide grounding for the young people in ‘reliable teaching.’ In ceremonial matters it looked for ‘uniformities’ to be adopted, ‘so that lower differing rites be not followed.’ Provisions were made for the clergy and the poor and ‘superintendents’ were declared to be the true bishops and archbishops of the churches. Ordinations were to be conducted by superintendent, but with presbyters who would join in with the laying on of hands. It went on to provide stipulations for the ordination of superintendents who would be ordained in the principal town of his see, before the altar. The ceremony would be conferred by the provost and five to six neighbouring clergy. The maintenance of the superintendent was also provided for.
The Superintendent with an honest wife and children shall have two maids for domestic purposes, a notary, a groom and four-horse carriage, a page and foster son, with a view to being trained for ordination.
It also provided the titles of required books as a type of essential Reformed reading list. Aside from the Bible clergy were prescribed Luther’s sermons and Lesser Catechism, Melanchthon’s Apologies and The New Order Book. Twenty-eight of them acquiesced, among them Alexíus Pálsson the Abbot of Viðey. At the same time they expressed their hopes that there would be no lessening of the financial support for the clergy and that the traditional rights ascribed to the churches and monasteries would be maintained. Six priests emphatically rejected the Ordinance including Abbot Sigvarður of the Þykkvabaer monastery. Nevertheless as they did so they prudently pledged their loyalty to the King. It is impossible to say whether the signatories were acting on their own initiative or were representative of the views of the general clergy. At the time of these events the total number of priests in Skálholt was 150.
As Gizur settled into his role one of his first acts was to get rid of the custom of concubinage. The new Bishop ordered that priests of his diocese ought to be married or celibate. Nevertheless, the fact that priests who had officially refused to accept the Church Ordinance at a synod were permitted to retain their office is an indication of his cautious approach. In 1543 a supplement to the Church Ordinance, the Riber Article arrived in Iceland. This included detailed regulations concerning the election and economic requirements of pastors. It also attempted to discipline the laity by introducing bans and punishments for misdemeanours. Gizur was at this time experiencing great difficulty procuring candidates for ordination with the right Reformed training. A difficulty that the Article would have done little to mitigate and one that often resulted in him ordaining un-trained men. Gizur was not however completely beyond instigating bold reforming actions; it is reported that ‘from a mistaken zeal,’ he removed the precious ornaments from the tomb of St. Þorlak, covering it instead with a more sober copper gilt. Although Gizur was sensible enough to wait until 1548 to take down the Kaldaðarnes cross, an important and popular focus of pilgrimage. It is significant that, unlike later Reformers, Gizur was unable to destroy this totemic object choosing instead to put it into storage.
In addition to Gizur’s moderation, the type of Lutheranism provided by the Ordinance was both flexible and anti-doctrinal, Christian III actively discouraged debate. The general thrust of the Scandinavian Reformation has been identified as liberal, Philipist and cryto-Calvinist. The Danish had formulated their Reformation faith at the Diet of Copenhagen in 1530. The resulting Confessio Hafniensis has a poplular and polemical quality that distinguishes it from the Ausburg Confession, justification by faith has less of the centrality. It focuses on practicalities such as organisation of ministry and rearrangements of liturgical practice. N. K Anderson pointed out that the, ‘Danish reformers had sprung from biblical humanism and had not experienced Luther’s struggles in the cloister.’ When the movement was exported to Iceland this meant that it could easily be presented as a general ‘reform’ rather than a fundamental shift of doctrine. Icelanders call their Reformation, ‘sidaskipti,’ change of fashion; though curiously in one particular area the Scandinavian Reformation appears to be more strident than its German forebear. In its approach to the Bible there was a stronger emphasis on it as the ‘Law of Christ.’ In this regard it was more literal and unquestioning than Luther would have advocated. Certainly there appears to be no Lutheran differentiation between the Gospel and the Law.
In 1542 the Bishop and the Superintendent had been summoned to attend the King. Arason wisely excused himself on the grounds of ill-health, sending his son Sigurður in his stead with an assurance that he would observe whatever was agreed upon by the parties, ‘as far as I can, am permitted, and am able to do.’ Accompanying him were Arason’s son-in-law and another deputy, Ólafur Hjaltason. Little can be known about the exact exchange between the envoys and the Danish King but we are told that all of them signed the Ordinance. At least one of them was performing more than a gesture by providing his name since Olafur continued to preach Reformed doctrine in the diocese of Hólar on his return. It is worth noting that he did so for several years with little interference from his Bishop. In summary the exchange between the two parties seems to have resulted in a policy agreement which amounted to a pledge not to interfere in the diocese of Hólar in return for the payment of substantial taxes.
