January 27, 2025 • 43 mins
Jón Arason was the last Catholic bishop in Iceland before it became a Lutheran country. His story involves a lot of gory details in this story including a pretty gruesome beheading.
Research:
- Buck, Thomas. “An Icelandic Martyr: Jón Arason.” Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, vol. 46, no. 182, 1957, pp. 213–22. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30103574. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.
- Cunningham, Jack. “Jón Arason, ‘the last Icelander’ and the Coming of the Reformation to Iceland,” Reformation & Renaissance Review, 11:3, 245-273, DOI: 10.1558/rrr.v11i3.245.”
- Gunnarsson, Gisli. “Question: Is it really true that all Icelanders are descended from Jón Arason, the last Catholic bishop of Iceland, who was executed in 1550?” The Islandic Web of Science. 3/5/2005. https://www.why.is/svar.php?id=4789
- Ker, W.P. “JÓN ARASON.” Saga-Book, 1913-1914, Vol. 8 (1913-1914), pp. 149-171. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/48611694
- Kristjánsdóttir, Steinunn. “The Dissolution of the Monastic Houses in Iceland.” Religions 15: 771. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070771
- Oleson, Tryggvi J. “A Note on Bishop Jón Arason.” Speculum , Jul., 1954, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Jul., 1954), pp. 535-536. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2846795
- Oleson, Tryggvi J. “Bishop Jón Arason 1484-1550.” Speculum , Apr., 1953, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Apr., 1953). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2849686
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production
of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson
and I'm Holly Frye. While we were in Iceland, we
had this amazing local guide named Gwillion who went by
God and God was full of knowledge about Icelandic history.
And the trip also involved a lot of bus rides,
(00:32):
so those bus rides were full of God telling us
all about the history of where we were going. I
don't actually remember whether we were on the bus or
at one of the places that we visited, but one
of the people that he told us about was Joan Arrison,
who was the last Catholic bishop in Iceland before it
(00:52):
became a Lutheran country. This story had a lot of
gory details, including a pretty ruesome beheadings, so of course
I was like, that's going on the list. There's a
lot of writing about Joan Arson in Icelandic there's way
less writing about him in English. So if you're from Iceland,
(01:13):
you might know more about him than we do, and
you will probably, or I will say, certainly say all
the names in this episode better than we will.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Do one hundred percent. As a quick bit of background.
The Norse settled Iceland in the ninth century, and around
the year nine thirty a national parliament was established, known
as the All Thing. A Thing was essentially an assembly
or council, and smaller things were held across Iceland. The
(01:44):
All Thing was the one that brought the whole island
together every summer as both a legislative and judicial body.
Chieftains and other representatives would discuss and pass laws, and
judges would hear cases that hadn't been handled through one
of the smaller things. The All Things still exists today,
although it meets at a parliament building in Reykivic rather
(02:07):
than at the Assembly Fields or Thingvilier, which is where
it met historically.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, there's It's often described as the oldest parliament in
the world. There's various debate about whether that's correct or not.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
But and it has great acoustics.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes, Overwhelmingly. These first Norse settlers were polytheistic. The spread
of Christianity starting in the tenth century led to strife
and sometimes violence, which was also happening in other parts
of the Norse world. King Olaf Triggvisen christianized Norway by
force after coming to power there in the year nine
(02:44):
to ninety five. Been other people who had tried to
do that, but Olaf is the person that's usually pointed
at as successful. He also sent missionaries to other Nordic countries,
including Iceland. In the face of all of this, the
question of whether Iceland should become Christian came before the Alting.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
The Alting decided that Iceland would become a Christian nation
around the year one thousand. The Diocese of Skalholdt was
established in ten fifty six, about eighty kilometers or fifty
miles east of Reykiavik. The Diocese of Holar was established
in eleven oh six, near the northern coast of the island,
(03:23):
essentially on the opposite side of Iceland from Vick. The
Diocese of Skalholdt covered about two thirds of the country,
while the Diocese of Holar covered the other third.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Most sources say that Joan Arisen was born in northern
Iceland in fourteen eighty four, but some sources argue that
it was really a decade earlier than that in fourteen
seventy four. There's not much detail known about his early life.
