Medieval Monasticism in Iceland and Norse Greenland

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the monastic houses operated on the northernmost periphery of Roman Catholic Europe during the Middle Ages. The intention is to debunk the long-held theory of Iceland and Norse Greenland’s supposed isolation from the rest of the world, as it is clea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions
Main Author: Steinunn Kristjánsdóttir
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060374
Description
Summary:The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the monastic houses operated on the northernmost periphery of Roman Catholic Europe during the Middle Ages. The intention is to debunk the long-held theory of Iceland and Norse Greenland’s supposed isolation from the rest of the world, as it is clear that medieval monasticism reached both of these societies, just as it reached their counterparts elsewhere in the North Atlantic. During the Middle Ages, fourteen monastic houses were opened in Iceland and two in Norse Greenland, all following the Benedictine or Augustinian Orders.