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Great Calamities. The Danish Trade Monopoly. New Literary Activity · History of Iceland

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  Chapter fourteen of History of Iceland by Knute Goodiersen. This LibriVox recording is in
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  the public domain. Great calamities in Iceland, the Danish trade monopoly, new
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  literary activity, the religious and dynastic wars which rent Europe during the sixteenth and
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  seventeenth centuries did not disturb the general tranquility of Iceland. The various misfortunes occasioned
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  much suffering and awakened serious apprehension for the future of the country. Overseas,
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  trade, upon which the people depended for so many of their necessaries, was
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  often seriously disturbed and at times completely interrupted by the great wars. Pirates warmed
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  the ocean, picking up merchantmen flying between Iceland and continental ports, and at
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  any moment they might swoop down upon the unprotected shores and sack exposed coast settlements.
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  The cabbadequate protection kept the people in constant fear of piratic raids, which
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  were increasing in frequency and boldness. The analyst Jan Aspollen relates that in sixteen
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  fourteen Spanish buccaneers carried away sheep and cattle in the district of Vestfjord and extorted
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  money from the people. English pirates under the leadership of John gentlemen came to
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  the best manna Yar, where they robbed houses and destroyed property. They placed
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  muscus before the breasts of the people with laughter and ridicule, says the analyst,
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  the church bell they seized and fastened to the mast of their ship,
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  but they killed no one and they sailed then back to England. Trading vessels
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  were also plundered in de yup Vague. In sixteen fifteen, pirates came to
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  Patricksfiord with the intention of ravaging the Vestfjord districts. They had seized some Englishmen
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  whom they brought with them, and after plundering the neighborhood, they departed.
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  A little later, Spanish buccaneers came to the coast with three ships and ill
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  treated and robbed the people. One of their ships was wrecked, so that
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  eighty of them had to seek refuge on shore. These were attacked by the
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  people under the leadership of Ari Magnuson, acting under royal orders. Thirty one
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  of them were killed in Icefiord, thirteen in drive Fjord, and eighteen more
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  in id and sand ree Ri. The rest operated as robber bands until they
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  were finally exterminated. The buccaneers now became so bold in their operations that in
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  sixteen sixteen King Christian the Fourth detailed war vessels to protect the Icelandic trade.
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  In sixteen eighteen, he sent warships under two royal commissioners, Frederic Friis and
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  Jorgan Wind to drive the pirates from the sea. The commissioners were also given
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  power to deal with all important matters both of church and state in Iceland.
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  They decided many important cases at the all thing, says the analyst, Many
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  persons, both men and women, were sentenced to death and executed for adultery.
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  What success they had in their operations against the pirates as not recorded,
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  but it soon became evident that they had not driven them from the ocean.
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  On June twelve, sixteen twenty seven, Algerian pirates entered Grindevic and took a
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  Danish merchant ship with its cargo and several sailors and other people on board,
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  among others, the wife of Jan good Laugsen and her sons and brothers.
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  Meeting another vessel outside of the harbor, they decoyed it with the flag from
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  the ship which they had just seized, and captured it the first one.
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  They then sent with their booty to the Barbary States. Afterwards, they sailed
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  to Fakse Floyd, intending to attack Besta Dear, but the governor Hogar Rosen
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  Grans had gathered men and ships in the neighborhood. He constructed breastworks and mounted
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  some guns. When they saw these preparations for defense, they did not venture
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  assault. One of their ships ran aground, but they transferred their prisoners and
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  booty to the other ships, as this proved very difficult. The governor was
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  severely criticized because he did not use this opportunity to attack them. They then
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  sailed to the East Fjords, where they seized many cattle, captured one hundred
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  and ten persons, and killed many others. The greatest outrage was committed on
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  the vest manny Yar, also in sixteen twenty seven. Arriving there with three
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  ships and three hundred men, the pirates divided into three bends and over ran
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  the whole island with loud yells, massacring the terre stricken and helpless inhabitants.
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  After driving the people together in a large storehouse belonging to the Danish merchants.
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  They selected the youngest and strongest and drove them on board their ships. They
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  then set fire to the building and burned it with those who remained. The
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  priest and the island's jan Thorsteinsen, the hymn writer, was struck dead while
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  kneeling in prayer. His wife and children were driven on board the ships.
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  The parish church was burned, and those who tried to escape were mercilessly hunted
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  down and slain. After destroying what could not be carried away, the robbers
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  sailed back to Africa, where they sold their captives as slaves. Most of
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  these died soon. Those who survived wrote such touching letters to their home folks
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  that money was finally collected for their ransom, both in Denmark and Iceland.
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  In sixteen thirty two, King Christian the Fourth sent a large sum to the
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  Barbary states to secure their liberation. Thirty seven persons were thus rescued, besides
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  the priest olea Egelson, who had been liberated after a captivity of two years.
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  Of the people carried away by the pirates, only thirteen ever returned to
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  their native land. Great volcanic eruptions, together with cold winters and severe epidemics
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  increased the difficulties under which the people were struggling in sixteen ninety five. In
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  sixteen ninety six, the winters were so severe that not only did the rivers
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  freeze where they were never known to free before, but the ocean around all
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  Iceland became ice bound. Hard winters recurred in seventeen eighty four and seventeen ninety
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  two. In the latter year, horses were driven across the southern Aveti on
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  the ice the twelfth of May, and the frost did not leave the ground
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  all summer. These severe winters were usually accompanied by violent storms, in which
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  large numbers of boats and fishermen were lost. Still more destructive was the havoc
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  wrought by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In sixteen eighteen to sixteen nineteen, volcanic
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  outbreaks and earthquakes destroyed many farmsteads, causing much suffering and loss of property.
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  A volcanic eruption in eastern Iceland in sixteen twenty five lasted for twelve days and
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  was so violent that ashes fell even in Bergen, Norway. In sixteen thirty
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  six, the great volcano Hecla became active, this being its fifteenth recorded eruption.
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  Its activity lasted from May eighth until the following winter, and ashes were
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  deposited over large areas. In sixteen sixteen, outbreak of the Katla destroyed the
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  presbytery and church of Ha Debreca together with many farmsteads. In sixteen ninety three
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  occurred of violent eruption of the Hecla. The sixteenth ashes were deposited over all
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  Iceland and were even carried to Scotland and Norway. In the eighteenth century,
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  even greater destruction was wrought. In seventeen twenty seven, an eruption of the
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  or Hafa Yokul began August three and lasted till May twenty five. The following
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  year, many farms were blotted out and hundreds of sheep and horses were killed
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  through an earthquake at Rahengeveler and is Repper in September seventeen thirty two, eleven
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  or twelve farmsteads were destroyed and forty were more or less damaged. In seventeen
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  fifty five, an eruption of the Katla destroyed thirteen farms and covered a large
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  part of skap Fell Sealslah with a deposit of ashes so deep that fifty farms
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  had to be a In seventeen eighty three occurred a violent outbreak of the Scaptar
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  Joko, one of the most destructive in the history of Iceland. Nine farms
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  were entirely wiped out, twenty nine more were ruined, and two perishes were
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  rendered uninhabitable for two years. The meadows were devastated and a large number of
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  animals died of starvation and disease. According to reliable sources, the loss of
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  animals during the years seventeen eighty three to seventeen eighty four was eleven thousand,
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  four hundred and sixty one head of cattle, one hundred and ninety thousand,
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  four hundred and forty eight sheep, and twenty eight thousand, thirteen horses.
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  In seventeen eighty four, a great earthquake in southern Iceland destroyed sixty nine farmsteads,
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  totally wrecked for sixty four and seriously damaged three hundred and seventy two of
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  ouses. One thousand, four hundred and fifty nine were leveled with the ground,
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  two hundred and twelve earrecked, and three hundred and thirty three were seriously
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  damaged owing to such calamities, which brought about a general dislocation of economic life.