Sometimes this family is described as poor and other times
of reasonable means. After his father died, possibly during the
(03:58):
course of Yoon's education, he took care of his mother.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yoon was ordained in about fifteen oh seven. At the
age of about twenty three, he started living with a
woman named Helga Sigordo Darter in what was basically a
civil union or a common law marriage. For the most part,
Catholic clergy in Iceland weren't observing a tradition of celibacy
at this point. Yohon's father had also been the son
(04:23):
of a monastic prior. Yon and Helga had nine children together,
six of whom lived until adulthood. The Bishop of Holar
at this time was Gottzog Nikolissen, who seems to have
put a lot of trust in Yoon. Gotskalk sent him
on missions to Norway at least twice, once to get
(04:43):
some timber for the church and once to deliver gold
that was going to be made into a chalice. In
fifteen nineteen.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Goskok also absolved Yon of any sin that was associated
with his relationship with Helga. Although both clergy and lay
people and i Iceland generally seemed to have thought it
was fine for priests to have common law partners. That
was not as true for bishops, so this absolution was
probably because Gottskulk was planning for Yoon to be his successor.
(05:15):
Bishop Gotzkalk died the following year in fifteen twenty, when
Joan was about thirty six. This circles back around to
the questions about his birth year. His rise through the
leadership of the diocese is seen as very fast if
he was really ordained around fifteen oh seven, when he
was about twenty three, but it wouldn't have been so
(05:37):
unusual if he was really in his mid forties when
Gotzkulk died. Regardless, in addition to taking on increasing power
and responsibility within the church, Yon had become prosperous and
prominent in Northern Iceland, much like a powerful chieftain. When
a group of clerics meant to choose an interim leader
for the Sea, they chose Yoon almost unanimously. Jon did
(06:00):
still have some detractors, though, and a different group of
clergymen also met and put forth a different candidate of
their own, named Pyotr Paulsen. It seems like they intended
for Jon and Pyotr to have sort of equal power
and responsibility. But Pyotr gave up this role by the
following April, and that left Yon in charge.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Lar also wasn't the only place where Yon had enemies.
Vander Paulsen, bishop of the Southern Diocese in Skuholt, had
been in Norway being consecrated when Bishop Goldskulk died. Norway
had taken control of Iceland in the thirteenth century, and
the Icelandic Diocese reported to the Archdiocese of Nideros, which
(06:44):
is now Trondheim. Nideros had been the capital of Norway,
and although the capital had been moved to Oslo, Nidios
was still Norway's religious center. The Archbishop of Nideros had
made Ownder interim bishop of Holar until in new bishop
could be elected. Omander seems to have really, really, really
(07:05):
hated Yon. If Yon really was only in his mid thirties,
this might have been related to his age. Was probably
also connected to how powerful Yoon had become in northern Iceland.
He had a reputation for being really ambitious and assertive,
and it's possible that Omander thought this would sort of
tip the balance of power between the two dioceses. Regardless
(07:29):
of the exact reasoning, Omanders started trying to remove Yoan
from power. He wrote to Pope Clement the seventh about it,
and he also tried to put George Paulsen back in
charge of the Sea. The Northern clergy refused to recognize this,
and on August eighteenth, fifteen twenty two, they elected Yon
to be the next bishop. They wrote to the Archdiocese
(07:52):
of Neteros to both name Jon as their choice for
bishop and to complain about Omander's behavior. Almander tried to
stop Yoon from going to Norway to be consecrated, so
Yon made arrangements to travel there aboard a German merchant ship.
