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15 - History of Iceland by Knut Gjerset · History of Iceland

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, Part two of History of Iceland by Knut Yeerset.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Reformation
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  Speaker 1: in Iceland was supported by two distinct classes. To The
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  Speaker 1: first belonged to a few learned men who had studied
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  Speaker 1: abroad and were sincerely attached to the new doctrines, but
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  Speaker 1: many of them showed a spirit of self interest, which
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  Speaker 1: often led them to seek their own personal advantage instead
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  Speaker 1: of attempting with true evangelical devotion to turn the people
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  Speaker 1: to the new spiritual light. The second class consisted of
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  Speaker 1: rapacious royal officials and greedy chieftains who had no real
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  Speaker 1: religious interests, but were willing to destroy the Catholic Church
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  Speaker 1: in order to despoil it of its lands and possessions.
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  Speaker 1: Under this kind of leadership, the Reformation did not become
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  Speaker 1: a work of instruction or conversion, but a series of
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  Speaker 1: administrative acts, royal decrees, assaults upon the Catholic leaders, and
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  Speaker 1: encroachments upon the people's constitutional liberties. After the death of
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  Speaker 1: Bishop on Arrison and the overthrow of the Catholic Party,
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  Speaker 1: all the monasteris of Iceland were secularized. At first, the
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  Speaker 1: king seems to have entertained a plan to use the
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  Speaker 1: income from the lands thus seized to build schools for
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  Speaker 1: the people, but he was persuaded to abandon the idea
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  Speaker 1: and to retain the revenues for the royal purse. From
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  Speaker 1: fifteen fifty sixty one, fourth of the tides payable to
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  Speaker 1: the church, as well as the finds imposed in suits
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  Speaker 1: at law, were also to be considered royal revenues. It
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  Speaker 1: does not appear that these important measures were submitted to
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  Speaker 1: the all things, or that the people were ever asked
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  Speaker 1: to sanction them, though they affected important changes in the
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  Speaker 1: country's laws and institutions. Though the spirit of criminal law
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  Speaker 1: was also gradually chained by ordinances imposing severe penalties or
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  Speaker 1: capital punishment for various offenses. In fifteen sixty three, King
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  Speaker 1: Frederick the Second, who succeeded as Father Christian the Third
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  Speaker 1: on the throne, ordered that persons guilty of heresy should
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  Speaker 1: be executed and their properties should be forfeited to the crown.
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  Speaker 1: Cases of adultery should be tried and decided according to
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  Speaker 1: the cold Recessa of December the thirteenth, fifteen fifty eight,
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  Speaker 1: given by Christian. In fifteen sixty four, Paws Dixon, Royal
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  Speaker 1: Governor in Icelan forced the all Thing to proclaim an ordinance,
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  Speaker 1: the store Redomer, establishing capital punishment for offenses of this kind.
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  Speaker 1: The law was signed by the two lawmen and received
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  Speaker 1: royal sanctioned April thirteenth, fifteen sixty five. A final appeal
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  Speaker 1: might be made to the King and his Council, who
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  Speaker 1: continued to act as a court of last resort till
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  Speaker 1: sixteen sixty one, when the who is Esterre or Supreme
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  Speaker 1: Court of Appeal was established in Denmark. The Stoorridomer remained
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  Speaker 1: in force, at least nominally, till eighteen thirty eight. Those
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  Speaker 1: who were convicted under this law were executed, the men
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  Speaker 1: being hung and the women drowned. Half their property was
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  Speaker 1: forfeited to the Crown, and the other half was distributed
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  Speaker 1: among needy relatives. In cases of adultery, capital punishment should
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  Speaker 1: be inflicted only four a third offense, and the property
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  Speaker 1: of the person and convicted should be distributed among the
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  Speaker 1: lawful heirs. The harsh features of this Tucronian measure were
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  Speaker 1: somewhat softened by royal decrees of fifteen seventy six, fifteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy eight and fifteen ninety four, providing for the granting
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  Speaker 1: of absolution to persons convicted under it. Other severe punishments
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  Speaker 1: for crimes were also instituted. The old privilege of sanctuary,
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  Speaker 1: according to which criminals could not be seized in churches
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  Speaker 1: or holy places, was abolished by an ordinance of fifteen
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  Speaker 1: eighty seven and by a law of fifteen ninety six.
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  Speaker 1: The eating of horse flesh was made an offense, punishable
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  Speaker 1: by a fine of three marks twenty one dollars and
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  Speaker 1: sixty cents, together with severe flogging. Thieves were to be hung, flogged,
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  Speaker 1: or branded. Even minor offenses were to be punished by
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  Speaker 1: the pillory, flogging or heavy fines. While such pedantic zeal
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  Speaker 1: was manifested for the maintenance of law and order, no
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  Speaker 1: steps were taken by the government to protect the people
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  Speaker 1: against foreign enemies, though pariotic raids on defenseless sea coast
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  Speaker 1: settlements have been frequent. In fifteen seventy nine, eight English
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  Speaker 1: pirates came to shore in the vast Fjords, robbed churches,
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  Speaker 1: ravished women, and killed people. Eggert Hennison, a rich proprietor
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  Speaker 1: once law man enacting governor, was seized and was set
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  Speaker 1: at liberty only upon payment of a large ransom. He
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  Speaker 1: was forced to take an oath that he would not
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  Speaker 1: make complaint to the king, but this forced promise he disregarded.
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  Speaker 1: The affair was reported to the government and the pirates
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  Speaker 1: were finally seized in Holland and executed. As the people
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  Speaker 1: had been forbidden to bear arms and where without military protection,
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  Speaker 1: they were helpless even against such bands of robbers who
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  Speaker 1: might at any time make raids upon the coast. This
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  Speaker 1: finally led to the proposing of the bap Nadomer in
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  Speaker 1: fifteen eighty one. This measure provided that the people should
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  Speaker 1: supply arms for their own protection. All freeholders being taxes
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  Speaker 1: should have a musket, powder and a halberd or spear.
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  Speaker 1: Every unmarried man who owned ten hour without debt should
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  Speaker 1: own spear and dagger, but these weapons should not be
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  Speaker 1: used except against foreign robbers. Who owned twenty hundredth should
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  Speaker 1: buy musket, spear and other weapons according to their ability.
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  Speaker 1: The royal officials should act as officers, and the men
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  Speaker 1: should pay their own expenses while performing military duties. The
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  Speaker 1: Rep stir your r should keep a list of all
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  Speaker 1: men in their district capable of bearing arms, and the
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  Speaker 1: luhmen should see to it that places of safety for women, children,
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  Speaker 1: o people in livestock were provided. The proposal failed to
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  Speaker 1: become law as it was not submitted to the All Things.
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  Speaker 1: The All Things still sought to maintain its prestige as
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  Speaker 1: a representative assembly. Ordinances which have not received its sanction
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  Speaker 1: were regarded as having no force in Iceland, and the
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  Speaker 1: old principle that the king should rule the people according
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  Speaker 1: to their own laws was still adhered to, though henceforth
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  Speaker 1: they could only mean the laws to which they had
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  Speaker 1: given their consent. In fifteen eighty eight, the lawmen and
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  Speaker 1: Logretta made a formal declaration that we, the inhabitants of
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  Speaker 1: the country, should live and be judged according to the
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  Speaker 1: old Icelandic laws and the royal ordinances and letters, which
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  Speaker 1: are gracious Lord, the King has sent us for law
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  Speaker 1: and protection in which our country had sanctioned and accepted.
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  Speaker 1: It is clear, however, that after the Reformation, the power
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  Speaker 1: of the crown was growing so rapidly that even the
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  Speaker 1: last remnant of legislative power lodged in the All Thing.
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  Speaker 1: The right to approve or reject laws was seriously endangered.
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  Speaker 1: The King had already forced the all thing to consent
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  Speaker 1: to legislation which violated all traditions and principles of Icelandic jurisprudence.
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  Speaker 1: At any opportune moment, he might sweep away all legislative
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  Speaker 1: power of that assembly and allow it to retain only
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  Speaker 1: its purely judicial functions. In church affairs, he gradually assumed
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  Speaker 1: the power formerly exercised by the Pope and the archbishop.
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  Speaker 1: The bishops were usually elected by the clergy, subject to
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  Speaker 1: royal sanction, but in some instances the King placed bishops
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  Speaker 1: over the Icelandic dioceses even without consulting the clergy. The
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  Speaker 1: Lutheran bishops did not desire to exercise the power of
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  Speaker 1: preparing new codes of laws for the church, even when
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  Speaker 1: they were asked by the king to do so. In
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  Speaker 1: sixteen o seven, a new church code for Iceland was
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  Speaker 1: prepared by Norwegian churchmen, but only upon formal request of
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  Speaker 1: the King, with the result that his will became the
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  Speaker 1: highest authority in all ecclesiastical affairs. The bishops no longer
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  Speaker 1: exercise authority as in Catholic times with regard to fast
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  Speaker 1: or ties and many cases which had belonged under the
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  Speaker 1: jurisdiction of the Church were transferred to the secular courts.