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  Famine and disease swept away the stricken people in large numbers. The analysts
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  state in seventeen o two, one hundred and twenty persons died of hunger in
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  thing gay yar Slaw alone. The death rate in general was very high owing
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  to undernourishment and unwholesome food. In seventeen oh seven, a great small pox
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  epidemic swept the country, carrying away eighteen thousand people, or about one third
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  of the entire population. In seventeen fifty seven, twenty two thousand, five
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  hundred died of hunger in the Skalholt diocese. The suffering due to these causes
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  became especially great after the eruption of the scaff Fells Yokol, which so seriously
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  depleted the flocks and herds of the country. In a report from the whole
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  Art diocese, Bishop Barney thorns And states that two one hundred and forty five
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  persons had died of hunger and that three hundred and fifteen farms had been abandoned
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  as a result of this calamity. It is estimated that nine th and two
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  hundred and thirty eight persons died in Iceland of hunger and attendant diseases. People
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  fell dead from exhaustion in going from one farm to another, children lost their
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  parents in and in many households, not a person survived during this century,
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  says Magnus Stevenson, Iceland experienced forty three years of distress due to cold winters,
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  ice floes, figures of fisheries, shipwrecks, inundations, volcanic eruptions,
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  earthquakes, epidemics, and contagious diseases among men and animals, which often came
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  separately, but often in connection with them as a result of one another.
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  Statistics show how the herds were depleted and how the population of Iceland was decreasing
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  at this time. Population seventeen O three fifty thousand, eighteen seventy seven seventy
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  two thousand sheep seventeen O three two hundred eighty thousand, eighteen seventy five,
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  hundred thousand cattle seventeen O three thirty five thousand, eighteen seventy six, twenty
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  thousand horses seventeen O three twenty six thousand, eighteen seventy six thirty one thousand.
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  Another cause which tended to deprive the common people of all hope of progress
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  and economic well being in the eighteenth century was the existing system of land ownership.
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  A large part of the soil of Iceland had in course of time been
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  converted into crown estates and church lands, which the people had to till as
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  renters. The crown lands embraced in all seven hundred and thirty five farms.
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  The bishop's seat of Skalholt owned three hundred and ten, that of Holar three
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  hundred and twenty. The various church estates included six hundred and seventy five and
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  thirty one belonged to hospitals and funds for the poor in all two thousand seventy
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  one farms, while twenty one hundred and sixteen were privately owned. The administration
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  of the royal estates was in the hands of the land fau Getty, who
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  resided at messe Dedare, later at Vitti. He had direct charge of all
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  royal estates in gul bring us slaw, issue leases and collected the rents at
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  the old Thing. He met and made public announcements of the estates which were
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  vacant. These were then leased at public auction to the highest bidder. The
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  lands belonging to the bishop's seats were managed by an administrator called eco Gnomus,
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  who leased the land's hired servants for the bishop's residents and served as steward in
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  the household. The rent was usually fixed at one twentieth of the taxable value
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  of the farm, bitterwing to volcanic eruptions, floods, and other misfortunes that
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  people were often unable to pay and would then have to part with their personal
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  belongings to cover the deaficit. Magnus Kettelson wrote in seventeen seventy the peasants greed
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  debts every year, and as they fear these, I must see to my
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  so or that they now offer me their own clothes in those of their wives.
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  No changes were made in the rents from generation to generation, or even
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  from cent century, although the farms had often lost much of their original productivity
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  through volcanic eruptions or poor management of impoverished renters. It was stated by many
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  prominent and well informed Icelanders that many farms still renting for the same amount as
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  in the past, could not support one fifth as many cattle as formally.
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  As a rule, the renters also had to agree to keep the houses in
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  repair, a very heavy burden often connected with great expense, as timber was
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  very costly and difficult to pro cure. But if anything was not in order
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  when the renter left, the manager would demand a considerable sum as indemnity.
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  The Royal land fo Giddy would often act in a most unjust and arbitrary way
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  about Chairman dress. It is stated in a letter to the Stiff ten to
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  mayth of seventeen seventy five, that he was a confirmed drunkard, that he
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  abused the peasants when they were unable to pay their dues, seized all their
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  belongings and drove them from their homes to no matter at what season of the
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  year, and that he often failed to give them credit for the property he
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  had taken. He was finally dismissed from office because of his harshness and unseemly
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  conduct. The system of subletting was extensively practiced the royal estates, and likewise
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  also the lands of the bishop's seats were often rented to priests, officials,
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  or other persons of standing, who subleased them to peasants. And lived a
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  life of leisure from incomes pressed from the real tillers of the soil. The
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  subleassees elial agh, whom men were often reduced to a condition resembling villainage,
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  as they had to render service to their landlords. In addition to the payment
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  of rent for their small farmsteads, which usually could keep only a cow or
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  two and a few sheep, the landlord also furnished a certain number of cattle
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  called goo guildy Danish covelder. The amount of rent for the livestock was not
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  fixed by law. As a rule, it was very high and had to
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  be paid in butter, and as the renter was often unable to produce enough
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  of that commodity to pay his rent, he had to content himself with a
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  mixture of tallow and train oil on his own table. One of the most
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  perplexing features of the relation between landlord and renter was the question who should pay
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  the loss when cattle died. It was generally held that if they died of
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  old age, the owner should replace them, that if they died from the
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  lack of proper care, the renters should make good the loss. But this
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  rule fair enough in the abstract greeted endless trouble when it was to be practically
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  applied. In case of cattle and sheep diseases, losses were often great,
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  and the controversy would be accordingly bitter. When the sheep disease broke out in
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  seventeen sixty one and in ten years reduced the number from four hundred and ninety
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  one thousand to one hundred and twelve thousand, it would seem that the renters
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  could not be held responsible for such a calamity, but many landlords, among
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  others the bishop's seat of Skalholt nevertheless demanded that they should pay the loss.
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  The service which the renters and poorer classes had to render the land fogue Etti
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  and the landlords was often very burdensome. One duty imposed upon the renters was
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  the manslan, which consisted chiefly in rowing the king's fishing boats during the fishing
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  season. As the land Foghetti found fishing very profitable, he often greatly increased
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  the number of boats, and all sorts of threats and intimidations were used to
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  compel the people to row them. The peasants had to leave their homes or
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  send their sons to perform this hated service. Another form of service was the
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  raslan at the thinghi rar Oyster. The men had to meet with shod horses
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  September thirty every year and make a trip which lasted from eight to ten days.
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  Horses also had to be furnished to bring the stip tam methr and the
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  land Foghetti, the bishops and other high officials to the all things together with
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  quantities of food and drink for the session every fall. Horses and men also
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  had to be provided to bring this ten mather fish to the seaport towns,
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  and whenever the stip ten meether or land Forguelty needed horses for home use or
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  travel, the peasants had to stand ready to render the desired service. The
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  more common form of service was the dag's verk, which consisted in ordinary work
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  to be performed on the landlord's estates, during having the manslaan was counted equivalent
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  to twenty olnar forty fish, and roslan ten ulnar twenty fish, and the
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  dog's verk five olnar. These three forms of service constituted what was known as
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  the fixed service, another kind required on royal estates and lands belonging to the
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  bishop bricks, but never demanded on private estates was the undefined service, which
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  consisted in help to be given in erection of buildings, in repairing fences,
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  et cetera. Another burden imposed on renters was the feeding of a certain number
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  of the landlord's cattle over winter during seasons of hey shortage. This burden was
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  very grievous, as the poor peasant often had to slaughter his own cattle in
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  order to feed those of his landlord. The peasant's cheerless hovel in the lack
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  of most ordinary comforts in his home life was a striking evidence of the hopeless
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  poverty to which he had been reduced. As the merchants brought little timber to
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  the country because it required much room in their ships, it became so scarce
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  and expensive that the peasants could not use it even for framework in their cottages,
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  but had to build them up sod and stone. The cislu Mather,
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  big fus thor Rarenssen gives the following description of a peasant's home. The living
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  room bathstofa is usually eight feet wide and sixteen feet long, built of sod,
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  with roof of the same material and without wooden inside walls. The kitchen
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  and pantry, built of the same material and in the same way, are
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  about one half as large as the living room. The general interior appearance of
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  these peasants huts is described by Jan Janssen as follows. The sofa on the
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  common peasant farmstead was usually not covered with boards. On the inside, one
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  could see between the rafters to the grass covered roof, which soon looked like
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  ordinary sod, and from which mildew and cobwebs were hanging. The floor was
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  uncovered, consisting only of earth trampled hard, but during heavy rains, when
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  the roof was leaking, water dripped down and it soon became a pool of
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  mud through which the people waited. The walls along which the bedsteads were nailed
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  fast, were covered with a gray coat of mildew, and green slime was
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  constantly trickling down the walls, especially in the winter. Bed clothes were very
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  few among the poor people. Old hay, seaweed or twigs did service as
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  mattress, and a few blankets constituted the covering. In some houses, a
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  little loft was built the pallor two or three feet from the ground where the
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  people of the household state. The dark room underneath the pallor was occupied by
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  lambs and young calves, which needed special care. One trouble with all dwellings,
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  though there might be considerable difference between them, was the want of light.
