Download or read book The Christianization of Iceland written by Orri Vesteinsson and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2000-05-18 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this first historical study of High-Medieval Iceland to be published in English, Dr Vesteinsson investigates the influence of the Christian Church on the formation of the earliest state structures in Iceland, from the conversion in 1000 to the union with Norway in 1262. In the history of mankind states and state structures have usually been established before the advent of written records. As a result historians are rarely able to trace with certainty the early development of complex structures of government. In Iceland, literacy and the practice of native history writing had been established by the beginning of the twelfth century; whereas the formation of a centralised government did not occur until more than a hundred years later. The early development of statelike structures has therefore been unusually well chronicled, in the Icelandic Sagas, and in the historical records of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Based on this wealth of material,The Christianization of Iceland is an important contribution to the discussion on the formation of states.
Download or read book Property and Virginity written by Agnes Siggerour Arnorsdottir and published by Aarhus Universitetsforlag. This book was released on 2010-05-31 with total page 533 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity changed the culture and society of Iceland, as it also did in other parts of Northern Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. One of the important areas of change involved the introduction of new rules on the legal requirements for marriage. Property and Virginity examines Icelandic law codes, marriage contracts, and other documents related to court proceedings. Based on extensive source material never researched before, this pioneer study explores the very gradual Christianization of marriage in Iceland. It shows that this process, which lasted for hundreds of years, had consequences for family and kinship politics, for inheritance and property transfer, and for gender relations. As canon law began to change the old ritual of betrothal, the virginal state of the woman entering marriage gained greater importance. At the same time, marriage in the Late Middle Ages continued to include many elements of its older understanding as a contract concerning property transfer between families. A new perception of gender relations also arose, whereby women became partners in the actual contract-making. The 'handshake' was now between the husband and wife, instead of between the father of the bride and her future husband. The rituals connected to the different bonds gained new meaning: marriage was no longer a financial matter alone, but also involved religious beliefs and a closer union of the spouses.
Download or read book Force of Words A Cultural History of Christianity and Politics in Medieval Iceland 11th 13th Centuries written by Haraldur Hreinsson and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-03-29 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Haraldur Hreinsson examines the social and political significance of the Christian religion as the Roman Church was taking hold in medieval Iceland in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries.
Download or read book The Conversion of Iceland written by Dag Strömbäck and published by Viking S on. This book was released on 1975 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book And Some Fell Into Good Soil written by Michael Fell and published by Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers. This book was released on 1999 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of Christianity in Iceland from the first settlement of the country around AD 870 to the present time. Three major turning points are emphasized: the official conversion of Iceland to Christianity, the Reformation, and the transition to the modern age around 1900. Discussion encompasses recent issues such as the charismatic and evangelical revival within the National Church, religious pluralism, and the New Age movement and believers in Old Norse gods. The last history of Icelandic Christianity in English was published in 1946. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Download or read book Under the Cloak written by Jón Hnefill Aðalsteinsson and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes its title from the momentous decision of the Icelandic law-giver, Thorgeir, in AD 1000, to adopt Christianity as the island's official religion. According to tradition, this was taken as he lay "under a cloak", presumably seeking inspiration from his, pagan, deities. First published in 1979, the present edition expands its discussion of the background to this peacable adoption of the new faith, and its growth under succeeding generations. The author shows how tolerance and pragmatism were early features of the Icelandic church.