Almander tried to take the matter to court before writing
North with a group of men, possibly as many as
(08:15):
three hundred, to physically stop Yoan from leaving. Almander also
sent word to the German merchants that they would be
attacked if they left Iceland with Yon aboard. Yon sent
a priest named Magnus back to Holar with a copy
of a letter that he had written to the Archbishop
of Nideros, outlining everything that had happened and saying that
(08:37):
Omander should go to Nideros to answer for his actions.
In what seems like a pretty astute move, Magnus read
them this letter through a window where they could not
reach him.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Although the German merchants initially had to turn back because
of some bad weather, Yon did ultimately make it to
Norway with them. Omander was probably hoping the king, King
Christian the Second, and the Archbishop of Nideros would refuse
to recognize Yon as bishop. Omander already had relationship with
(09:10):
both of those men because of the time he had
spent in Norway for his own consecration. But Christian the
Second was forced off the throne after a revolt in
early fifteen twenty three, and the archbishop who had consecrated
Omander had died. By the time John arrived, there were
different people in charge. The king was now Frederick the First,
(09:33):
who Joon developed a friendly relationship with, and the new
Archbishop of Nidos, olaf Ingelbertson, cleared Yoon of all the
charges against him on August ninth of fifteen twenty four
and formally consecrated him as Bishop of Holar. There is
a possibly apocryphal story about Joan's coronation, which is at
(09:55):
toward the end of the ceremony, his miter fell off.
That's the ceremonyeal headpiece worn by bishops. As a couple
of page boys raced to pick it up, he said
something along the lines of that's how my episcopal career
will end. We'll have some more after a sponsor break.
(10:22):
When Yon Arrison returned to Iceland in fifteen twenty five,
he became one of the country's wealthiest and most powerful men.
He was the bishop of one of the country's two dioceses,
and the church was deeply interconnected with every level of
Iceland's social fabric. He also had control of more than
one hundred farms that had been left to the church
(10:44):
by a wealthy landowner. But he continued to be at
odds with Umander and the Diocese of Skowhold for at
least the next couple of years. This came to a head,
with both jon and Omander showing up at the fifteen
twenty seven an Allthing with more than a thousand men
a piece. There may have even been a duel between
(11:06):
their champions at the All Thing that year. Eventually, though,
these two men started to tolerate each other. It seems
like eventually they were like that guy's not going anywhere
he's been formally consecrated. I just gotta live with it.
There's not a lot of documentation about Yoan's first years
as a bishop, beyond that he did introduce the printing
(11:28):
press to Iceland, probably around the year fifteen thirty five.
Iceland's first printer was a Swedish priest named Joan Matthiason.
Some documents from this press still survive today, and it
is possible that Yoan authorized a translation and printing of
an Icelandic Bible, but if that is true, no copies
of that Bible survive. He also wrote poetry, most of
(11:52):
it religious or devotional. Some sources describe him as the
greatest poet of his generation, and he worked on a
advancing his son's careers, playing a big enough role in
their upward mobility that some sources describe it as nepotism.
He also arranged marriages for his daughters to wealthy men.
(12:12):
These same years were tumultuous elsewhere in the Norse world.
In fifteen thirty three, King Frederic the First died. This
led to a war of succession in Denmark known as
the Count's War or the Count's Feud. On one side,
was Christian the second that was the one who had
been deposed back in fifteen twenty three, and then on
(12:33):
the other side was Frederick's only son, Christian, who was
the ultimate victor and became King Christian the third.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Christian the third was a devout Lutheran. Martin Luther was
a German theologian who had initially intended to try to
reform the Catholic Church, but he had been excommunicated in
fifteen twenty one. The reform movement he was part of
had evolved into a schism in which reformers broke from
the Catholic Church and started establishing new denominations. Today, this
(13:05):
is known as the Protestant Reformation. After coming to the
throne in Denmark, Christian third immediately began the process of
turning it into a Lutheran nation, which was something he
had already done in territory that he controlled before becoming king.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
This included things like arresting the Catholic bishops and seizing
all their assets and introducing a Lutheran Church order that
had been approved by Martin Luther himself. Christian then did
the same in Norway after ascending to the throne there.