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  Speaker 1: The curtailing of the power of the clergy might have
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  Speaker 1: proved beneficial, as the Catholic bishops had often used their
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  Speaker 1: authority to oppress the people, But politically the Reformation proved
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  Speaker 1: unfavorable to Icelandic home rule. Hitherto, the clergy had ruled,
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  Speaker 1: but it had been a native rule. The laws of
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  Speaker 1: the country and the people's fundamental rights had been respected.
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  Speaker 1: After the Reformation, the king gradually assumed all power and
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  Speaker 1: instituted a rule by royal officials who disregarded the Icelandic laws,
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  Speaker 1: acquired large landed estates, and riveted upon the people the
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  Speaker 1: tyrannis of a selfish foreign bureaucracy. In social life, the
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  Speaker 1: low moral standards which have prevailed ever since pagan times
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  Speaker 1: continued also in the period following the Reformation. The priests
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  Speaker 1: were now allowed to marry, but concubinic and illicit relations
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  Speaker 1: continued to be common even among the leading churchmen. Even
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  Speaker 1: some of the bishops had illegitimate children, and since such
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  Speaker 1: irregularities were tolerated among the leaders, the church could exercise
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  Speaker 1: little restraint on the moral laxity prevalent among the laity
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  Speaker 1: and common clergy. Among the chieftains, even polygamy was not uncommon.
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  Speaker 1: Edgard Hannison married his concubine while his wife was still living,
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  Speaker 1: and Benedict b. Yettussen had two wives at the same time.
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  Speaker 1: Dottie Gudmundsen had two concubines, both of whom were so
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  Speaker 1: closely related to him that, according to their church laws,
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  Speaker 1: the relation was incestuous. The parish priests were often poorly educated,
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  Speaker 1: since the schools had been neglected. Complaints were made that
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  Speaker 1: they wasted their time in quarrels, lawsuits, horse trading, and
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  Speaker 1: social frolics, and paid little attention to their pastoral duties.
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  Speaker 1: The change of faith, which had been forced upon the people,
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  Speaker 1: tended at first to disrupt their religious like Many refused
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  Speaker 1: to attend church services or to receive the sacrament in
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  Speaker 1: the new form. But the evangelical character of the Lutheran
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  Speaker 1: Church proved to be a force which gradually affected a
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  Speaker 1: religious and moral regeneration of the Icelandic people. It destroyed
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  Speaker 1: the images of ceremonial worship behind which primitive paganism so
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  Speaker 1: conveniently hid itself, and turned the people's minds to the
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  Speaker 1: simple truth of the Gospel. Positive results of the Reformation
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  Speaker 1: were slow and manifesting themselves, but the truth loving, biblical
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  Speaker 1: spirit of the new faith struck deep roots and imparted
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  Speaker 1: a stimulus which launched the nation upon a new intellectual
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  Speaker 1: and social development. Vigorous steps were soon taken by the
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  Speaker 1: kings and bishops to suppress Catholic customs and to sharpened
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  Speaker 1: church discipline. Priests who offended against the new Church ordinances
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  Speaker 1: were removed from their parishes. In fifteen sixty one, the
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  Speaker 1: Royal governor Paul Stigson traveled through the northern and western
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  Speaker 1: districts to see if the Lutheran Church ordinances were duly observed.
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  Speaker 1: Four years later, he issued orders to all the lay
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  Speaker 1: people that they should attend church on all Sundays and holidays,
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  Speaker 1: that they should remain quietly seated and listen attentively to
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  Speaker 1: the Word of God. If they failed to comply with
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  Speaker 1: disorder after being thrice reminded by their pastor, they should
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  Speaker 1: be excluded from the Lord's Supper, and the Sis lu
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  Speaker 1: Mather should cause them to be flogged. Crosses and images
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  Speaker 1: were to be destroyed. It is said that at this
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  Speaker 1: time Bishop GISLI Johnson burned the Kalda Darnis cross which
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  Speaker 1: had been removed by Bishop Gizzard Inersen, and that he
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  Speaker 1: destroyed the images of the saints at kirk Euber and
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  Speaker 1: thick Barber. In northern Iceland, Bishop Olaf Yatisen destroyed the
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  Speaker 1: images of the Virgin at Half Statur and the crosses
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  Speaker 1: at Barty and stad in Rata. Persons guilty of grave
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  Speaker 1: offenses were expelled from the church and were restored to
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  Speaker 1: the Christian Communion only they repented and publicly confessed their sins.