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  In a house where there was no heating apparatus, as in the icelandic
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  both sofa in. In a climate estially as that of Iceland, it was
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  necessary to preserve the heat as well as possible. The windows were therefore both
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  few and small, and were usually placed in the roof above the bed.
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  A window consisted of only one pane, and this was not of glass,
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  but of a thin main brain lick nah belger, stretched upon a frame and
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  placed in a hole in the roof. When the wind was strong, the
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  window would often break and the women would have to mend them. It can
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  readily be understood that these windows admitted so little light into the room that the
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  people had to sit in continual darkness, even in the middle of the day.
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  The effect of this kind of dwellings on the health and well being of
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  the people was injurious in the extreme. Magnus Olufsen, member of a royal
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  commission, writing about conditions in Iceland at this time, says one can understand
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  how these miserably constructed houses are the poor contribute to the spread of all sorts
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  of diseases, as the houses, especially in dwelling, are very low.
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  There, the people sit on the loft, and the air is so impure
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  that a stranger who is not accustomed to it can scarcely endure it for an
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  hour, as it is corrupted by the smoke of the train, oil lamps
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  and the respiration and perspiration of the people, of whom many are affected with
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  scurvy and other diseases. When pregnant women and small children have to breathe this
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  infected air, it is not strange that many, even in their youth,
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  become affected with tuberculosis and spid blood when they move about rapidly. When features
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  still overlooked in these reports, says jan Jansen, which did not improve the
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  air in the bath Stofa, namely, the fact that the men sat all
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  day with their pipes in their mouths, smoking so that the smoke rolled out
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  as from a factory to meet the merchants had made them believe that if they
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  only smoked a great deal, no sickness would attack them. How wretched and
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  helpless the people must have been in such an environment when small packs epidemics and
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  other dangerous diseases broke out can readily be imagined. The sick and the well
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  were huddled together in their dark hovels, without medical aid and usually even without
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  proper food for the weak and suffering. In the eighteenth century, leprosy became
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  a most dreaded scourge, due to no doubt to unsanitary conditions and unwholesome food.
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  As the lepers could not be isolated, but had to live in the
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  house with the rest, it is not strange that the disease should spread.
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  The four hospitals found in the country could take care of only a small number
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  of patients. How many lepers were found in the country in seventeen seventy is
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  not known, says Jan Jansen, But in celt yarn Narrowness alone, where
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  there were only ten farms, there were twenty lepers. Judging from these figures,
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  there must have been at that time a great number in the whole country.
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  The Icelandic peasants bore their wretched lot with great patience and fortitude. Though
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  complaints were often heard, they scarcely ever resisted their landlord failed in the performance
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  of the duties imposed upon them, but their hopeless condition destroyed their optimism and
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  spirit of enterprise. Since various calamities had reduced them to abject poverty, and
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  since the system of land ownership made it impossible for them to own their houses
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  or the soil they tilled, they lost all hope of accomplishing anything but keeping
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  themselves and their families alive. As the farms were not improved, they lost
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  rather than gained in productivity, with a stoic mental attitude developed under conditions of
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  extreme adversity. The peasants could endure hardships, but their suffering and economic dependence
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  fostered an unprogressive and apathetic spirit, unfavorable to social development. Of the various
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  causes which gradually plunged the Icelandic people into so disheartening and social conditions, the
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  most grievous was probably the Danish trade monopoly, which prohibited all foreign intercourse with
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  Iceland for centuries. The Hanseatic League had controlled commerce in Northern Europe. To
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  its disintegration, great commercial and maritime states had arisen Spain, Portugal, the
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  Netherlands, France and England. Which entered into a sharp contest for trade advantages
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  and colonial dominions in the western hemispheres as well as in the Far East.
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  The prevailing economic views governing trade relations at that time were not those of competition
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  and free intercourse, but of trade monopoly and complete exclusion of rivals from marcus
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  within the nation's sphere of control. The trade with distant lands was seldom carried
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  on by the governments directly, but was usually granted as a monopoly to commercial
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  companies, enjoying the most extensive privileges and powers and responsible to no one after
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  obtaining their charters and paying the required sum to the Royal treasury. The Netherlands,
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  which succeeded Portugal and Spain as the leading commercial state, developed a commercial
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  policy scarcely less tyrannical than that of Spain itself. The colonial trade was carried
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  on by commercial company which received a monopoly of traffic in certain areas, establishing
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  regulations which often resulted in incompetence and corruption. The Dutch West India Company,
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  founded in sixteen twenty one, controlled the trade west of the Cape of Good
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  Hope, comprising commerce with the West coast of Africa and the East coast of
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  America. This was virtually a corporation of privateers, who even opposed the termination
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  of the war between Spain and the Netherlands in a remonstrance of sixteen thirty three,
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  as the cessation of hostilities would lessen their chances to prey on Spanish treasure
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  ships. The Duchies India Company, charted in sixteen oh two, secured a
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  monopoly of the trade eastward from the Cape of Good Hope. It established numerous
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  trading stations in South Africa, on the coast of Asia, and on the
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  islands in the Malay Archipelago, where they broke the power of the Portuguese and
• 25:52
  established a monopoly over many of the most valuable articles of commerce in England.
• 25:56
  Trade with France, Spain and Portugal was open to all merchants, but commerce
• 26:02
  with the rest of the world was carried on by chartered companies exercising a monopoly
• 26:07
  within their specified territory. The Eastland Company controlled the trade with the Scandinavian countries
• 26:12
  and the Baltic provinces, the Russian Company with Russia. The Levant Company had
• 26:18
  exclusive trade privileges in the Mediterranean region, the East India Company in Asia,
• 26:22
  the Guinea or African Company. On the west coast of Africa. The Virginia
• 26:26
  Company, Plymouth Company, and Hudson Bay Company controlled the trade with America,
• 26:32
  each within its allotted sphere. In Denmark, Norway, the enterprising and energetic
• 26:37
  King Christian fourth fifteen eighty eight two sixteen forty sought to secure for his realms
• 26:42
  a fair share of the commerce of the world. In his efforts to promote
• 26:47
  trade, he pursued the general policy of the age of establishing trade monopolies and
• 26:52
  commercial companies. The Danish East India Company was chartered in sixteen sixteen, the
• 26:57
  West India Company in sixteen twenty five, the Greenland Company in sixteen thirty six.
• 27:03
  The trade with Iceland was treated in a similar way. Foreign competitors were
• 27:07
  excluded, and the trade with the island was to remain exclusively in the hands
• 27:11
  of citizens of the realm, in justice to the Danish government. It must
• 27:15
  be said, then that this way of dealing with Icelandic commerce did not differ
• 27:21
  from the general policy pursued by other nations at this time, But the system
• 27:26
  was so faulty in the need in Iceland of a well regulated commerce was so
• 27:30
  great that the correct practices and limitation of the trade due to the commercial monopoly
• 27:34
  soon brought serious distress and economic disaster upon the people. In sixteen o two,
• 27:41
  the trade with Iceland was granted to a company of Danish merchants of the
• 27:45
  cities of Copenhagen, Housinger and the Malmai for a period of twelve years,
• 27:49
  and all foreign trade with the island was forbidden by royal orders. The merchants
• 27:55
  receiving this trade monopoly should sail to the various Icelandic harbors and bring thither sufficient
• 28:00
  supply of goods which were to be sold at the prices which had formerly obtained
• 28:04
  and according to weights and measures which had been in use in Iceland. If
• 28:08
  differences should arise between the merchants and the people, the matter should be decided
• 28:14
  by the all things. But these regulations were not obeyed. Things soon took
• 28:18
  such a turn that after two years the people were forced to bring their complaints
• 28:22
  to the king. Not only were the goods now brought to Iceland much more
• 28:26
  costly than before, but necessaries like timber, tarret iron could no longer be
• 28:30
  had in sufficient quantities. In sixteen nineteen, the king established a price schedule
• 28:37
  according to which goods were to be sold in Iceland, but the merchants complained
• 28:41
  that the prices on their goods were too low and brought such pressure to bear
• 28:45
  that a more favorable schedule was granted them in sixteen thirty one. When this
• 28:49
  was brought before the all thing, the people made vigorous protests. Bishop gisli
• 28:53
  Otsen was sent to Copenhagen with a remonstrance to the king, which moved him
• 28:59
  to set aside the new price schedule and order that the prices of sixteen nineteen
• 29:04
  should remain in force. King Christian fourth died February twenty eighth, sixteen forty
• 29:10
  eight, and was succeeded by his son Frederick. Ever since the union of
• 29:14
  the two realms established at Kalmar in thirteen ninety seven, the king of Denmark
• 29:18
  Norway had been placed on the throne through election by the Danish estates, an
• 29:23
  arrangement which enabled the privileged classes to exercise a dominant influence upon the government.