Download or read book The Conversion of Iceland a Political Event written by Marc Neininger and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2007-12 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essay from the year 2004 in the subject History Europe - Other Countries - Middle Ages, Early Modern Age, grade: 1,0, The University of Western Ontario, course: Old Iceland, 7 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The conversion of Iceland in the year 1000 A.D. was doubtlessly an event of great importance in the history of the country. This is reflected in the number of sources that give an account of the happenings; here especially the Islendigabok, written by Ari the Wise, has to be named foremost, since it is our oldest and also most reliable source (St mb ck 18; A alsteinsson 55). Ari wrote the Islendigabok some time in the years between 1122 and 1132. He himself states that "it is our duty to give preference to that which is proved to be most correct" (Ari 59). The Islendigabok can indeed be seen as the first work of Historiography in Iceland. One reason for this is that Ari names his major sources and refers to them when he talks about singular events ...] When the Al ing accepted Christianity the consequences must have been clear. The ignorance and indifference towards Christianity thereafter shows that the actual event of the Conversion was a political one, and only on a secondary level a religious one. The conversion to Christianity was a long process that became more serious only with the second bishop of Iceland, Gizur Isleifsson from on. The reason for the acceptance of Christianity remains obscure. I believe, though, that there was pressure from King Olaf Tryggvason. This would explain the optimism of Gizur the White and Hjalti when they came to the Al ing. This pressure might range from persecution of Icelanders to war to economical repressions. The menacing collapse of the Icelandic commonwealth might also play a role. However, even if these assumptions would turn out to be incorrect, the conversion of Iceland in the year 1000 A.D. still remains to a very large degree a political event.
Download or read book Iceland s Relationship with Norway c 870 c 1100 written by Ann-Marie Long and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2017-07-03 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Iceland’s Relationship with Norway c.870 – c.1100: Memory, History and Identity, Ann-Marie Long reassesses the development of Icelandic society from the earliest settlements to the twelfth century. Through a series of thematic studies, the book discusses the place of Norway in Icelandic cultural memory and how Icelandic authors envisioned and reconstructed their past. It examines in particular how these authors instrumentalized Norway to explain the changing parameters of Icelandic autonomy. Over time this strategy evolved to meet the needs of thirteenth-century Icelandic politics as well as the demands posed by the transition from autonomous island to Norwegian dependency.
Download or read book Survivals of Paganism in Christian Medieval Iceland written by Deborah Grossman and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the summer of the year 1000 A.D., the General Assembly of Iceland voted to convert to Christianity. The basis for this decision was political rather than religious, as it was to prevent civil dissension. This factor influenced the subsequent impact of Christianity on Icelandic society, and made possible the survival of numerous pagan practices and values. Contemporary literary sources, especially the Icelandic Family sagas, not only cover the conversion of Iceland, the ensuing conflicts and tensions between paganism and Christianity, and pagan survivals under Christianity, they also include many descriptions of pagan religion and pre-Christian society in Iceland. A study of the Family sagas requires a knowledge of pre-Christian Germanic religion and society, of Christianization of Scandinavia in general the conversion and Iceland in particular, and of the different forms of literature which have preserved this information. Background information on Germanic paganism is important for the study of Scandinavia paganism, as the two are closely related. Information on Germanic paganism comes mostly from Roman accounts, such as the Germania by Tacitus, and archaeological evidence. A more specific study of Scandinavian paganism is necessary to understand pre-Christian society in Iceland, and to understand the conflicts which later arose between Christianity and paganism. The Poetic Edda is one of the most important sources of information on Scandinavian paganism, as well as archaeological discoveries. The conversion and Christianization of Iceland was a process covering over 200 years, affecting all aspects of Icelandic society. Iceland was the last of the four Scandinavian countries to be converted, and it also produced most of the literature written in the Norse languages surviving from that time. These facts help to explain the frequent accounts in Icelandic literature of pagan religious practices and values, many of which evidently survived in Icelandic society well into Christian times. There are many contemporary written sources for the conversion and Christianization processes, from ecclesiastical records, to works by Icelandic historians, to less historical saga accounts. A discussion of the various forms of Scandinavian literature is included here, with an emphasis special importance is the debt on the Family sagas. Of owed to Christianity for its introduction of the Roman alphabet, and the importance of Christian leaders in educating the population. However, the Icelanders quickly adopted the alphabet for use in writing secular works in the vernacular as well, including the Family sagas. The various debates concerning the historical validity of the sagas are covered as well. Next, the Icelandic Family sagas are each discussed individually. All of them contain at least some historical facts, as well as information on pagan religion and pre-Christian society. There is also some evidence of the conflict between paganism and Christianity around the time of the conversion. The final chapter summarizes the impact of Christianity on Icelandic religious, social, and political institutions, focusing on the evidence of pagan survivals in these areas. Pagan religion and Germanic social and moral codes were not eradicated by Christianity. Rather, Christianity adopted and adapted many aspects of pagan religion into its rituals and festivals. Many pagan and Christian values and customs were similar enough to fuse without any effort, while others simply continued to exist along side one another. The Family sagas, when cross-checked against more reliable historical sources, can provide an informative picture of paganism, the conversion, conflicts between Christianity and paganism, and the survival of pagan/Germanic concepts well after Christianity had been accepted.