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  Speaker 1: Parents and heads of households were instructed to maintain strict
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  Speaker 1: discipline over their children and servants. About Bishop Gisli Johnson,
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  Speaker 1: it is said that he ordered the priests of his
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  Speaker 1: diocese to visit the homes of their parishioners to see
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  Speaker 1: if they had learned the Catechism and possessed the necessary
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  Speaker 1: Christian knowledge. Other bishops followed the same plan. Especially important
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  Speaker 1: was the work of Good Brand Thorlichsen, who became Bishop
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  Speaker 1: of Olar in fifteen sixty nine and labour with greater
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  Speaker 1: earnestness than anyone else in this period to make evangelical
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  Speaker 1: Christianity a living force in the hearts of his people.
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  Speaker 1: Good Brond was interested in providing proper reading for his
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  Speaker 1: people by translating and printing the Bible and by collections
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  Speaker 1: of hymns and other Christian literature. He sought also to
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  Speaker 1: provide religious instruction, especially for children and young people. He
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  Speaker 1: asked the priests to require the children that they learned
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  Speaker 1: the Catechism, together with such prayers and songs as could
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  Speaker 1: be said and sung at the table. No one who
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  Speaker 1: did not know the Catechism should be allowed to receive
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's Supper, accepting cases of serious illness, that children
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  Speaker 1: were to be catechised in church in presence of the
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  Speaker 1: congregation and should be confirmed before receiving the communion. Goodbrand's
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  Speaker 1: younger contemporary, Bishop Odd Heinersen of Skalholdt, labored in a
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  Speaker 1: similar way to improve religious and moral conditions and to
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  Speaker 1: instruct the people in the Lutheran faith. Due to the
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  Speaker 1: efforts of these able and god fearing men, true piety
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  Speaker 1: and purity of life soon gave evidence of the growth
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  Speaker 1: of a new Christian spirit. One of the most important
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  Speaker 1: results of the Reformation in Iceland was the new interest
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  Speaker 1: awakened in education and literary activity. Although the king, through
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  Speaker 1: the secularization of that monasteries diverted to the Royal treasury
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  Speaker 1: resources which should have been used in the building of schools.
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  Speaker 1: Progress was nevertheless made. In fifteen fifty two, Paul Wheatfelt
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  Speaker 1: was sent on a special mission to Iceland. He issued
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  Speaker 1: orders that Latin schools should be maintained at both the
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  Speaker 1: bishop's seats. The school that Scalhold should have forty pupils
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  Speaker 1: and the one at Holar twenty four. The teachers to
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  Speaker 1: be paid from incomes from the states belonging to the
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  Speaker 1: cathedral churches and collected by the bishops, who should also
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  Speaker 1: supply the peopils with food, clothes, light, fuel and other necessaries.
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  Speaker 1: Students were also encouraged to seek higher education at foreign universities,
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  Speaker 1: and many went abroad to studying Copenhagen, Bremen or Rostock.
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  Speaker 1: The Danish government gave freeboard and later also free lodging
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  Speaker 1: to Icelanding students who wished to attend the Royal University
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  Speaker 1: of Copenhagen, and since graduates of that university were preferred
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  Speaker 1: in appointments to positions in the church, all Icelanders who
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  Speaker 1: sought higher education were soon attracted to it. The introduction
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  Speaker 1: of printing so cheap in books that it became possible
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  Speaker 1: also to supply the homes with good literature. According to tradition,
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  Speaker 1: the first printing press in Iceland was established at Holar
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  Speaker 1: by Bishop Yon Erison about fifteen thirty He is quite
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  Speaker 1: certain that in that year a printing press was brought
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  Speaker 1: to Iceland by Jan Matthiussen, a Swedish priest, who probably
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  Speaker 1: brought it from his own country at Bishop Yon's request.