For a number of years relations between the Crown and Iceland remained calm as Christian III came to regard it more as a source of revenue than a part of his Kingdom. Since the arrival of Huitfeldt Iceland had continued to be something of a Danish milch cow. In 1545 the King had personally received 6.4 Kg. of silver which his Proconsul, Otte Stigsen, had procured from the diocese of Holar. These where modest sums on a European scale and the King explored other options that would increase his returns. In 1533, at the height of the civil war a rather desperate offer had been made to Henry VIII in England who was to have been given Iceland, along with Orkney, in return for his help in the conflict with the Lubeckers. Henry clearly had problems enough of his own and the deal did not go through but a similar deal granted the country to the Mayor of Copenhagen in 1547 for a certain yearly tax. In 1551 Captains Christoffer Throndson and Axel Juul confiscated the last remaining treasure from the Cathedral of Hólar and the three northern monasteries. In total Iceland contributed the equivalent of 190 Kg of silver to the landshjálp, frustratingly little to the Danish Crown perhaps: it was enormously significant to the following generations of Icelanders. On gaining the throne Christian III, together with his chancellor Johan Friis, made strenuous efforts to stabilize the finances of their Kingdom. Efforts which were largely successful in paying off debts and facilitating state reforms. For their part the monasteries and cloisters of Denmark, Norway and Iceland paid heavily toward the cost of such improvements.
The harmonious modus vivendi between the northern and southern dioceses came to an end with the premature death, aged thirty-six, of Bishop Gizur in 1548. Ominously for the promoters of Reform had fallen sick on his way home from removing the Kaldaðarnes Cross. The existence of the vacant see in Iceland drew both sides away from their mutual deference and onto a course that could result only in the victory of one side over the other. During the dynastic shake up of the Danish throne the Archdiocese of Nidaros had been dissolved, leaving Iceland with no metropolitan. It also meant that Arason had no ecclesiastical superior other than the Pope. In these circumstances, and given that Archbishop Engelbertsson had invested him with legislative powers, Arason naturally concluded that to all intents and purposes he was the loco archiepiepiscopi. For this reason, at the death of Gizur, the Bishop of Hólar deemed it incumbent upon himself to intervene. In June he convoked a synod at Skálholt and presided over the election of Sigvarður Halldórsson who had been the Abbot of Þykkvabaer. Countering this move the clergy and laymen who had imbibed enough of Gizur’s rather tepid Reformation elected Marteinn Einarsson as their bishop. Both claimants set off for Denmark, though Marteinn managed to steal a march on his rival and arrived there before him. Whatever this advantage afforded him it was his religious sympathies that recommended him to the throne. Marteinn was duly consecrated by Archbishop Palladius using the new service and he returned to Iceland in 1549 as the new state approved Superintendent of Skálholt. The disappointed Abbot who was denied access to the throne decided to throw in his lot with the Reformation and he died in Denmark two years later as a confirmed Lutheran.
When Marteinn Einarsson returned to his native country he came bearing a summons for the arrest of Arason. He also carried with him a letter to the Icelandic people explaining the summons on the grounds that ‘He [Arason] has treated us with disrespect, and in no wise regarded our letters.’ It added that it had come to the King’s attention that Arason had been conducting Confirmations, and ‘other unspeakable things.’ On landing Bishop Marteinn proceeded to the Althing and convoked a synod which dutifully declared Bishop Jón’s activities in Skálholt as void.
Arason rightly regarded the summons as illegal according to the terms of the Old Covenant. Clearly deciding that attack was the best form of defence he drove south with a small army of 100 men in order to take control of the diocese. Unfortunately for him Skálholt had been fortified by Pétur Einarsson, who was a trained soldier and Arason was driven back.