In fifteen thirty seven. Of course, all of this is
an entire other story that we are not getting into today.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Bishops John and Omander recognized that the king's religious efforts
were a threat and that he would probably try to
implement Lutheranism in Iceland, and he did. He had the
Lutheran Church Order read at the All Thing in fifteen
thirty eight. Not much as known about the bishop's response
to this first reading, but it doesn't seem like it
(14:05):
led to meaningful changes right away. Also, this was not
the first time Lutheranism was introduced to Iceland. It was
likely introduced by German merchants earlier in the fifteen thirties,
and there was at least one Lutheran church in Iceland
by fifteen thirty seven. It was also common for promising
young men to be sent to Germany to study, and
(14:26):
as Martin Luther grew in prominence, they started to be
exposed to his ideas there.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It did not take long for things to escalate in Iceland, though.
In fifteen thirty nine, Iceland's governor was Klaus vander Marvitzen.
His representative, Diedrich van Minden, led a small group of
men in an attack on the monastery at Vide on
an island northeast of Reykivic. They expelled all the monks
(14:53):
and they seized the monastery in all of its lands
and assets. When the all thing convened not long after that,
Amander questioned the men who were involved with this, and
the assembly excommunicated both the governor and Diedrich van Menden.
Omander set a letter to the king, signed by most
of the southern clergy and a lot of lay people,
(15:14):
detailing what had happened. But Diedrich tried to do this
again at another monastery not long after, and he and
his men stopped in Skullhold on the way, where they
insulted and harassed the bishop and in some accounts physically
assaulted him. In response, a group of farmers rose up
and killed Diedrich and his men. On August tenth, Icelandic
(15:37):
courts condemned the governor and acquitted the farmers who were involved.
By the time word reached Denmark about what had happened,
it was too late to send reinforcements to Iceland. Travel
between Denmark and Iceland wasn't really possible in the winter,
everything was frozen, so since many of Denmark's representatives in
(15:58):
Iceland had been killed, and Icelandic courts were not recognizing
the authority of the governor. Over that winter, Iceland was
more or less out of Denmark's control. But this what
had happened, these killings, that was also a major issue
to the king, so when travel resumed in the spring,
he wanted to both regain control of Iceland and accelerate
(16:21):
its conversion to Lutheranism. And then there were also rumors
spreading that Omander had ordered those killings, so the King
wanted somebody to get to the bottom of that too.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Meanwhile, both Joan Arison and Omander Paulson had written to
the King to express their loyalty to Denmark but also
maintain their dedication to their existing religion and traditions. Joan
also said that if the King insisted that Iceland adopt
these Lutheran religious reforms, Catholics should be allowed to leave
the island and resettle in whatever place God showed them.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Although Yon and Omander were now solidly on the same side,
and they were both trying to keep Iceland as a
Catholic country, they were at very different points in their
lives and their careers as bishops. Joan was fifty six,
or maybe sixty six, if you're going by that earlier
birth year. He was still really active, and as we've said,
(17:19):
he was one of the wealthiest and most powerful men
in northern Iceland. But Olmander was in his eighties and
had lost most of his eyesight. He had already tapped
his nephew Sigmund as his successor, but Sigmund had then
died in Norway shortly after being consecrated. Olmander's second choice
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was his assistant Gisser Anerson, who was already in Norway
when Didrich von Menden and his men were killed. Gisser
was sent back to Iceland as Bishop elect, but without
formally being consecrated yet, possibly because of his age. He
was only twenty eight. He arrived back in Iceland in
May of fifteen forty. What Omender apparently did not know
(18:05):
was that Gisser was a Lutheran. When Gisser appeared at
the All Thing that summer, he read the Lutheran Order
and Christian's command that it be adopted in Iceland and
that Didrich's killers be brought to justice.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
After discussing these issues, the All Thing wrote back to
the King, refusing to adopt the church order and maintaining
not only that Omander had not ordered the killings, but
also that the perpetrators had already been tried and acquitted
under Icelandic law. The all Thing also asked the King
for a new governor, which did lead the King to
recall and imprison Klaus van der Marvitsen.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Another complication was that, in addition to Gisser, there were
multiple other Lutherans in Omander's household and at the Diocese
of Skalholt. It really just kind of reads to me
like a hotbed of secret Lutheranism. One of these was
Omender's secretary, Otdter Gotzkuksen, who was the son of gotzkuk Nicholson,
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who had been Joan Arson's predecessor back in Hular. Otter
had secretly converted while studying in Denmark and Germany, and
he was spending his free time secretly translating a Lutheran
version of the New Testament into Icelandic out in Omander's barn.