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  Speaker 1: The press was first established at Holar. Here the book
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  Speaker 1: Bavarian nidorcian Ense was printed in fifteen thirty four, the
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  Speaker 1: first book known to have been put into type in Iceland,
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  Speaker 1: but no copy of it has been preserved. The press
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  Speaker 1: was soon moved to by deboul Stad, where Jan Matthiasson
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  Speaker 1: became priests. During the years of turmoil while the Reformation
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  Speaker 1: was being established, little use was made of the press,
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  Speaker 1: which was in the possession of the Catholic Party, But
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  Speaker 1: in fifteen seventy two or fifteen seventy three was moved
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  Speaker 1: back to Holar, and under the direction of the energetic
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  Speaker 1: Bishop Gudbrand Thorliksen, it was now put to such diligent
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  Speaker 1: use that Olar since remained the chief seat of printing
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  Speaker 1: in Iceland. In fifteen eighty four, Bishop Gudbrand Thorliksen printed
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  Speaker 1: the first Icelandic Bible, the greater part of which he
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  Speaker 1: himself had translated. Of other books printed under his direction
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  Speaker 1: may be mentioned his Hymn Book fifteen eighty nine and
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  Speaker 1: the Gradual a Book of Melodies for Lutheran Hymns fifteen
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  Speaker 1: ninety four. In sixteen eighty five press was moved to Skalholt,
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  Speaker 1: but it was returned to Holar in seventeen o three.
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  Speaker 1: After being located in various places for a short time,
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  Speaker 1: in eighteen forty four it was finally moved to Reikievik.
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  Speaker 1: The first efforts of the Icelandic printers were naturally directed
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  Speaker 1: to the printing of religious literature, but in time sagas
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  Speaker 1: and other secular works also appeared. The first edition of
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  Speaker 1: sagas published in Iceland was that of Bishop thort Thorliksen
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  Speaker 1: of Skalholt, a great grandson of Bishop Gudbrand, who served
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  Speaker 1: as bishop from sixteen seventy four till sixteen ninety seven.
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  Speaker 1: He printed the land namab Book Chris, the Saga Island
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  Speaker 1: Dingebuuk and the Afla Saga drig the Sonar. Nothing further
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  Speaker 1: was done for the printing of sagas in Iceland until
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  Speaker 1: seventeen fifty six, when new editions issued from the Holar Press.
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  Speaker 1: About this time, another press was set up in the
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  Speaker 1: island of Harapsi, where the Agala Saga was printed in
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: seventeen eighty to the Annalaar bijorns Skarosa also printed here.
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  Speaker 1: The first fruit of the new literary activity aroused by
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: the Reformation were the early Bible translations and the efforts
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  Speaker 1: made to provide a collection of hymns for the Lutheran
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: Church service. Ad god Skulks and Bishop Orgments private secretary
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  Speaker 1: and later lawman in Iceland translated of the New Testament,
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  Speaker 1: which was printed in Roskild, Denmark in fifteen forty. The
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  Speaker 1: translation of the whole Bible was first made by Bishop
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: Gudbrand Thorliksen. A part of this work was based on
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Old gods Sun's translation of the New Testament and that
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: of some other Biblical books by various translators. Olaf Healtissen,
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  Speaker 1: the first Lutheran Bishop of Holar, was the first translator
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  Speaker 1: of Lutheran hymns in Iceland, but his work was poorly
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  Speaker 1: done and of little real value. Martin Heinerson, the first
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Lutheran Bishop of Galaholt, was also a translator and a
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  Speaker 1: writer of hymns. He published the first Icelandic Lutheran hymn book,
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  Speaker 1: which appeared in Copenhagen in fifteen fifty five. Three years
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  Speaker 1: a new hymn book was published by Gisley Johnson, who
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  Speaker 1: succeeded Martin as a bishop of Skalholdt in fifteen fifty eight,
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  Speaker 1: but Gisley possessed no poetic talent and his translations have
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  Speaker 1: no real merit. In fifteen eighty nine, Bishop Gudbrand Thorliksen,
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  Speaker 1: translator of the Bible the nester of the early Lutheran
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  Speaker 1: church in Iceland, prepared a new hymn book, like earlier collections,
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  Speaker 1: that consisted chiefly of mediocre translations, but it became so
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  Speaker 1: popular that it remained in use over two hundred years.
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  Speaker 1: Through these works, the Lutheran hymns were introduced into the
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  Speaker 1: church service, but the writing of original Icelanding hymns did
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  Speaker 1: not progress beyond the first frail beginnings prior to sixteen hundred.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: In the period immediately following the Reformation, hymns were written
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  Speaker 1: by the clergyman Einar Sigurtsen and Jean Thoristeinssen. Jan also
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  Speaker 1: called the Martyr West clergyman on the best Monney Yard,
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  Speaker 1: where he was slain in sixteen twenty seven in an
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  Speaker 1: attack made on these islands by Algerian c robbers. Especially
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: prominent was Old Heiner fifteen fifty nine to sixteen thirty,
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  Speaker 1: Bishop of Skalholt. He was the first one after the
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  Speaker 1: Reformation who began to record historical events in his own
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  Speaker 1: mother tongue. Also the first one to collect Icelandic manuscripts
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  Speaker 1: and documents which otherwise might have been lost. The guais Laren,
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  Speaker 1: a collection of choral melodies for the Lutheran hymns, published
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  Speaker 1: in fifteen ninety four, was also prepared with his assistance.