In February 1549 the King addressed another letter to the Icelandic people informing them that the Bishop of Hólar had failed to obey his summons; it also indicted him for oppressing the King’s subjects. With this in mind Arason was now to be considered outlawed and consequently must not be obeyed, followed or aided by any means. A second royal letter that year was addressed to Daði Guðmundsson who was a powerful landowner and brother-in-law of Marteinn. The letter instructed Daði to arrest Arason in order that a Danish invasion might be allayed. In the summer of the same year Arason also received an important letter that was to lend enormous encouragement to his cause. The communication came from Pope Paul III in response to an appeal from Arason. The Bishop of Hólar milked the occasion for all it was worth, the Pope’s reply was received amid great ceremony at the Cathedral church. Arason donned his finest episcopal attire, with four priests either side of him, he stood arms aloft as the letter was read before the altar. The letter ran;
Venerable Brother,
Greetings and Apostolic blessings. We have received your letter 23 August past, giving full account of your loyalty to God, and your observance and obedience towards us and the Holy See, for which we commend you exceedingly to God’s care. We extol you to unity with the Church in the coming troubles and commend you to the praise of all mankind and to God’s eternal life in heaven. As for Peter’s pence we are truly happy and indebted. We designate you to keep it. Hold fast on to it. According to custom put it to the use of the poor, according to their needs, of which you have seen and can judge. God willing, may you never be left wanting. May the Almighty God bless you and your flock.
Arason vowed to God and the congregation that he would die rather than be unfaithful to the Pope and the Church. With this bold gesture the Bishop declared his open intent to engage in an all out confessional struggle.
At first glance Arason’s defiance of the Crown seems either hubristic or just foolhardy, given the superior forces of the Danish army, and also given the fact that half the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of his country had already succumbed to the Reformation. However a number of events may have buoyed his resolve including the recent victories at Mühlberg of the Emperor over the Shmalkaldic League (of which Christian III was a member). Denmark had already been weakened by an exhausting civil war which may have also suggested that little appetite remained with them for further confrontation. We know that Arason had sent several letters to Charles V at the same time that he was corresponding with the Pope. The letter to the Emperor, asking him to take Iceland and maintain the proper religion, was sent with a Dutch messenger who was apprehended in Germany.
In the late summer, armed with a Papal endorsement and no doubt enlivened by events on the Continent, Arason deployed his two sons, Ari and Bjorn south along with a retinue of 100 men. A rather legendary tale tells us that Ari had attempted to dissuade his father from taking a military course of action but he was shamed into action by his mother who employed the traditional custom of presenting a woman’s skirt. The raiding party managed an early success as they captured Marteinn Einarsson with little trouble at a parsonage beneath Snaefellsjökul as he was returning from an episcopal visitation.
The success of this venture obviously lent Arason confidence and he pressed on with his campaign. There was also, at this juncture, a clear indication of a diocesan policy shift when he finally took action against Olafur Hjaltason who had been preaching Lutheran doctrine since his return from Denmark. Olafur was deprived of his orders causing him to return to the Royal court to plead his case. The King responded with a letter to Hólar which once more denounced Arason as an outlaw and announced that Gísli Jónsson was his legitimate successor. In 1550 Arason rode to the Althing with 200 men, he was followed by two of his sons, Ari and Björn each with 100 men. Once there, acting in the capacity of visitor of Skálholt, Arason issued a declaration that threatened Gísli Jónsson (by now a prominent clergyman of the diocese) with excommunication if he did not make full satisfaction. Among the charges brought against him were that he made several declarations abjuring to obey any bishop that might wear a mitre or was a monk. Nor, apparently, would he submit to canon law that taught heretical doctrines and that he had foresworn the veneration of the Blessed Virgin. On hearing the declaration Gísli also fled to the sanctuary of the Danish court.
At this time the Throne appears to have adopted a two pronged approach to the recalcitrant Bishop. On the one hand they were offering him inducements and on the other they were stepping up their campaign of intimidation. In March 1550 Bishop Peter Palladius wrote to Arason and whilst he communicated disapproval, he also offered a tempting olive branch. Palladius cautioned Arason for putting his faith in the Pope, who had now died (as perhaps the volcanic Mount Hekla had born witness). He advised him to turn to the true faith and after wintering in Denmark he might return to his see and facilitate its Reform. More royal letters were dispatched to Iceland, this time the King addressed the people of Hólar reminding them that their Bishop had been declared outlaw and urging them to elect his successor. It added by way of a suggestion that they might find a suitable candidate in Gísli Jónsson. Another letter once more urged Daði Guðmundsson and Pétur Einarsson to aid the Governor, Laurentius Mule to arrest Arason. The Bishop of Hólar remained undaunted and at the next Althing he presented with his prisoner Marteinn Einarsson. Here, in the presence of Laurentius, Arason was declared the rightful administrator of Skáholt by a jury of clerics. This done the Althing went on to reinstate Ari as Lawman. At the conclusion of the Althing Arason continued to flex his muscles as he rode south to Skálholt which, this time, yielded to him without resistance. Once there he set about reconsecrating the Cathedral as well as obtaining from the administrator and six attendant clerics a declaration of fealty to the Church of Rome. He then had his men locate the grave of Gizur Einarsson and when the body was exhumed he ordered that it be thrown in a pit. Having done all this Arason was said to have uttered a sentence that has ensured its place in Icelandic culture when he declared, ‘Nú hefi ég undir mér alt Ísland, utan hálfan annan kotungs son, Now all Iceland is in my power, except one peasant and half another.’
