Knowra History of Iceland History of Iceland The historical development of Iceland from Norse settlement and the medieval Commonwealth through Danish rule to the establishment of an independent republic in 1944.
Settlement of Iceland : The migration and settlement of Iceland, chiefly by Norse people, from the late ninth century onward. Settlement began the island’s recorded political and social history.
Age of the Sturlungs : A thirteenth-century period of conflict among powerful Icelandic families, especially the Sturlungs. Factional violence weakened the Commonwealth’s capacity to govern.
Ari Þorgilsson : An Icelandic priest and historian, usually dated 1067–1148, who wrote Íslendingabók. His history helped preserve accounts of settlement and the Commonwealth’s beginnings.
Kingdom of Iceland : The sovereign constitutional monarchy established in 1918 in personal union with Denmark. It was the transitional state between Danish rule and the republic.
Landnámabók : A medieval Icelandic account naming settlers and describing how they claimed land. Its settlement narratives preserve Iceland’s traditional account of its origins.
Old Covenant : The agreements of 1262–1264 by which Icelanders accepted the Norwegian king’s rule. The pact ended the Commonwealth’s independence and began royal rule.
Snorri Sturluson : A thirteenth-century Icelandic chieftain, poet, and historian who wrote the Prose Edda and Heimskringla. His life and death illuminate the power struggles of the Sturlung age.
Icelandic Republic : The independent republic proclaimed in Iceland on 17 June 1944 after the end of its union with Denmark. Its founding completed the constitutional path from home rule to independence.
Alþingi : Iceland’s national parliament, founded around 930 and among the world’s oldest continuing parliamentary institutions. The assembly emerged as the Commonwealth’s central institution.
Kalmar Union : A political union joining Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under a common monarch from 1397. Iceland came under Danish-Norwegian rule through Norway’s place in the union.
Show all 23