Lokun íslensku miðaldaklaustranna

The founding of the fourteen monasteries that operated for a longer or shorter period in Iceland during the Middle Ages are in most cases known. Less is known about the exact timing of their dissolution. Nine monasteries were closed following the Reformation in the mid-sixteenth century, but this di...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kristjánsdóttir, Steinunn
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:Icelandic
Published: Studia Theologia Islandica 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/ritrodgudfraedistofnunar/article/view/3827
Description
Summary:The founding of the fourteen monasteries that operated for a longer or shorter period in Iceland during the Middle Ages are in most cases known. Less is known about the exact timing of their dissolution. Nine monasteries were closed following the Reformation in the mid-sixteenth century, but this did not happen all at once. Instead, the closures occurred gradually between 1539–1554. Some of the monastic houses had for various reasons been closed long before, mainly because of the political disputes that arose between secular and ecclesiastical powers in the country in the thirteenth century. Here, this article attempts to explore the fate of the Icelandic medieval monasteries, while at the same time exam-ining how, when and why each closure took place. Written sources as well as the results of archaeological excavations on the ruins of Skriðuklaustur will be considered. No monastery was closed due to plagues or natural disasters. Their growth and development were in all cases dependent on the country’s ecclesiastical authorities at any given time, although their dissolutions varied between monasteries. Stofnár þeirra fjórtán klaustra sem starfrækt voru í lengri eða skemmri tíma á Íslandi á miðöldum eru í flestum tilfellum þekkt en tímasetning og ástæður lokunar þeirra síður. Flestum, alls níu, var lokað í kjölfar siðaskiptanna um miðja sextándu öld en það gerðist ekki í einni svipan, heldur smám saman á tímabilinu frá 1539–1554. Nokkrum klaustranna hafði verið lokað löngu fyrr af ýmsum ástæðum en einkum þó vegna þeirra pólitísku deilna sem urðu um skiptingu veraldlegs og kirkjulegs valds í landinu á þrettándu öld. Hér er reynt að ná fram heildarmynd af lokun íslensku miðaldaklaustranna, um leið og skoðað verður með hvaða hætti lokunin átti sér stað í hverju tilviki fyrir sig, hvenær og hvers vegna. Stuðst verður við ritaðar heimildir sem veita vísbendingar um afdrif klaustranna en einnig er tekið mið af niðurstöðum úr fornleifauppgrefti á rústum Skriðuklausturs. Engu klaustri var lokað vegna áfalla eða ...