• 29:29
  Since the kings had to sign charters restricting their powers and safeguarding the privileges of
• 29:34
  the nobility, the personal friends of the new king resolved to do away with
• 29:38
  these restrictions upon his power. Under the leadership of Hans Nansen, Mayor of
• 29:44
  Copenhagen and Bishop Spain of sea Land, they overthrew the rule of the aristocracy
• 29:51
  in a coup desta in Copenhagen September tenth, sixteen sixty proclaiming Frederic the Third
• 29:56
  absolute hereditary Monarch. The nobles were forced to give their consent. The charter
• 30:02
  was returned to the king as a token that the restrictions upon his power were
• 30:04
  annulled, and on October eighteen he was formally hailed as hereditary King of Denmark.
• 30:11
  In accordance with the principles of absolutism, a new constitution, the congolov
• 30:17
  Lex Regia, was prepared in sixteen sixty five, enumerting in detail the powers
• 30:22
  which he was to exercise without restrictions of any sort. By an Act of
• 30:26
  sixteen sixty one, he was formerly made hereditary and absolute monarch. The Norwegian
• 30:33
  estates, summoned to meet in Christiania May twenty seventh, sixteen sixty one,
• 30:37
  also hailed Frederic the Third as absolute hereditary King. With this accomplished, steps
• 30:44
  were also taken to secure from the Icelanders a pledge of allegiance to the new
• 30:48
  regime. King Frederic the third issue of summons to the leading men, bishops,
• 30:52
  provost, priests, layman, lawmen, cis Luhmann, Logrettumen and farmers
• 30:59
  to uk assemble at the all Thing for this purpose. But as Henrik Beljuka,
• 31:03
  the hearthst Yuri Governor General, did not arrive in Iceland in time to
• 31:08
  attend the meeting, he asked the men summoned to meet him near besset Adu
• 31:12
  on the coast. A meeting was accordingly assembled at the top of Ogue by
• 31:17
  the law men Arnie Odsen July twenty eighth, sixteen sixty two, where the
• 31:22
  required oath was taken in the presence of Henrik Bylka, as the King's representative.
• 31:27
  In order to safeguard their liberty as far as possible, the representatives demanded
• 31:32
  that their laws should be preserved to them, a request which Bayolka seems to
• 31:36
  have granted the same. Some of the assembled all Thing declared that the Icelanders
• 31:41
  would act according to the old Icelandic Agreement and the Icelandic Laws. Some years
• 31:45
  before, in sixteen forty nine, King Frederick the Third Center Royal letter to
• 31:49
  the Icelanders with the hearth st Yori Henry Bijolka, saying, we promised you
• 31:56
  all separately and collectively to maintain for you your laws and statue, and to
• 32:00
  let you enjoy the rights and liberties which have been yours hitherto. The ceremony
• 32:06
  of yielding formal homage to the King as hereditary and absolute monarch was celebrated by
• 32:10
  a festival to which all the representatives at Copa Vogue were invited. Salutes were
• 32:15
  fired and fireworks eliminated the sky. The ceremony was staged by the governor,
• 32:21
  chiefly in glorification of his sovereign. As the Icelanders had not been consulted as
• 32:25
  a matter of form, they were asked to ratify and accomplished act, a
• 32:30
  request which they were not in position to refuse. To them, the affair
• 32:34
  at Copa Vogue was only a new humiliation of further encroachment upon their national liberty
• 32:39
  and autonomy. How they really felt in the midst of these festivities accompanied by
• 32:45
  the booming of guns can be seen from the fact that the aged Magnus Bijornsen,
• 32:50
  for twenty three years law man in Northern Iceland, upon hearing of the
• 32:53
  king's request, resigned from his office and did not go to the all thing.
• 32:58
  His son Ghisli Magnus Cis lou mathor Halidda Rendi, was elected to succeed
• 33:05
  him, but refused to serve, declaring that he would rather leave the country
• 33:07
  and go to Holland than accept the office. Thorleiff courtshim was then chosen.
• 33:13
  A man notorious for his avarice and his zeal in witchcraft prosecutions, a veritable
• 33:17
  scourge of his time. Arnie Odsen, lawman in southern Iceland, was already
• 33:22
  an old man, but it may have been due in part to these untoward
• 33:27
  events that after the meeting in Copovogue, he immediately resigned. In Denmark,
• 33:31
  where a haughty nobility had long oppressed the common people, the introduction of absolutism
• 33:37
  was welcomed by many, as the fatherly protection of an absolute king might tend
• 33:40
  to shield them against the wanton acts of the feudal lords. But in Iceland,
• 33:45
  where no nobility existed, the sudden increase of royal power carried with it
• 33:50
  no such advantage. On the contrary, it could only serve to make the
• 33:53
  royal officials more despotic and arbitrary, as it would deprive the people of all
• 33:58
  control of legislation, destroy the last vestige of power and influence of the all
• 34:02
  thing, and make the country wholly subservient to the dictates of a foreign ruler.
• 34:07
  Henrik Bijelka, who was a Norwegian by birth, remained governor for twenty
• 34:13
  three years, but after sixteen sixty two he did not again visit Iceland.
• 34:16
  He sought to promote many undertakings which might be useful to the people, and
• 34:21
  strove to prevent the placing of increased burdens upon them through the levying of new
• 34:25
  taxes. But in his absence he was represented by voe Guitar acting as his
• 34:30
  deputies, many of whom were cruel and despotic officials who failed to carry out
• 34:35
  his plans. The worst of these was Tomas Nicholson, who finally drowned in
• 34:40
  sixteen sixty five, to the great relief of the people. For over twenty
• 34:45
  years after the introduction of absolutism, the government of Iceland remained unchanged, but
• 34:51
  when Bajelka died in sixteen eighty three, many changes were made in the administration.
• 34:55
  The finances were separated from the other administrative functions and placed in control of
• 35:00
  a land Foghetti, who was to superintend the royal estates, collect the taxes,
• 35:06
  and audit the payment of public expenditures. He was also to watch over
• 35:09
  the enforcement of the trade laws. The first incumbent in this office, Christopher
• 35:14
  Heidelmann, was an able administrator, jovial and liberal with his friends, but
• 35:19
  harsh to those whom he disliked. A new office, that of Stip Falling
• 35:24
  Mather for Iceland, was greeted in sixteen eighty four. This official was to
• 35:30
  conduct the general administration and exercise judicial authority in cases pertaining to the Church,
• 35:35
  but as he did not reside in Iceland, a resident m Mather was appointed
• 35:39
  to act as his deputy. This arrangement continued till seventeen seventy, when the
• 35:45
  country was divided into two ants, each with its own Ampt Mather, and
• 35:51
  a new superior office, that of Stip Tim Mather, was created in sixteen
• 35:54
  eighty eight. This office was combined with that of Mather for the southern and
• 36:00
  western districts. The STIPMP Governor General was to live in Iceland. The first
• 36:05
  Ampt Math in Iceland was the Dane Christian Mueller, a man hated by the
• 36:10
  people for his rashness and blunders in the performance of his official duties. In
• 36:15
  seventeen eighty seven, Iceland was divided into three amps, one for the southern,
• 36:20
  one for the western, and one for the northern and eastern districts.
• 36:22
  The highest authority in Icelandic affairs was vested in the rent to commer in Copenhagen,
• 36:30
  who which had the supervision of administrative and commercial affairs. Judicial matters were
• 36:34
  under the control of the Cancelli, and above all stood the King, who,
• 36:37
  as absolute monarch, was also lawgiver and source of justice. He also
• 36:43
  assumed the right to appoint bishops, lawmen, and the more important parish priests,
• 36:47
  who had hitherto, as a rule, been chosen by the people.
