The Christianization of Iceland: Priests, Power, and Social Change 1000-1300

by Orri Vïsteinsson

Overview

This study investigates the role played by the Christian church in the development of power structures in Iceland, from the conversion in AD 1000 to the end of the thirteenth century. It demonstrates that by the time of the union with the Norwegian kingdom in 1262, fundamental constitutional changes had been brought about as a direct consequence of Christianization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198207993
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/27/2000
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	8.82(w) x 5.92(h) x 1.02(d)

Table of Contents

IntroductionI: Prehistory1. The Conversion2. The Early Bishops3. Early Evidence of Priests4. Early Church BuildingII: The First Christian Institutions5. The Idea of a Golden Age, 1080-1122St Jon6. The Tithe Law of 1097III: Churches and Property7. Churches in Narrative Sources8. The Charter Evidence9. The Evidence of Legal Sources10. Private Churches11. Origins of Religious HousesIV: The Bishops12. The Bishops and Family Politics13. Bishops as Chieftains14. Reform and ReactionV: The Priests15. Shortage of Priests in the Twelfth Century16. Chieftain-Priests in the Twelfth Century17. The Status of Priests according to the Old Christian Law Section18. Priesthood and Social Mobility19. The Shaping of Clerical IdentityVI: The Church and the Increase on Social ComplexityBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Vésteinsson's book skillfully draws on a wide range of historical and archaeological sources in order to challenge and revise traditional assumptions about the development of ecclesiastical institutions in medieval Iceland...a valuable resource for any historian interested both in the development of ecclesiastical institutions and in the relationships between ecclesiastical and socio-political institutions in medieval Europe." — Lutheran Quarterly

"[T]his book is important for anyone who wishes to understand the development of Icelandic society after the Saga Age."—Europe: Ancient and Medieval

"Never before has an English language publication been so ambitious in presenting us with so much detail on Iceland and Christianity in the Middle Ages....(The book) presents Iceland, not isolated and unaware of the world at large, but as an island deeply connected to the international Church of Rome and European civilization....For serious students of Icelandic history, The Christianization of Iceland is indeed a rare book, the kind that comes along once in a century."—Norway Times

"Vesteinsson's thesis is based on a careful reading of the sources, particularly the sagas and the law code Gragas. Many scholars have already studied those sources in detail, but Vesteinsson is very good at extracting useful information without pressing the sources to say what he wants them to say, as many of his predecessors have done....The Christianization of Iceland is an important book that puts the study of Icelandic society during the Commonwealth period on new and securer footing. It will be valuable to scholars studying the medieval history of Iceland or Europe."—History

From the Publisher