Jón Arason

Statue of Jón Arason, in Munkaþverá , Iceland , created by Guðmundur Einarsson .

Monument at the site of the execution of Jón Arasons in Skálholt, Iceland

Jón Arason (* 1484 in Grýta , Northern Iceland; † November 7, 1550 in Skálholt ) was Bishop of Hólar in Northern Iceland from 1524 to 1550. He was the last Catholic bishop in the country until 1923 an Apostolic Prefecture was established.

Life

In the 16th century , King Christian III was. (1537–1559) of Denmark, under whose rule Iceland was since 1380, endeavored to enforce the Reformation here as well. It was also about worldly power and wealth: He was able to bring church property such as that of the bishopric and monasteries under his rule.

The king succeeded in occupying the important bishopric of Skálholt in the south in 1541 with a bishop who was friendly to the Reformation, Gissur Einarsson . However, the Catholic bishop in the north of Hólar, Jón Arason, stubbornly opposed all efforts to have this part of the country reformed. He had held the equally powerful bishopric since 1524.

Many Icelanders identified themselves, and still identify themselves today, with this man who not only fought for the Catholic Church, but also and above all for independence from Danish rule. On the other hand, he certainly fought for his own interests: in terms of power and behavior, he can be equated with many mainland European bishops of the time. He married Helga Sigurðardóttir with a purely secular marriage contract, as was customary in the local clergy, and had with her the daughter Þórunn and the sons Sigurður, Ari and Björn. He wasn't too squeamish about getting his goals through either.

The southern bishopric, Skálholt, took over the Reformation after a parliamentary resolution in 1541. But when Gissur Einarsson died in 1548, Jón Arason intervened and installed a Catholic man he trusted. The king did not tolerate this and put his own man in his place. Jón Arason had this captured. However, Jón Arason could not hold out against the overwhelming force of the king's troops for long and was executed without a trial on November 7, 1550 together with his sons Ari and Björn .

Jón Arason has also achieved cultural merits: he was a good poet and writer himself and founded the first printing company in Iceland in Hólar . The Holense Breviarum (Hólar Prayer Book) was the first printed book in Iceland, but no copy has survived .

literature

• Lutz Mohr : On the pre-Reformation poem “Ljomur” (rays of light). A spiritual hymn of the Faroe Islands from the pen of the Icelandic Bishop Jon Arason (1484–1550) and the historical background. In: Tjaldur (oystercatcher). Association magazine of the German-Faroese Circle of Friends (DFF) e. V. , Düsseldorf / Kiel, Vol. 6, Issue 23/1999, pp. 53-55
• Jón's life is the subject of various literary works, for example the novel Öxin og jörðin by Ólafur Gunnarsson , for which Gunnarsson won the national book prize in 2003. Öxin og jörðin was translated into English ( The Ax and the Earth ) and also adapted for the stage.
• Biskupsstólanna saga. Hólar 2006.
• Vilborg Ísleifsdóttir Bickel: The introduction of the Reformation in Iceland 1537-1565 . Frankfurt 1996, ISBN 3-631-50001-7 .
• Jón R. Hjálmarsson: The History of Iceland. From the settlement to the present. Reykjavík 1994, ISBN 9979-51-093-5 .

See also

• History of Iceland
• Icelandic literature
• History of Denmark

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. J. Willardt, Chr. Sadler: Iceland. M. Müller, Erlangen 2003, 69f.
2. ↑ Halldór Laxness , Iceland bell , 1951, footnote with the assistance of the author from the translator Ernst Harthern , p. 330

predecessor	Office	successor
Gottskálk grimmi Nikulásson	Bishop of Hólar 1524 - 1550	Ólafur Hjaltason

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .