Lokun íslensku miðaldaklaustranna

Abstract

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.