Þingvellir

Who holds it

Name

Lawspeaker Gissur Hallsson presides

Title

The Althing (meets here in late June)

Confidence

high

Lord in 1200

No lord: the Althing's place. The farm and church of Þingvellir belonged to the family of Guðmundur gríss, husband of Sæmundur Jónsson's sister Sólveig, who at some date gave away his property and entered a monastery; his son Magnús is later called goði and allsherjargoði (the chieftain who hallows the Althing). Who holds the farm and that office on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

Overlord

No lord: the Althing's place. The farm and church of Þingvellir belonged to the family of Guðmundur gríss, husband of Sæmundur Jónsson's sister Sólveig, who at some date gave away his property and entered a monastery; his son Magnús is later called goði and allsherjargoði (the chieftain who hallows the Althing). Who holds the farm and that office on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

How things stand that morning

Assembly place.

Charter

None: there were no chartered towns in Iceland or the Faroes in 1200

Fairs and markets

The Althing fortnight in late June.

Walls and castle

None; the booths are turf-walled shelters roofed with cloth for the assembly.

Trade and crafts

Trading, ale-selling and craftwork during the Althing only.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. Late June 1200The Althing hears Bishop Páll's award in the Glæðir case and makes Jón Ögmundarson's feast a holy day for all Iceland.Depends on: The spring arbitration; the translation at Hólar on 3 March 1200. Stopped by: A breach of the truce between Sæmundur and Sigurður Ormsson.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Sturlunga saga and the bishops' sagas.

Primary sources for Iceland

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Icelandic annals to 1578 (compiled from the late 13th century onward from older notes). Year-by-year notices that fix Icelandic chronology. Read online
• The saga of the Sturlungs: the compilation of contemporary Icelandic sagas, Sturla Þórðarson and other authors, compiled by Þórðr Narfason (the component sagas between about 1200 and 1280; compiled about 1300). The only contemporary narrative of Iceland. Read online
• The sagas of the Icelandic bishops: Páll of Skálholt, Guðmundr of Hólar and Þorlákr (Páls saga about 1211 to 1216; Þorláks saga about 1200 to 1210; the oldest Guðmundar saga in the 13th century). Páls saga is the life of Bishop Páll Jónsson of Skálholt (1195 to 1211), of the Oddaverjar, and tells how he had the churches and priests of his diocese counted, about 220 churches and 290 priests, how he furthered the cult of his uncle Þorlákr, whose relics were raised in 1198 and whose feast the Althing adopted in 1199, and how he dealt with the chieftains. Read online
• The Grey Goose laws: the law of the Icelandic Commonwealth (law first written down in 1117 to 1118; the surviving manuscripts Konungsbók (about 1250) and Staðarhólsbók (about 1270)). The law under which Iceland was run in 1200: the goðar and their thingmen, the local and quarter things and the Althing, the Fifth Court, the lawspeaker, outlawry, compensation and the Christian law section with the tithe. Read online