• 36:51
  The all thing lost the last remnant of its legislative power and continued to exist
• 36:55
  only as a judicial tribunal. Regard to trade, the policy inaugurated by Christian
• 37:01
  the Fourth was continued by Frederick the Third and his successors. Danish merchants were
• 37:06
  permitted to send war vessels to Iceland to drive away foreign ships carrying goods to
• 37:10
  the island. In fifteen fifty eight, a new effort was made by the
• 37:15
  merchants to increase the prices on their goods, but in sixteen sixty two the
• 37:19
  company was dissolved because they had failed to supply the country with the necessary imports
• 37:23
  according to agreement. The rule that the Icelanders should trade with no one but
• 37:29
  Danish merchants was nevertheless enforced as strictly as ever. By the Ordinance of July
• 37:34
  thirty one, sixteen sixty two, a new company was created, which received
• 37:37
  a monopoly for the period of twenty years. Iceland was divided into four commercial
• 37:43
  districts, and it was decreed that the people should not carry on trade with
• 37:46
  anyone outside their own district. Throughout the seventeenth century, English and Dutch fishing
• 37:52
  smacks often traded secretly with the Icelanders, but the punishments inflicted on those who
• 37:57
  violated the trade regulations were finally made so severe that no one would attempt to
• 38:01
  trade with foreigners, accepting cases of extreme need. In sixteen seventy eight,
• 38:07
  Paul Torphisen sys lou Mather in the is of Fjord District bought a couple of
• 38:14
  fishing lines from an English trawler in exchange for a few articles of kmitted goods
• 38:17
  which the Danish merchants had refused to buy. For this offense, he was
• 38:22
  brought to trial, and although he showed that without the lines he could not
• 38:25
  continue his catch, that his boats would have to lie idle, the punishment
• 38:30
  of the loss of his household articles was inflicted. Jan bigs Cis lou Mather
• 38:36
  in the borger Fjord district was accused of trading with foreigners and was dismissed from
• 38:40
  his office. Trading outside of one's district was punished with equal severity. In
• 38:45
  sixteen eighty four, new price schedules were established, increasing the prices on goods
• 38:50
  imported and lowering the prices on Icelandic articles of export. At the same time,
• 38:54
  punishments for violating the rules of trade were made more severe. Traffic with
• 39:00
  foreigners or trading outside of one's district was henceforth to be punished by flogging,
• 39:05
  loss of property or incarceration. In the fortress of Bremmer Home in sixteen ninety
• 39:09
  nine, a poor peasant by the name of home Fast Goodmunsen was flogged in
• 39:15
  the presence of the Amath Christian Mueller because he had sold a few fish outside
• 39:21
  of his own district, though the Danish merchant admitted that they had refused to
• 39:24
  buy the fish. Thomas Conradsen was sentenced to the fortress of bremer Home for
• 39:30
  a similar offense. In seventeen hundred three men in the district of Isfiord were
• 39:36
  sentenced to the loss of their household goods and incarceration in the fortress of Remenhe
• 39:40
  because they had bought two elves of kurzy from an English fisherman. The ant
• 39:46
  Mather was secretly impact with the merchants and received his share of the profit for
• 39:51
  their trade. By an ordinance of sixteen eighty nine, the number of districts
• 39:54
  was increased so that commercially the people were shut up within still smaller areas.
• 40:00
  It is true that the government seems to have intended to aid the people in
• 40:02
  this way by compelling the merchants to carry goods to all parts of Iceland.
• 40:07
  As a provision was added that if the merchants did not bring sufficient goods,
• 40:10
  the people should be allowed to trade outside of their own districts. But the
• 40:15
  further restriction on free intercourse could only tend to create new hardships among the disadvantages
• 40:22
  of their monopoly trade was not only a shortage of import of necessary commodities,
• 40:27
  but the fact that no market was created where Icelandic articles of export could be
• 40:31
  freely sold. The transportation of goods to the designated harbors in the commercial districts
• 40:37
  was usually connected with great labor and difficulty. When people from far away districts
• 40:42
  finally reached the seaport with their wares, the merchants would usually buy only a
• 40:45
  limited quantity they could select and reject according to their own notions. Goods of
• 40:52
  excellent quality were often rated as rejected articles, and when the merchants had loaded
• 40:57
  their vessels nothing more could be sold. To bring the goods back home was
• 41:00
  connected with so much labor and expense that they were rather abandoned. Hundreds of
• 41:06
  barrels of train oil, large quantities of meat and fish, hides and pelts
• 41:09
  had to be destroyed for want of buyers. Thousands of sheep brought to the
• 41:15
  seaports had to be driven home again. Even knitted where would be abandoned,
• 41:19
  as the transportation home was connected with more labor and difficulty than the goods were
• 41:23
  worth. Under such circumstances, the prices which could be obtained for the goods
• 41:28
  were often very low, and the futility of producing goods which could not be
• 41:32
  marketed tended to destroy all spirit of thrift and enterprise. The absence of competition
• 41:38
  and open markets made the difference in price between Icelandic staple commodities and the imported
• 41:44
  merchant goods constantly greater and more unfair. A barrel of flour, which in
• 41:49
  seventeen oh two cost two rigs dollar, rose to ten briggs dollars in eighteen
• 41:53
  hundred, while the price schedules on Icelandic goods remained practically unchanged. A skip
• 41:59
  under of fish one hundred and sixty kilograms, which in other markets in seventeen
• 42:04
  eighty two was worth from thirty to forty dollars, was sold in Iceland to
• 42:07
  the Danish merchants for seven dollars. Often the merchants purchased commodities in Iceland with
• 42:13
  high priced brandy, which was in great demand but only harmed the people.
• 42:17
  In seventeen eighty eight, in a period of famine and general distress, seven
• 42:21
  hundred and thirty barrels of brandy were imported to ghul bring Goo, Sisla and
• 42:25
  sold for twenty one thousand, nine hundred rigs dollar. Much harm was also
• 42:30
  done because ready made articles were imported, compelling people to pay for work which
• 42:35
  they themselves might have performed. Flour was imported, but no green muslin was
• 42:40
  imported. Bleached rope and articles of iron were imported, even tubs and barrels,
• 42:45
  but the Icelanders could only export raw materials. The merchants salted and meat,
• 42:50
  fish and butter exported from Iceland cleaned the eider down, prepared the codfish,
• 42:54
  and received hides and furs only in unprepared form. In sixteen ninety nine,
• 43:01
  King Frederick the Fourth ascended the throne. Conditions in Iceland were then so
• 43:06
  deplorable that when the people assembled at the All Thing to take the oath of
• 43:08
  allegiance to the new sovereign, the general distress of the country was the chief
• 43:13
  topic of conversation. A memorial was drawn up setting forth there sufferings and asking
• 43:17
  for a redress of grievances. Loretz Goatrop, adained by birth law man in
• 43:22
  northern Iceland, who was sent to Denmark to present the memorial to the King,
• 43:27
  was well received and a new and more favorable price schedule was established.
• 43:30
  In seventeen o two. As a result of his mission, the severe punishments
• 43:35
  for a trafficking with foreign traders were also abolished, a simple fine being substituted.
• 43:40
  A commission consisting of Arney Magnussen and Paul Bidelum was sent to Iceland to
• 43:46
  examine conditions and to investigate how the laws governing commerce were observed by the merchants,
• 43:52
  But trade conditions did not improve. The merchants, who had obtained the
• 43:57
  privilege to trade with Iceland became more and more indebted to the government and were
• 44:00
  enabled to supply the country with the needed articles of import. The government had
• 44:07
  gradually increased the sums for which the trade privileges were granted, and the merchants
• 44:10
  spared no efforts to reimburse themselves by preying upon the people who had become the
• 44:15
  helpless victims of their greed. In sixteen oh two, King Christian the fourth
• 44:20
  granted the first monopoly for the modest sum of sixteen rigs dollar a year,
• 44:23
  to be paid by the merchants for every Icelandic harbor in which they carried on
• 44:28
  trade. In sixteen nineteen this was changed to twenty riggs dollar to be paid
• 44:32
  for every ship sailing to Iceland. The sums charged were constantly increased. In
• 44:37
  sixteen ninety thirteen thousand, six hundred and seventy rigs dollar had to be paid.
• 44:43
  In seventeen oh six, the trade with Iceland was granted to a company
• 44:45
  of merchant houses, especially in Copenhagen, till seventeen thirty three four a yearly
• 44:51
  payment of twenty thousand, one hundred and ninety rigs dollar. In that year,
• 44:55
  the same company was given control of Icelandic trade for a period of ten
• 44:59
  years for the yearly sum of eight thousand rigs dollar. When this company was
• 45:04
  dissolved in seventeen forty two, the trade with Iceland was granted to the herk
• 45:07
  Remmer Company of Copenhagen for sixteen thy one hundred brigs dollar a year. Conditions
• 45:14
  in Iceland now became worse than ever before. As the managers of this company's
• 45:19
  cared little for the welfare of the people. They managed the trade in such
• 45:22
  a way that there was always a lack of necessary articles, but a good
• 45:25
  supply of spirits, tobacco and other articles of luxury. Complaints were constantly made
• 45:30
  that the goods imported were adulterated. The timber rotten, the flower spoiled,
• 45:35
  the iron useless, But no reduction was made in the prices of these inferior
• 45:38
  goods. Not even the rules for good behavior and intercourse with the people were
• 45:44
  observed. The poor were looked down upon and often ill treated. The custom
• 45:47
  of secret bargaining was also introduced by the merchants. The people were called to
• 45:52
  private conferences behind closed doors, where transactions were concluded to their greatest disadvantage.
