As early as 795 the eastern coast of Iceland was in- habited by some Irish monks, but it did not receive a settled population until 860, when king Harald Har- fagr, of Norway, after conquermg the other kings, made himself sole sovereign of the country, and induced large numbers of the malcontents to emigrate to Iceland. Nearly all the new-comers were pagans, and thus the republic which was established by them was thorough- ly pagan. The legislation of Ultliot (about 927) cre- ated the Althing, an assembly of the wisest men of all districts, which met annually to discuss the affairs of the country, and to give the necessary laws. The first Christian missionary among the Icelanders was Thor- valdr Kodransson (981-985), with the same Vidforli ("who has made wide journeys"), who was supported by Frederick, according to the legend, a Saxon bishop. With great vigor the missionary work was subsequently
continuea by king Olaf Tryggvason of Nor.vay, who not only tried by persuasion, bribery, and intimidation to gain for the Christian religion all the Icelanders wha came to Norway, but also sent missionaries to Ice- land, and sujiported their labors by the whole influence which he could command. The first to go was the Ice- lander Stefnir Thorgilsson (996-997), foUowed by the Saxon priest Dankbrand, who, after many adventures, had become court chaplain of the king (997-999) ; two noble Icelanders, the " White Gizur," and Hjalti Skegja- son, succeeded finally in effecting a compromise -with the pagan chief functionary of the island, Thorgair of Ljosavatu, according to which Christianity was made the state religion of Iceland, while manj^ reservations were made in favor of paganism (1000). 'fhe whole peo- ple were then baptized, part of them reluctantly, yet with- out open resistance. A few years later, king Olaf Ilar- aldsson caused the last remnants of paganism to be ef- faced from the laws. Some traces, however, of the for- mer religion remained in the faith and usages of the Christian Icelanders, particularly in their Chiu-ch con- stitution. During the pagan period the erection and possession of a temple had been a private affair; as there was no separate order of priests, divine worship had been held in every temple by its owner; subse- quently, when the political constitution of the island was regidated (965), a limited number (thirty-nine) of temples obtained a political importance, and every Ice- lander was obliged to connect himself with the owner of the principal temple as his subject, and to pay a con- tribution for the maintenance of the temple. Private temples were maintained beside the public, and tlie lat- ter remained likewise the private projierty of the chiefs. The idea of chief temples ceased with the introduc- tion of Christianity ; but erection, dotation, and mainte- nance of the temples remained a private affair. The law only provided that the erection of a church in- volved the duty of maintaining it ; and the clergy could compel the dotation of a church by delajing its conse- cration until dotation was provided for. Otherwise the administration of the property of the church by its owner was very arbitrary, and he had only to take care of the maintenance of the church and of the holding of divine worship. He either could take orders himself or hire another priest. In the former case the priest was more of a peasant, merchant, or a judge than a clergy- man; in the latter he was financially dependent upon the owner of the temple, and, like other servants, obliged to perform domestic or military services. Iceland re- ceived its own and native bishop in 1055, having up to that time been only visited by missionarj"^ bishops. The bishop enjoyed the benefit of the old temple duties; otherwise he had to live out of his own means. Lender the second bishop, Gizur, the see was endowed, and per- manently established at Skalahold ; subsequently (about 1106) a second see was established at Holar, to which was given the jiu-isdiction of the northern district, while the three other districts remained subject to the bishop of Skalahold. The bishops were elected by the people ; the priests by the owners of the several chiu-ches. Thus the clergy were less independent than in other countries, and consequently less powerful. Their influence some- what increased when bishop Giziu-, in 1097, ])rcvailed upon the National Assembly to introduce the tithe, and when the bishops Thorlakr Runolfson and Ketill Thor- steinson, by compiling the Churcli laws, gained a firm basis (1123 : it was ])ublished in 1776 by Grim Joh. Thor- kelin, under the title Jus ecclesiasticum vetus, sive Thor- laco-Ketillianum, or Kristinrettr hinn gamli). Still the condition of the Icelandic Church continued to remain in many particulars different from that of other church- es. Lay patronage was recognised to its fullest extent; no celibacy separated the clergy from the peojjle ; even the bishops were generally married. The bishops, though they had a seat in the National Assembly, had no sepa- rate ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and marriage and other affairs were regulated contrary to Church law.
ICELAND
462
ICONIUM
The Church of Iceland was at first subordinate to the archbishopric of Bremen and Hamburg ; when the arch- Dishopric of Lund was cstabhshed (1103), Iceland was transferred to it : tinally, it was transferred to the new archbishopric of Nidaros. About the middle of the 1 Sth century the island became subject to the crown of Nor- way, and was consequently affected by the war between Church and State which took place iii that coimtry. This chiefly concerned the patronage of laymen, and ended with the adoption of a new Church law intro- duced about 1297 by bishop Arni. (This Church law was published in 1777 by Grim Joh. Thorkelin, under the title Jus ecclesiasticum novum sive Ai-ruEunum, or Kristinnrc'ttr inn nyi.)