Skálholt
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Skálholt (Old Icelandic: Skálaholt) is an historical site situated in the south of Iceland at the river Hvítá.
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[edit] History
Skálholt was through eight centuries one of the most important places in Iceland. From 1056 and until 1785, it was along with Hólar, one of Iceland's two episcopal sees, making it a cultural and political center. A center of learning from its first years, Icelands first official school, Skálholtsskóli, was founded at Skálholt in 1056 to educate clergy. This school still lives in the form of Reykjavík Gymnasium, MR. In 1992 the priest-school in Skálholt was also re-instituted under the old name and now serves as the education and information center of The Church of Iceland.
Through the middle ages there was a lot of activity in Skálholt and along with the bishop's office, the cathedral and the school there was extensive farming, a smithy and a monastery (while Catholicism lasted). All this along with dormitories and quarters for teachers and servants made up a sizable gathering of houses. Adam of Bremen, writing around 1075, describes Skálholt (Scaldholz) as the "largest city" in Iceland.
Continuing as the episcopal see after the reformation to lutheranism the end of catholicism in Iceland was memorably sealed in Skálholt in the year 1550 when the last catholic bishop, Jón Arason of Hólar, was executed in Skálholt along with his two sons.
Although no longer episcopal sees, Skálholt and Hólar are still the cathedra of the Church of Icelands' two suffragan bishops and therefore the old cathedrals still serve as such.
Skálholt also welcomes visitors and receives many each year. Hospitality is a branch of Skálholtsskóli's work and visitors can stay both in its dormatories and in single rooms and cottages. Many cultural events such and concerts are also held in Skálholt. Foremost of these is the Summer Concerts program in July in which prominent classical musicians, choirs and other musicians are invited to stay and perform in Skálholt.
[edit] Skálholt Cathedral
The current cathedral at Skálholt is relatively large in comparison to most Icelandic churches, its span from door to apse being some 30 meters. Interestingly some of its predecessors were even longer, reaching up to 50 m in length. The new cathedral was built in the years 1956 to 1963 as a part of the millennial-celebrations of the episcopal see. The other Scandinavian churches celebrated this along with the Icelandic and many of the new cathedrals' items are gifts of theirs. Gerður Helgadóttir's extensive stained glass windows of the church are for example a gift from the Danes.
[edit] The Skálholt Map
In the late 16th century a young teacher from Skálholt, Sigurd Stefánsson, attempted to use the available documentary evidence to mark the sites of the ancient Norse discoveries in the western Atlantic, including Vinland, on a map.[1] His 1570 original no longer survives, but numerous copies were made by Scandinavian scholars, and by matching latitudes with the British Isles, the information was transferred to more modern maps. This indicated, among other things, that the promontory of Vinland was marked by Stefánsson at the position of the northern promontory of Newfoundland, which was one of the factors that encouraged the successful archaeological investigations at L'Anse Aux Meadows.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ About Stefánsson's map via heritage.nf.ca- accessed 2008-02-05
- ^ Fitzhugh, William W. & Ward, E.I. (eds.) "Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga", Washington DC, Smithsonian Books (2000) ISBN 1560989955, pp20-21
- Adam of Bremen (edited by G. Waitz) (1876). Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum. Berlin. Available online
- Adam of Bremen (translated by Francis Joseph Tschan and Timothy Reuter) (2002). History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231125755
[edit] External links