From here Arason pressed on to the dissolved monastery at Viðey. There he drove out the Danish occupants and restoring the old Abbot he returned it to its monastic function. He repeated this at the monastery of Helgafell and on the completion of certain other episcopal duties he returned to his own diocese with his men.
The death of the Bishop and the death of Catholic Iceland
In the Autumn of 1550 Arason decided to consolidate his power with a pre-emptive strike on Daði Guðmundsson, his last significant enemy in Iceland. The fact that he took less than 100 men, along with his two sons, on this venture indicates that he was confident of success. Daði’s estate lay at Sauðafell and it had already been claimed for Ari. Their sortie failed and the Bishop’s party were captured as they sought sanctuary in a church.
Arason and his sons were taken to Snóksdalur. On 23 October 1550 they were handed over to the Christian Skriver, the Governor’s representative, who was charged by a jury to ensure their safe keeping until the next Althing. Daði, Bishop Marteinn and Christian Skriver took the prisoners to Skálholt where they began to consider the problem of keeping such high profile captives. The legal process demanded that they retained Arason and his sons until the next Althing, however this meant keeping them throughout the winter. During the winter months men from the north would be journeying south to the fishing grounds, presenting a real threat; one that it was doubtful the captors had the resources to face. The matter was discussed over a number of days without resolution until a clergyman by the name of Jón Bjarnason was reported to have said that although he was the most foolish person present he knew of a method of keeping the prisoners. When pressed on this he is said to have declared, ‘The axe and the earth will keep them best.’ With that it was declared that in spite of the jury’s order, and without a trial, they would proceed with the death sentence. On 6 November Skriver addressed a gathering in which he outlined the crimes of the prisoners. The next day at the block Arason was offered his life for a recantation, to which he merely expressed a wish to accompany his sons. At the seventh blow of the axe he was dead along with any hope of retaining the Catholic faith in Iceland.
In the short term at least however, it transpired that Catholic Iceland had not quite finished the battle and after the executions events proved that the concerns of their captors were justified. Probably at the instigation of Arason’s daughter, Þórunn, a party of thirty to sixty men came south from Hólar seeking revenge. That winter they killed Christian Skriver and all the Danes in the area, baring one. A last gesture of resistance which signified the death throws of the old order rather than any real revolt, nevertheless the Danish administration was for a time wiped out.
In 1551 Christian III, before the news of Arason’s death had reached him, sent four warships with a force of 300 men to Iceland. Two of them were under the command of the renowned captain, Axel Juul. Two of the ships landed at Oddeyri where they quickly set up a court that condemned Arason and his sons as traitors who had been rightly executed. On 15 June that year the people of Hólar were forced to swear an oath of loyalty to the King. The next day a jury of twenty-four men declared that Arason and his sons had been traitors and that consequently their possessions were forfeit to the Crown. The Danish force remained in the diocese throughout the summer divesting the Cathedral and various monasteries of their treasure. In October the same year Ólafur Hjaltason became the new bishop of Hólar. He was presented with the diocese by the King and he was consecrated by Peter Palladius who was by now taking a special interest in Iceland. This invasion, together with the invading force that had captured Bishop Ögmundur ten years previously, were indicative of the growing power of the Danish Kingdom. After they had settled their internal problems they began to emerge as a more powerful state with the financial and technical ability to obtain a tighter grip on their dominions. Denmark was also emerging as an absolutist monarchy and Christian III was perfectly aware of how the removal of an independent ecclesiastical establishment would be an enabling factor in this political drive. Icelanders had enjoyed nearly 300 years of relative freedom on the edge of the Kingdom, but faced with such superior invading forces there was little that they could do except pledge their loyalty and hope that they would not suffer too much from the change in relations. In 1552 the diocese of Hólar submitted to the Danish throne and accepted the Church Ordinance indicating that, at institutional level at least, the changing of fashions was complete. Writing in the 1940s John Hood commented,
Thus… the Reformation was launched in Iceland, or rather all external opposition and obstruction to such launching had been removed. The State [Danish] contribution had been negative and destructive, and the use of material force had hindered rather than helped the movement of the spirit, except that it was given an opportunity for freely getting under way, though in an atmosphere clouded with apathy and sullen ill-will.