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  Speaker 1: The first Great's Icelandic hymn writer was Halgrim but yet Touson.
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  Speaker 1: Born of poor parents in sixteen fourteen, he studied for
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  Speaker 1: some time in Copenhagen, and after his return to Eisland
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: he was consecrated parish clergyman by his friend Berne Yolf Steinsen,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Bishop of Skalholt. He had to struggle with poverty all
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: his life when he was finally transferred to a better
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: charge so that he could live under more favorable conditions.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: He became afflicted with leprosy, from which he died in
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: sixteen seventy four. He was a fine speaker in one
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: great distinction as a poet. Even in his own lifetime.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: He is justly regarded as Eisland's greatest hymn writer, the
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: first first one who compares favorably with the great hymn
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: writers of the Lutheran Church in other lands. His hims
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: reveal a remarkable fertility of thought, expressed in striking figures
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: and beautiful language. His greatest work is his M to
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: U pass c you Psalmer, one of the finest collections
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: of hymns based on the Passion of Christ. In these hymns,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: the afflicted poet follows his savior from Guessemone to Gogotha,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: dwelling with pious reflection upon every word from his lips,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: every motion of his hand be yet er. Since hymns
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: have become one of the most coveted literary treasures of
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: the Icelandic people and have exerted a deep influence on
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: their religious life. In nineteen fourteen, the whole Icelandic nation
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: celebrated the three hundredth and adversary of his birth. In
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: speaking on this occasion, Professor eroder Nielsen said, generation after generation,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: his pass is psalmer have been sung winter after winter
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: and every home in the land, and this is still
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: being done generation after generation. Many have committed them all
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: to memory, and for two hundred and fifty years nearly
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: every person had learned some of them. During all these years,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: scarcely an Icelander has been buried, either at home or abroad,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: unless some stanzas of the hymn alt hein osk Blonds
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: have been sung at his beer. Since Halgrim's time, the
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: teachings of Christ have been instilled into the souls of
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: the children through his hymns. The first prayers, which are
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: mothers and sisters, taught us they had learned from the
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: lips of Halgrim Payette Tersen. After the Reformation, only native
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: born churchmen were appointed bishops in Iceland. Many of these
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: were men of great ability who not only guided the
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: people in religious affairs, but distinguished themselves as intellectual leaders,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: rendering valuable service in promoting enlightenment and general culture. Gizzer
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Inerson martin Inerson, Olaf Yatsen, ad Inison and Gudbrand Thorpe
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Luxen have already been mentioned to this group of church leaders.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Belonged also brin Alf Sweinsen, Yan Thorkelsen, Fiddeln and Finner
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Johansen seventeen oh four to seventeen eighty nine, especially noted
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: as the author of the great work on Icelandic church
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: history History Ecclesiastica Iceland Ee Burne Yulf Sweinsen sixteen oh
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: five to sixteen seventy five, Bishop of Skalholdt, known for
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: his majestic appearance and dignified bearing, was well versed in
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: classical languages and cherished a deep interest for the literature
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: of Iceland. He devoted special attention to the collection of
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: old manuscripts of Icelandic literary works, an effort in which
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: he spared neither time nor money until he had created
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: a valuable manuscript collection containing many of the leading works
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: in old Icelandic Bishop beyond the Dallen of Skalholdt sixteen
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: sixty seven to seventeen twenty is reputed to have been
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: the most eloquent of Icelandic ecclesiastics. Chief among his literary
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: works is his Hausa Stilla, or Book of Family Sermons,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: which has appeared in twelve editions and is regarded by
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: his countrymen as one of the best works of its kind.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: The Delan was an Orthodox Lutheran of the Great Reformer's
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: own type, adhering to the written Bible word with a
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: sincerity which left no room for peradventure or hesitation. He
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: combined with the intellectualism of Orthodoxy, an ardent faith, and
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: an impassioned eloquence which gave him great power over his hearers.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: He sought to stir the conscience of his people by
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: preaching repentance and conversion rather than the Gospel message of
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: salvation through Christ. Raising his mighty voice like one crying
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: in the wilderness, he summoned the people to repent, lighting
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: up their secret sins with the burning torch of the
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Word of God. How submissively and attentively the people listened
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: to his preaching is shown by the number of editions
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: of his Sermons, which have remained one of the most
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: popular family books even to the present. Through the work
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: of the Lutheran bishops, a spiritual regeneration had been wrought,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: which marks the ultimate triumph of the Reformation. The popularity
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: of Halgrim Peterson's Hymns of the Bishop yon vitalent sermons
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: shows that Evangelical Christianity had become a living force in
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: the life lives of the Icelandic people. The Icelanders, being
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: strongly individualistics, usually keen, often contentious, and generally given to reflection,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: have not been stirred by revivals or emotional Christianity. The
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: deepest influence ever exerted upon their religious life is due
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: to the intellectual Lutheran or Orthodox faith brought them by
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: the Reformation. This influence has now become a regenerating force
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: which stimulated the dormant national powers to a new creative
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: literary activity as well as a new religious life. Without
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: a university of their own, with only two higher schools
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: we can poorly equipped in at times so neglected that
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: they had to remain closed. Higher learning was nowhere more
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: diligently cultivated than in Iceland, and in no land was
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: the number of talented and well educated intellectual leaders relatively
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: so large. Amidst flaming volcanos and destructive earthquakes, which filled
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: the pages of their annals with ghastly tales of wroe.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: The Icelanders were experiencing a literary renaissance which kindled new
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: light not only in their own country, but in foreign lands. Again,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: they wrote works which attracted the attention of all europe.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: Invaluable treasures for literary and historical research were made available,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: and new fields were open to learned activity. Especially noted
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: are the three scholars ar Grim Johnson fifteen sixty eight
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: to sixteen forty eight, Thormaud thorfisen Or thorpe FIUs sixteen
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: thirty six to seventeen nineteen and Arnie Magnuson sixteen sixty
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: three to seventeen thirty who distinguished themselves in the fields
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: of history, writing and huntiquarian research. Arngrim Johnson had studied
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: at the University of Copenhagen and became rector and master
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: of the Latin School at Holar. He collected and studied
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: old manuscripts and wrote several works dealing with the geography
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: and history of Iceland. Chief of these this is Grime Moggia, Seaway,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Rayram Island Decorum Libery three, published in Hamburg in sixteen
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: oh nine. In fifteen ninety three published Revs. Common Terius
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Day is landis and in sixteen forty three appeared Specimen
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: islanda e Historicum. In recognition of the importance of his
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: work to Icelandic literature and scholarly activity, he has been
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: called the restorer of the Icelandic learning. Thormond Torpheus wrote
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: many historical works, in sixteen ninety seven A peered day
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Rabis Justice ver rey Ansium, a history of the Beau
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Islands in sixteen ninety seven, Orchides, a work about the
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: Orkney Islands, in seventeen o six Greenlandia Antiqua, and in
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: seventeen oh seven Finlandia, the Story of the Norse Discovery
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: of America. His principal work, Historia Raroam Norwegi Karam A
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: History of Norway till thirteen eighty seven, was published in
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: four large folio volumes in seventeen eleven, for the first time,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: a survey of the history of Norway now appeared in
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: a language which could be read by scholars in all lands.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Torfias showed little scholarly ability in the use of historical material.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: He accepts fabulous tales as readily as accounts, resting on
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: them most trustworthy evidence, but he was acquainted with historical
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: sources and elaborated them into a connected account, which for
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: a long time continued to be the chief source of
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: information regarding the history of Norway. In sixteen sixty seven
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: he was appointed Royal historiographer. Later he was sent as
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: royal official to Norway, where he resided till his death
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: on the estate strange Land in Strevanger Stift. Arnie Magnuson
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: became interested in the old literature of the North while
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: pursuing his studies at the University of Copenhagen, receiving appointment
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: as Royal antiquary and also as private secretary to the
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: historian Thomas Barthelin, he found opportunity to gather manuscripts and
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: old literary documents in Iceland and elsewhere, a scholarly activity
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: which became his great allife work. In seventeen oh one
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: he was made professor of philosophy in the University of Copenhagen,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: and the following year he was appointed member of a
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: royal commission sent to take a new Kansas in Dyson.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: During the subsequent ten years in which he spent in Iislan,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: he collected a large number of manuscripts and literary documents.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: In this collection, he succeeded in preserving yearly all of
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: the old manuscripts which were found here and there in
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: private homes in Iceland, often in a decaying condition. In
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Norway and Denmark he gathered many more, partly as gifts
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: and partly through purchase a most valuable manuscript library. The
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Arna Magnian collection had thus been created in Copenhagen, and
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: the old Icelandic literature was saved from destruction. With a