• 45:58
  Neither weight nor measure was properly observed. But among all grievances, the chief
• 46:02
  source of complaint was the shortage of food due to negligence of the company in
• 46:07
  supplying the country with the necessary articles of import In payment of such goods as
• 46:14
  could be obtained, that people had to give fish, meat, butter,
• 46:15
  and other provisions which were exported even at times when people were dying of hunger.
• 46:21
  The often repeated complaints of unbearable outrages went unheeded by the government. The
• 46:25
  merchants asserted that the reports were exaggerated, that the charges were not true,
• 46:30
  that nothing had been proved, that disgruntled persons were creating trouble and discontent.
• 46:35
  When volcanic eruptions and other calamities finally reduced the country to such extremity that people
• 46:40
  died of famine and hunger epidemics in large numbers. The merchants filled the measure
• 46:45
  of their iniquity by shipping putrid and wormy flour to ice, on which the
• 46:50
  people were compelled to use because of prevailing famine. In those days of trouble,
• 46:54
  the Icelanders found and able leader in Schoolly magnusen veenteen eleven to seventeen ninety
• 47:00
  four, who was appointed land Forgetty in Iceland to succeed the notorious Dress.
• 47:06
  Schooley was the first Icelander appointed to this important office. In his fight against
• 47:10
  the merchants, he proved himself courageous, energetic, and persevering. He towered
• 47:15
  high above all the people, possessing a strength of personality which made him feared
• 47:20
  and respected. Though he was a haughty and somewhat intemperate man. When he
• 47:23
  became acquainted with the general conditions in his country, he saw the urgent need
• 47:28
  of reform. He became convinced that the power of the herk Rehmer company had
• 47:34
  to be broken, and that a new basis had to be laid for Icelandic
• 47:37
  economic life. In seventeen forty nine. He first voiced these views, claiming
• 47:40
  that it was necessary to improve farming and husbandry. The fisheries were controlled by
• 47:45
  foreigners to such an extent that the native population could not profit property by this
• 47:50
  important occupation, as they had no sailboats and had to fish near shore in
• 47:53
  shallow water. The merchants complained that the knitted ware which the people brought was
• 47:59
  poorly made and showed that they were deficient in knowledge of treatment of the ruld.
• 48:04
  This Scully regarded as a most important matter, as the greater part of
• 48:07
  the people made their living by home manufacture of willing goods. He felt that
• 48:13
  the only way to solve this problem was through cooperation of the leading men of
• 48:16
  the country. Euraged that a stock company should be formed for this purpose,
• 48:21
  as he felt sure that the government would be willing to support the undertaking if
• 48:24
  they saw that the people were determined to do something. He drew up plans
• 48:29
  and the company was organized. A woolen mill was built at Rekievik, and
• 48:31
  German weavers were brought to Iceland. In seventeen fifty one, Scully went to
• 48:37
  Denmark to submit his plans to the government. King Frederick the Fifth, who
• 48:40
  was well disposed to the Icelanders, granted him a money subsidy and several estates
• 48:45
  in Iceland to further the enterprise. In seventeen fifty two, a royal rescript
• 48:52
  was issued in sanctioning the plan. The work was now begun in Earnest.
• 48:55
  Besides the woolen mill, a fulling mill, a ropery and a tannery were
• 49:00
  built at Reikievik. Farmers were sent from Denmark and Norway to teach the Icelanders.
• 49:05
  Agriculture trees were imported and planted. Fishing smacks were purchased abroad. The
• 49:09
  fishermen were to be aided in constructing larger boats so that they could fish in
• 49:14
  the open sea, and the people were to learn the best methods of salting
• 49:16
  meat and fish. Things promised well for a time, but many difficulties were
• 49:21
  encountered, the chief one being the opposition of the Herkkremer company, which did
• 49:24
  not which did everything in its power to hinder the new enterprises. The merchants
• 49:30
  claimed that the law governing the trade with Iceland would be violated if the King
• 49:34
  supported this new plan. They refused to handle the products of the new industrial
• 49:37
  establishments, and no agreements could be reached between them and the promoters of the
• 49:43
  enterprise. Scully then turned to the government for aid. This was promised,
• 49:46
  and the important regulation was made that if the merchants would not handle the products
• 49:52
  of the new Icelandic industries at prices fixed by the land Foghetti, those who
• 49:57
  were interested as the shareholders and the industries export their goods directly from Iceland.
• 50:02
  They might also import in their own ship's materials necessary in their establishments, and
• 50:07
  might by wool and hides anywhere in the country. The merchants persisted in their
• 50:13
  opposition, and Scully finally brought suit against the company for wrongs which they had
• 50:16
  committed in Iceland. The legal battle became long and involved. In seventeen fifty
• 50:22
  seven, the company was dissolved and the trade with Iceland was carried on by
• 50:25
  the government for the benefit of the Royal Treasury till seventeen sixty three. In
• 50:30
  that year it was granted to a new company, the General Commercial Company,
• 50:35
  which also received control of the new industrial enterprises. In spite of Scully's protests,
• 50:39
  this company pursued the same policy as its predecessor and continued his legal fight
• 50:45
  against it in order to redem itself of all competition, that suffered the Icelandic
• 50:49
  industrial establishments to fall into complete neglect in its trade with Iceland. The old
• 50:54
  corrupt practices of the Harkremer Company were continued. In seventeen six stated was made
• 51:00
  clear through inspection in Copenhagen that the flower build for Iceland was so unfit for
• 51:06
  use that the government was obliged to forbid its shipment. But the company disregarded
• 51:09
  the government order and ship the flower. When it arrived there, the assists
• 51:14
  new method inspected it and found it to be unfit for human food. It
• 51:17
  was so mildewed, putred and wormy that it could not even be used for
• 51:22
  feed for cattle. But the merchants had tried to sell it to the people
• 51:24
  at full price, and many who were poor and starving had no alternative but
• 51:29
  to buy it. Scully magnuson the land Fogetty, encouraged the people to seize
• 51:34
  and destroy the flower, and a thousand barrels were dumped into the sea.
• 51:37
  He then brought complaint against the company and forced it to pay a fine of
• 51:40
  four thy four hundred bigs dollar. King Frederick the Fifth died in seventeen sixty
• 51:45
  six and was succeeded by Christian the Seventh to rule till eighteen o eight.
• 51:50
  In seventeen fifty two, Egert Olufsen and Biarni Pulsen had been sent to Iceland
• 51:55
  to examine conditions. In seventeen seventy a new commission, consisting of two Danes
• 52:00
  and the Icelander Thorpour Johnson vy Yaldstead, was sent on a like mission.
• 52:06
  They traveled through all parts of the country. Many new offices were later greeted
• 52:09
  as a result of their recommendations. Mills were built so that the people could
• 52:15
  rind their own flower. The raising of cabbage and potatoes was encouraged, and
• 52:19
  prizes were offered those who succeeded best in this enterprise. In seventeen seventy six,
• 52:23
  a law was passed providing for the improvement of roads, for the caring
• 52:27
  of mails, and for granting awards to those who would build homes on devastated
• 52:31
  farmsteads, of which there were many. Salt works were also erected. These
• 52:36
  undertakings show at least an earnest desire on the part of the government to improve
• 52:39
  conditions, but the trade, monopoly, famine and epidemics had reduced the people
• 52:45
  to such a state of misery that no real change could be brought about by
• 52:47
  belated efforts of this kind. In seventeen seventy four, the merchant company had
• 52:53
  to surrender its charter and the trade was conducted by the government till seventeen eighty
• 52:58
  six, when commerce with Iceland was made free to all Danish Norwegian citizens,
• 53:02
  but even this step brought no relief. After the outbreak of the volcano Scapped
• 53:07
  or Yokel, only forty thousand remained of the whole population, which now seemed
• 53:13
  to face complete extinction. A committee was appointed by the government to devise means
• 53:16
  of for relief. Large sums of money were collected throughout the realm. Many
• 53:21
  cargoes of provisions and building material were sent to Iceland. Two ships were set
• 53:25
  aside to transport necessary articles for the sufferers. The government also provided credit for
• 53:30
  the people with the merchants and the Icelandic towns. In seventeen eighty eight,
• 53:35
  the government paid the merchants fifty seven thousand, four hunit and sixty two rigs
• 53:38
  dollar for supplies furnished. During the same year, twenty eight thousand barrels of
• 53:43
  grain were shipped, to which three thousand, four hundred and ninety nine barrels
• 53:46
  were added by royal orders. The plan was even considered of removing the entire
• 53:51
  population from Iceland and colonizing them on the heaths of Jutland. In this crisis,
• 53:57
  the weakness and inefficiency of the government had beenstration became painfully evident. Of
• 54:01
  the forty thousand riggs dollar collected throughout the realm as a relief fund, not
• 54:07
  over one fourth was ever used for the purpose for which it had been contributed.
