This book provides an overview of medieval monasticism in Iceland, from its dawn to its downfall during the Reformation.
Blending the evidence from material remains and written documents, Monastic Iceland highlights the realities of everyday life in the male and female monasteries operated in Iceland. The book describes the incorporation of monasticism into the Icelandic society, the alleged land of the Vikings, and thus how the monasteries coexisted with the natural and social environments on the island while keeping their general aims and objectives. The book shows that large social systems, such as monasticism, can cross social and natural borders without necessitating fundamental changes apart from those triggered by the constant coexistence of nature and culture inside the environment they exist within. The evidence provided debunks the myth that Icelandic monasteries, male or female, were isolated, silent places or simple cells functioning principally as retirement homes for aristocrats. To be a member of an ecclesiastical institution did not mean a quiet, secluded life without any outside interaction, but rather active participation in the surrounding community.
The book is for researchers in archaeology, osteology, and medieval history, in addition to all those interested in monasticism and the medieval history of northern Europe.
Author(s): Steinunn Kristjánsdóttir
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 258
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Specific Notes
1 Introduction
The Background in Brief
Skriðuklaustur – Above and Beyond
The Agents of Monasticism
Present and Absent-Present
2 The Historiography of Medieval Monasticism in Iceland
Protestantism and Nationalism
Grand Narratives
New Social History and Feminism
Historical Archaeology
3 The Making of Icelandic Society
The Settlement of Iceland
The Expansion of Monasticism
The Chieftains and the Church
Periodical Struggle of Monasticism
Challenging Innovations of Christianity
Rights and Duties
4 The Christianization
Christian Settlers and Pilgrimage
Hermits and Anchorites in Iceland
Early Eremitic and Anchoritic Solitude in Iceland
Eremitic and Anchoritic Representatives After the Conversion
Becoming Christian
Papal Instructions and Statutes
Materiality of Medieval Christendom
5 The Monastic Landscape
A Finely Woven Network
Location on a Well-trodden Path
The Monastic Precincts
Places of Sanctuary and Absolution
Divine Manifestation
Boundaries
6 Visiting the Monastic Houses
The Benedictines at Munkaþverárklaustur
The Other Three Benedictine Houses in Iceland
The Augustinian Houses, Furniture, and Items
7 Disruptive Events
Catastrophic Fire in Hítardalur 1148
Monasteries on Fire
The Plague
Post-Plague Recovery
Scandals
Syphilis
Disobedience
A Case of Heresy?
8 The Monastic Communities
The Devotion of the Icelandic Monastic Houses
Textiles as Texts
The Livestock of the Monastic Houses
Household and Farm Work
Corrody Contracts
Obedientiaries, Novices, and Students
The Number of Residents, Lay and Religious
9 Iceland’s Five Hundred Years of Monasticism: The End
Reforming the World
Viðeyjarklaustur Attacked
Dissolution of Iceland’s Remaining Monastic Houses
The Execution of Bishop Jón Arason
Valuables Transported to Denmark
Idolatry and Heresy
The Valþjófsstaður Door
The Tudor Rose and the Pomegranate
Bibliography
Printed Primary Sources
Unpublished Theses and Reports
Secondary Sources
Index