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: few later editions in now numbers two thousand manuscripts and
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: six thousand documents. Many other equally able scholars labored in
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: various fields. Biorn Johnson of Scatsa fifteen seventy four to
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: sixteen fifty five interpreted Skaldic songs, wrote runs, and copied
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: old sagas. His principal work is Analaar from fourteen hundred
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: to sixteen forty five. He also wrote a work about
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: the ravages of the Algerian pirates in Iceland, the trick
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: Na Saga. Magnus Olufsen wrote the first Icelandic lexicon, Specimen
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: Lusiki Runiki, published in Copenhagen sixteen fifty. Goodman Oloffson was
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: called to Sweden, where he became a noted translator of
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Icelandic sagas. Somewhat later, the poet, patriot and scientist er
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Olofsson became very popular and widely known. His chief scientific
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: work is Riis Kajennen Island, in which he describes economic
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: life and conditions in Iceland. It was largely due to
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: the stimulating influence of the Icelandic scholars that a keen
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: interest in northern history and antiquities was awakened at this time,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: also in other European countries. In Denmark, scholars and historians
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: like old Worm Thomas Bartholen, Jacob Langbeck, Peter Frederick Zuhm,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: and the Norwegian historian Gerhart Scherning turned their attention to
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Northern antiquities in the Old Icelandic literature. In Sweden, Johann P.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Perringschold and his son Johann F. Perringschold became devoted students
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: in this field and translated many Icelandic works. Also in England, France, Germany,
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: many translations of Icelandic songs and sagas appeared. The ancient
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: literature of the North began to attract general attention. A
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: deep shadow was cast upon intellectual and social life in Iceland,
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: as in all other lands in the seventeenth century by
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: the witchcraft grace, which, like other plagues, was imported from abroad.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Superstition reigned supreme in Iceland as elsewhere in Europe at
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: this time, but it might have been relatively harmless but
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: for this unfortunate delusion started by clergymen and officials who
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: had been indirect contact with continental culture. In sincteen twenty five,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Yon Ragna Walsen was burned for witchcraft, the first person
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: who was put to death in Iceland for this imaginary crime.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: It was then a law in Denmark that persons convicted
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: of witchcraft should be burned, but it does not appear
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: that this law had been introduced in Iceland. The priests
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: and officials engaged in these prosecutions, acting with fanatical zeal,
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: took it upon themselves to sentence the accused according to
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: the provisions in the Danish Code, without regard for the
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: right of the Icelanders to be tried under their own laws.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: Burning or other forms of execution, flogging and other severe
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: punishments for witchcraft grew in frequency. The Icelandic scholar and
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: writer Magnus Stevenson says, in the period sixteen sixty to
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: sixteen ninety, sixteen persons were burned in Iceland. Trovos p
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Bjornsen in Silardo, who was a clergyman over fifty years
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: and until the day of his death, was regarded as
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: one of the greatest lights in theology, was a zealous
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: promoter of witchcraft prosecutions everywhere. He thought that he discovered
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: the influence of the witchcraft evil even upon himself, and
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: this influence he discussed in nearly all his writings. He
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: brought suit against many persons for witchcraft, demanding their death,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: and the civil authorities aided him diligently. According to Thorko
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: b Arnsen, twenty persons were burned at the stake for
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: witchcraft in the period sixteen thirty to sixteen ninety. According
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: to Bishop Jan Helliksen the number was twenty two. Many
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: were also flogged or banished for the same supposed crime.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: Clemens b Arnsen was sentenced to death for witchcraftons sixty ninety.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: He was pardoned but had to leave the country. This
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: was the last instance in which the penalty was imposed
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: in Iceland for this fancied wrongdoing. Throughout the seventeenth century,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: capital punishment was unsparingly inflicted not only for witchcraft and murder,
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: but for incest, adultery, theft, and other crimes. At every
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: session of the All Thing, people flocked together to witness
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: the hangings, burnings, decapitations, drownings, the floggings and brandings of
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: of venders sentenced under the harsh laws. All these frequently
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: repeated dramas of suffering only added new measures to human misery,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: darkened the outlook on life, and deadened all sympathy with
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: the unfortunate. Toward the close of the century, these dark
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: shadows lifted before the dawn of a more humane and
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: enlightened age. The harsh criminal laws were modified, and the
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: use of the death penalty was restricted, especially through the
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: practice of appeal to the king. It is noteworthy that
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: the victims of the witchcraft delusion in Iceland were men,
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: only one woman being put to death these prosecutions. End
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: of Chapter thirteen, Part two