Download or read book The Book of Settlements written by and published by Univ. of Manitoba Press. This book was released on 2007-01-15 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Iceland was the last country in Europe to become inhabited, and we know more about the beginnings and early history of Icelandic society than we do of any other in the Old World. This world was vividly recounted in The Book of Settlements, first compiled by the first Icelandic historians in the thirteenth century. It describes in detail individuals and daily life during the Icelandic Age of Settlement.
Download or read book Icelandic Folklore and the Christianization of the North written by Eric Shane Bryan and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-31 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Awakening of Christianity in Iceland written by Steinunn Kristjánsdóttir and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Christianization and the Rise of Christian Monarchy written by Nora Berend and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-11-22 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2007 text is a comparative, analysis of one of the most fundamental stages in the formation of Europe. Leading scholars explore the role of the spread of Christianity and the formation of new principalities in the birth of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland and Rus' around the year 1000. Drawing on history, archaeology and art history, and emphasizing problems related to the sources and historiographical debates, they demonstrate the complex interdependence between the processes of religious and political change, covering conditions prior to the introduction of Christianity, the adoption of Christianity, and the development of the rulers' power. Regional patterns emerge, highlighting both the similarities in ruler-sponsored cases of Christianization, and differences in the consolidation of power and in institutions introduced by Christianity. The essays reveal how local societies adopted Christianity; medieval ideas of what constituted the dividing line between Christians and non-Christians; and the connections between Christianity and power.
Download or read book The Early Christian Laws of Iceland written by Peter Godfrey Foote and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Viking Age as a Period of Religious Transformation written by Sæbjørg Walaker Nordeide and published by Brepols Publishers. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 70 b/w illus, 14 b/w tbls, 14 b/w line art
Download or read book Women in Old Norse Society written by Jenny Jochens and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-21 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jenny Jochens captures in fascinating detail the lives of women in pagan and early Christian Iceland and Norway—their work, sexual behavior, marriage customs, reproductive practices, familial relations, leisure activities, religious practices, and legal constraints and protections. Women in Old Norse Society places particular emphasis on changing sexual mores and the impact of Christianity as imposed by the clergy and Norwegian kings. It also demonstrates the vital role women played in economic production.
Download or read book Conversion of Iceland written by Deb Willaims and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2021-12-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Icelanders are a people with many historical accounts and strong faith. Since settling in Iceland, they have struggled between faith in their pagan gods and Christianity. Extensive research using primary sources such as the Book of the Icelanders and multiple sagas shows religion has always played a significant role in their adventures, travels, wars, and home life. Blood has been shed, wars waged, and cultures changed in the name of religion. The Book of Settlements tells in the early years, Christians and pagans lived together, but because of warfare, political, economic, and social reasons they needed to declare one and only one religion. The Althing declared Christianity as Iceland's official religion. This did not stop the struggle, and ignited problems of its own. Christianity was Iceland's only recognized religion until 1874 when the 64th article of the Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion. Once doors were opened to other religions, Icelandic people began to convert to their ancient Norse gods. While laws continue to favor Christianity, Asatru is the fastest growing religion in Iceland today. As from the time of the first settlers, the battle of religions in Iceland is still alive today