• 54:10
  The remainder was diverted to various uses, such as deferring of the expenses
• 54:15
  of the coast survey, et cetera. It was quite evident that little of
• 54:19
  real importance could be done to improve conditions, until of what wiser policy of
• 54:22
  government should enable the Icelanders to solve their own economic problems. Since the earthquake
• 54:29
  accompanying the volcanic eruption in seventeen eighty three wrecked the buildings at Skalholt, the
• 54:35
  Commission investigating Affairs in Iceland took steps to remove the bishop's seat and Latin school
• 54:39
  to Reikievic a measure, which was carried into effect in seventeen eighty five.
• 54:45
  In eighteen oh one, Bishop Brick was discontinued and one bishopric for all Iceland
• 54:50
  was created, with Reykievik as the bishop's seat. The schools at Skalholt and
• 54:53
  Holar were also united into one Latin school located at Reikievic. When trade with
• 54:59
  Icelan was finally made free to all citizens of the realm by ordinances of seventeen
• 55:04
  eighty six and seventeen eighty seven, the harbor towns of Reikievik, isa Aya
• 55:08
  Fjord and Fjord, Grunda Fjord and best Man you Are received rank and privileges
• 55:16
  as commercial cities. Most of these places had no prospects of ever becoming commercial
• 55:22
  centers. In eighteen oh seven, the two last names were dropped, the
• 55:24
  others one in each quarter retained in named their classification as commercial towns, but
• 55:30
  even Reikievic had only three hundred inhabitants at this time, though the cathedral church,
• 55:35
  the Latin school, and some commercial and industrial establishments were located there.
• 55:39
  In a Fjord and likewise in Isa Fjord, only two Danish merchants were found
• 55:45
  in ray Fjord only one, and the prospect of growth of these towns was
• 55:50
  very small. The Icelanders had hoped that when the trade was made free for
• 55:53
  all citizens of the Realm, conditions would rapidly improve, but in this expectation
• 55:59
  they were disappointed, as no foreign merchants could trade with Iceland. There was
• 56:01
  no competition, the people themselves were too poor to engage in trade, and
• 56:06
  conditions remained about as before. The merchants entered into an agreement to maintain the
• 56:12
  old prices, and little improvement could be hoped for. The law man Magnus
• 56:15
  Stevenson undertook to present to the King a petition signed that the all Thing,
• 56:21
  asking that foreign merchants should be allowed to trade in Iceland. The petition was
• 56:24
  signed by all leading officials except the stip tam mether Olaf Stevenson, but such
• 56:30
  a demand for freedom was viewed with suspicion by the government, and their request
• 56:35
  was denied. The King expressed his displeasure with the officials who had signed the
• 56:38
  petition and reprimanded them, but the stip tam Mather, who had opposed it,
• 56:44
  received the thanks of his sovereign. The time for any real change of
• 56:46
  policy had not yet come. Not till in the nineteenth century, when all
• 56:51
  restrictions on trade were removed and a more liberal form of government was established,
• 56:55
  did a new era of development and general prosperity dawned for Iceland. After the
• 57:01
  introduction of absolutism, the royal officials became more arrogant and arbitrary than before,
• 57:07
  and aided the merchants in their unjust and selfish operations. Many acted like despots,
• 57:13
  without regard even for the provisions of the law. The Aunt Mather Christian
• 57:16
  Mueller, caused thord Thor Steinsen to be executed for theft after the lawman had
• 57:22
  granted the man an appeal to the Supreme Court. A farmer, Albert Arne
• 57:28
  Finsen, was flogged in the presence of the Aunt Mather and the land Foghetti
• 57:32
  Heidemann because he refused to serve as o'ersmen on a boat belonging to the merchants.
• 57:39
  Instances of oppressive tyranny of this sort were many. Arnie Magnuson, one
• 57:44
  of the royal commissioners, offered to prove to the King that Mueller was in
• 57:47
  league with the merchants and aided them in oppressing the people. The lawmen and
• 57:52
  ceislumen would decide cases not in agreement with the law, but according to their
• 57:57
  own opinion, while higher officials would sell officers to the highest bidder to increase
• 58:01
  their income. An office bought one day might be sold the next for a
• 58:06
  still higher price. Whatever the intention and disposition of the rulers, the people
• 58:10
  became the victims of a lawless and corrupt bureau rocracy, always fostered by despotism.
• 58:16
  How these arrogant minions of arbitrary rule flouted all human rights, even the
• 58:22
  most fundamental, is sufficiently illustrated by the following incident. A deputy sent word
• 58:27
  to the farmer Osbjorn Oxmusson, ordering that he should row him across the fiord.
• 58:34
  Osbiorn replied that he did not consider it his duty to do this for
• 58:38
  nothing. Whereupon he was brought to try before the law man Sigur Bjornsen,
• 58:43
  who sentenced him to be flogged twice. This was carried out so effectively that
• 58:47
  the man fainted each time. Quarrels and cables between the officials themselves were numerous,
• 58:53
  one usually trying to ruin the other. Especially bitter was the struggle between
• 58:58
  the clergy and the officials, in which the latter had the advantage of more
• 59:01
  direct support of the government. The importance of the All Thing dwindled when its
• 59:07
  legislative power was lost and the number of its members was reduced. The logret
• 59:12
  to Men now numbered only twenty, of whom ten should meet yearly at the
• 59:15
  All Things, but only eight should sit in the Logretta. In seventeen seventy
• 59:21
  seven, this number was further reduced to five. From that time, fourth
• 59:24
  people paid but little attention to the All Thing. If they had cases of
• 59:28
  any importance, they preferred to bring them directly to the King. The men
• 59:31
  of Northern Iceland finally asked to be exempted from the duty of meeting at the
• 59:36
  All Things. In seventeen eighty five, the m Stephen Thorrorensen petitioned the government
• 59:43
  to grant the people of the northern districts a thing of their own. The
• 59:47
  stiff dem Ma Levitseau proposed that the All Things should meet at Raikievik, but
• 59:52
  at this time neither plan was carried out. In seventeen nine eight, the
• 59:57
  All Thing assembled for the last time at Thing, where it had met for
• 1:00:00
  eight hundred and sixty eight years. Only twelve representatives, eight officials and four
• 1:00:06
  lower gretu men came, and all returned home after a short meeting. The
• 1:00:10
  next session was held at Reykievic, which henceforth became the capital of Iceland.
• 1:00:15
  On July eleven, eighteen hundred, the all Thing was permanently dissolved by royal
• 1:00:20
  orders, and in his place was created a new court, the landsith Re,
• 1:00:25
  consisting of a Chief Justice and two associate Justices, which should exercise their
• 1:00:30
  judicial powers hitherto vested in the all Things. The eclipse of the old Icelandic
• 1:00:37
  institution was thus made complete, a true index to the loss of national autonomy,
• 1:00:42
  of personal liberty and economic well being, of the spirit of daring and
• 1:00:45
  prowess, which had been the Icelander's proud heritage in days of old. Under
• 1:00:50
  foreign dominion, they had experienced great misfortunes, but none so bitter as the
• 1:00:53
  loss of their ancient freedom. But even in these years of adversity, their
• 1:00:58
  spirit was chastened and made strong for a new era of progress. Even during
• 1:01:04
  the time of greatest social depression and economic distress, in the period of absolutism
• 1:01:08
  and trade monopoly, the Icelanders were able to maintain an active literary life.
