Church Topography and Episcopal Influence in Northern Iceland 1106‐1318 AD
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Power and Piety: Church Topography and Episcopal Influence in Northern Iceland 1106‐1318 A.D. By Egil Marstein Bauer Master Thesis in Archaeology Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History University of Oslo Spring 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................................I LIST OF TABLES ..............................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................. V 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Presentation of Thesis with Background Information............................................................. 1 1.2 Comparison with Trøndelag, Norway ..................................................................................... 4 1.3 Structure of the Thesis............................................................................................................. 6 2 PREVIOUS RESEARCH ............................................................................................................ 9 3 CHURCH MATERIAL.............................................................................................................. 13 3.1 Churches in the Written Material .......................................................................................... 13 3.2 Churches in the Archaeological Material .............................................................................. 15 3.3 Churches in the Comparative Material from Trøndelag........................................................ 17 3.4 Church Material: Summary ................................................................................................... 22 4 MATERIALISATION OF IDEOLOGY.................................................................................. 23 5 CHURCH CATEGORIES AND CHURCH TOPOGRAPHY............................................... 27 5.1 Categories of Churches and Church Topography in Hólar Bishopric................................... 28 5.2 Categories of Churches and Church Topography in Trøndelag, Norway ............................. 39 5.3 Church Categories and Church Topography: Summary........................................................ 43 6 POSSIBLE ASPECTS AFFECTING THE CHURCH TOPOGRAPHY.............................. 47 6.1 Settlement and Population in Hólar Bishopric ...................................................................... 47 6.2 Comparison with Settlement and Population in Trøndelag, Norway.................................... 52 6.3 Establishment of the Episcopal Seat at Hólar........................................................................ 57 6.4 Episcopal Influence on the Church Topography ................................................................... 59 6.5 Chieftains’ Involvement in the Episcopal Power .................................................................. 64 6.6 The Tithe Law ....................................................................................................................... 67 6.7 Control of Priests and Religious Ceremonies........................................................................ 69 6.8 Control of Trade and Building Material................................................................................ 71 6.9 Absence of a Town and its Effect on Church Topography ................................................... 76 6.10 Norwegian Influence and the Struggle for Church Liberty................................................... 80 6.11 Possible Aspects Affecting the Church Topography: Summary ........................................... 85 7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................... 89 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 93 8.1 Published Sources.................................................................................................................. 93 8.2 Literature ............................................................................................................................... 93 8.3 Web Pages ............................................................................................................................. 97 APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................................... 99 I LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Iceland showing the extent of the two bishoprics, the locations of the episcopal seats, as well as the years of their establishment................................................................................................................. 3 Figure 2: The four sýslar or regions in the northern quarter, corresponding to the area of Hólar bishopric. .......... 3 Figure 3: Norway with the present-day counties of Nord- and Sør-Trøndelag indicated in yellow........................ 5 Figure 4: The present cathedral in Trondheim stands as a good example of materialisation of ideology (Photo: Jonas Dalheim)........................................................................................................................................ 25 Figure 5: All 110 churches in Hólar bishopric anno 1318. ................................................................................... 29 Figure 6: Major Churches (“Storkirker”) in Iceland as used by Jón Viðar (2005a:Figur 1) to discuss the political situation in Iceland in 12th and 13th centuries........................................................................................ 34 Figure 7: Major churches with monasteries as a separate category in Hólar bishopric anno 1318....................... 36 Figure 8: Churches with one cleric in Hólar bishopric anno 1318........................................................................ 36 Figure 9: Churches with two clerics in Hólar bishopric anno 1318. ..................................................................... 37 Figure 10: Churches with an unknown number of clerics in Hólar bishopric anno 1318. .................................... 37 Figure 11: Churches not mentioned in the Auðunarmáldagi, assumed to exist in Hólar bishopric anno 1318..... 38 Figure 12: All churches in Trøndelag until 1350. ................................................................................................. 38 Figure 13: Stone churches in Trøndelag until 1350. ............................................................................................. 44 Figure 14: Wooden churches in Trøndelag until 1350.......................................................................................... 44 Figure 15: Distribution of major churches, Hólar bishopric anno 1318, with and without topographic features. 48 Figure 16: From Sandnes (1971:Figur 10). Maximum spread of population in medieval Trøndelag................... 53 Figure 17: County churches in Trøndelag. All were stone churches, except Grøtte/Meldal (the southernmost church) which was wooden (Brendalsmo 2006:455-456).................................................................... 54 Figure 18: The mountain pass connecting Skagafjörður and Eyjafjörður. The two northern trading sites at Gásir and Kolkuós are included in order to display another factor indicating the centrality of the episcopal seat at Hólar. ........................................................................................................................................ 54 Figure 19: From Sigurður Líndal (1974). Dotted arrow line between Nidaros and Gásir added by Helgi (1999:Kart 4)........................................................................................................................................ 72 Figure 20: From Hjörleifur Stefánsson (1997:Fig. 6). Model of an Icelandic cathedral constructed of timber. The model is located in the National Museum of Iceland, in Reykjavík..................................................... 73 Figure 21: From Lunde (1977:Fig. 140). The medieval churches in Nidaros. The cathedral (area M) and the archbishop’s palace to the south of it dominate the town from their position on the highest point of the Nidarnes peninsula. The king’s palace (area L) is situated to the east of the cathedral. The map lacks a compass needle, but north is evident, considering the cathedral’s correct orientation west-east. ........ 77 Figure 22: Major churches in Skálholt bishopric as used by Jón Viðar (2005a:Figur 1) to discuss the political situation in Iceland in the 11th and 12th centuries. .............................................................................. 79 I LIST OF TABLES Table 1: From Jón Viðar (2005a:Tabell 1). Major churches in Hólar bishopric anno 1318. The major church at Laufás in Grýtubakkahreppur is not included in the table. ..................................................................... 35 Table 2: Percentages of status churches in Hólar bishopric and Trøndelag. ......................................................... 40 Table 3: Regions/sýslar in Hólar bishopric with numbers of hreppar and farms, derived from the Old Icelandic land registers (Björn Lárusson 1967:243, 265, 285, 307). ...................................................................... 49 Table 4: The four