• 1:01:14
  In the latter part of the eighteenth century, Rationalism and the cosmopolitan intellectual culture
• 1:01:20
  of the Alfflung were transplanted to Iceland through the influence of the University of Copenhagen
• 1:01:27
  and the general spirit of the age. The reaction against the superstition and witchcraft
• 1:01:31
  delusion which had darkened the post Reformation period, made itself strongly felt. The
• 1:01:37
  new movement discarded all belief in the supernatural, maintained that enlightened reason is the
• 1:01:43
  only God for human life, and conduct looked with contempt on national peculiarities as
• 1:01:47
  remnants of old Lebeian habits, and emphasized the universality of intellectual culture. The
• 1:01:53
  chief representative of this movement in Iceland was Magnus Stevenson, who labored with the
• 1:02:00
  untiring zeal to promote the New Enlightenment. Much of value was accomplished. Old
• 1:02:05
  superstitions were eradicated, and foreign cultural influence, now freely introduced, helped to
• 1:02:10
  refine the taste and enlarge the outlook of the people. Ancient customs were changing
• 1:02:15
  to modern ways. Up till eighteen hundred, the Icelanders both men and women
• 1:02:20
  dressed according to their native style, says the analyst, but after that time
• 1:02:23
  they gradually adopted Danish styles. The increasing use of imported articles of luxury in
• 1:02:30
  spite of prevailing poverty also reveals a growing foreign influence. The value of new
• 1:02:36
  cultural stimulus to and isolated and conservative people cannot easily be overrated, but much
• 1:02:42
  of Magnus Stevenson's work for the promotion of culture was characterized by an uncritical adherence
• 1:02:47
  to European ideas and a disregard for the value of the traditions and institutions of
• 1:02:52
  his own country. In his admiration for foreign ways, he was ready to
• 1:02:58
  give everything a touch of the new cosmopolitan spirit, even when this would lower
• 1:03:02
  the intrinsic value of the culture which he sought to promote. He was born
• 1:03:07
  in seventeen sixty two and belonged to one of the most distinguished families of Iceland.
• 1:03:10
  After entering upon his studies in the Department of Law at the University of
• 1:03:15
  Copenhagen in seventeen eighty one, he received an appointment to the rent, a
• 1:03:20
  commer and important government department. When the volcanic eruption caused widespread devastation in Iceland,
• 1:03:25
  and seventeen eighty three he was appointed Royal Commissioner together with another official,
• 1:03:30
  Leveateau Sao, to investigate conditions in the stricken region, but the ship on
• 1:03:37
  which they took passage was driven by storms to the coast of Norway. Stevenson
• 1:03:40
  spent the winter very pleasantly as the guest of his countryman Thorkel fayel at the
• 1:03:46
  estate home Guard in southern Norway, where he took a leading part in the
• 1:03:51
  gay social festivities and won the admiration of fayel Stead's charming wife by his social
• 1:03:55
  accomplishments and skill as a dancer. The following year he reached Iceland and traveled
• 1:04:00
  through the devastated districts, about which he wrote a book, Besquerrivels over Denni
• 1:04:08
  Vulcans It's Bruding seventeen eighty three. After his return to Denmark, he was
• 1:04:13
  again sent to Icelander to supervise the sale of the lands belonging to the Skalhol
• 1:04:17
  bishopric. Finally, he found time to complete his university studies in seventeen eighty
• 1:04:21
  eight and was appointed Vice Lawman, and in seventeen eighty nine lawman for the
• 1:04:27
  northern and western districts of Iceland. When the all thing was abolished in eighteen
• 1:04:30
  hundred, he became the chief justice of the new Court the Lands for Reta,
• 1:04:35
  which was created in its place, the position which he occupied till his
• 1:04:40
  death March seventeen, eighteen thirty three. He married his cousin Gudrun Cheving and
• 1:04:45
  resided after eighteen thirteen on the island of Vitti near Reikievik, which he had
• 1:04:49
  purchased. His intellectual interests were many, Besides his profession as jurist, he
• 1:04:55
  cultivated theology, singing, dancing in modern languages. By his countrymen, he
• 1:04:59
  was regarded as a vain and ambitious official, arrogant and intolerant of all opposition,
• 1:05:03
  ready to stoop to intrigues in his dealings with the government. He was
• 1:05:08
  even accused of playing into the hands of the adventurer Jorgen Jorgensen, who attempted
• 1:05:12
  to Foemen a revote against Denmark. But he was with all a very diligent
• 1:05:16
  man who loved his people and spent his life in devoted service to his countrymen.
• 1:05:20
  As he understood it. The discontinuance of the diocese and The creation of
• 1:05:27
  one bishopric for all Iceland was largely due to his influence, so also the
• 1:05:31
  removal of the Latin schools to Reikievik, where they were combined in one institution.
• 1:05:36
  This arrangement proved to be practical and advantageous, but he was justly criticized
• 1:05:42
  for the complete plotting out of Scalete and who Lart, the two oldest cultural
• 1:05:45
  centers in Iceland. The permanent dissolution of the All Thing was also done at
• 1:05:50
  his suggestion, as he regarded this old assembly as unpractical and out of date.
• 1:05:55
  The value of the traditions connected with these institutions, dating from the people's
• 1:06:00
  earliest history, he failed to understand, as it was his aim not only
• 1:06:03
  to create a new intellectual life, but also a new literature in his native
• 1:06:08
  land. He was an active member of Danish literary societies founded by the Friends
• 1:06:13
  of the Alka Lunge for the promotion of culture. In seventeen ninety four,
• 1:06:17
  he founded a new society, the Land sub Free Thing gar Failiu or a
• 1:06:24
  Society for General Enlightenment, of which he himself was the head. He also
• 1:06:28
  began the publication of the first Icelandic monthly, the Clauster, Post, Drewerin
• 1:06:33
  and other periodicals devoted to the cause of enlightenment. Assisted by Geir Biddelin,
• 1:06:40
  later Bishop of Iceland, he also undertook to publish a new hymn book,
• 1:06:44
  a work for which he possessed no qualification. In order to bring the hymns
• 1:06:47
  into harmony with his own superficial rationalism and conception of poetic art, he often
• 1:06:53
  destroyed their deeper spiritual meaning, substituting an artificial jingle rhymes which could not satisfy
• 1:06:59
  the demand of devoted Christians. The work appeared in eighteen oh one, but
• 1:07:03
  met with strong opposition. In order to control the literary production, he got
• 1:07:06
  possession of the two printing presses in Iceland and combined them into one printing establishment
• 1:07:12
  under his management, the Land sup fray Thing gar Felugg published many fabula books,
• 1:07:19
  both Icelandic works and translations from foreign literatures for the enlightenment of the people.
• 1:07:25
  Of other men of learning and influence at this time may be mentioned Hans
• 1:07:29
  Nson, who succeeded his father Finner Johnson as Bishop of Skalholt in seventeen eighty
• 1:07:33
  nine. Jan Johnson Espolin born seventeen sixty nine was a noted analyst, known
• 1:07:41
  especially for his great work Islands r Becker E Sugu Formi, which covers the
• 1:07:45
  periods twelve sixty two to eighteen thirty two and narrates much of the history of
• 1:07:50
  Iceland. During this period, grim Johnsen Thorkeln became noted as a student of
• 1:07:56
  northern antiquities. Magnus Kettelsen Neen thirty one to eighteen oh three, sis lou
• 1:08:02
  Mather in Dallas, Slah and an active disciple of the alf Laharung, became
• 1:08:10
  manager of the printing press that Arapsi and published many books. Especially noteworthy is
• 1:08:15
  his work for de ninger agh Abnereva till Island under then Oldenborska Stama in three
• 1:08:24
  volumes, an important source for the study of Icelandic history. Scully Thoridas thor
• 1:08:30
  Lesius and his son Bjorg R. Lesius distinguished themselves as scholars, the latter
• 1:08:36
  becoming rector of the University of Copenhagen eighteen thirteen to eighteen fourteen. The most
• 1:08:42
  noted Icelandic scholar in this period was probably Finner Magnuson Ben Magnusson eight seventeen eighty
• 1:08:48
  one eighteen forty seven, who won general renowned, especially through his research in
• 1:08:53
  the fields of Old Norse, Icelandic literature and northern antiquities. He became president
• 1:08:59
  of the Rural Northern Texas Society and became associated with the great Danish scholar Rasmus
• 1:09:03
  k Resk in the publication of many important works. But as he possessed a
• 1:09:08
  strange love for fantastic combinations and analogies coupled with strong imagination rather than sound scholarly
• 1:09:15
  judgment, his voluminous production does not rank very high. End of Chapter fourteen