It does not seem like Omander was at all aware
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of Gisser's thoughts on Lutheranism when he chose him as
his successor or that there were other Lutherans in his
household and staff. When he realized what was happening, he
was not happy about it. He wrote to Joan Arison
complaining about Gisser's actions and claiming he had taken silver
and other church property from the cathedral to his own residence.
(19:51):
Joan was still upholding Catholic traditions in the north of Iceland,
and he was alarmed by what was happening in the south.
But it also seems like he thought it it was
prudent to keep a positive working relationship with Gisser as
his counterpart in the Southern diocese. Yon and Gisser agreed
to help and support one another through a covenant of
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friendship and mutual aid. King Christian dispatched a new governor
to Iceland. That was Christopher Huetfeldt, who arrived in May
of fifteen forty one along with two warships. Christopher was
tasked with converting Iceland to Lutheranism and with implementing a
new tax to help the king pay off the debt
(20:34):
from the Count's war that had put him on the throne.
With Gisser in charge, the diocese at Skalholt quickly adopted
all of this, but Yon and his counsel wrote to
the king to say that they would pay this tax
in exchange for maintaining their religious liberty and their traditional customs.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
In the summer of fifteen forty one, the governor started
making plans to take Omander into custody. Although Omander had retired,
he had not yet left Scouhold. Some of his friends
convinced him that it would be safer for him to
retire to a monastery, and on the way there he
stopped to visit his sister. On June second, fifteen forty one,
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some of the governor's men showed up while Omander was
still sleeping, forced him out of his sister's house, still
in his night clothes, and put him on a Danish ship.
He was deported, and he either died on the journey
or sometime within a couple of years of arriving in Denmark.
Remembering that he was a very old man through all
of this.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, I think they did let him change into something
other than his night clothes, but he was described as
still like he was not adequately dressed. Uh. When Amander
was planning this journey to this monastery, Giesser had told
him he did not have anything to worry about. But
Giesser was definitely involved in this whole abduction and deportation plan.
(22:00):
He may have actually instigated it, but that part is
less clear. Gisser later wrote to Joan Arson saying he
believed what he had done was for the greater good,
and he asked Joan not to believe any quote evil
rumors that he might hear. Joan agreed to this, saying
that if he were to hear any slander about Gisser,
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he would not believe it unless he received some kind
of certified documentary proof.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Joan Arison had been traveling south for the All Thing
when Omander was abducted and deported, and when he heard
about it, he turned back. He sent letters to the
All Thing and to the governor forbidding any action against
his diocese, without Yoan and Omander there to argue against it.
This time, the All Thing agreed to adopt the Lutheran
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Church Order, but since the Diocese at Holar was not
represented at the All Thing when this was decided, it
was not considered to apply to them. For a while,
Jon didn't really interfere with what was happening in the
Southern diocese. While he thought Gisser's acceptance of Lutheranism was heresy,
(23:10):
Gisser had also been lawfully appointed as bishop of the diocese.
Jon also agreed to pay the.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Taxes and assist Danish officials as long as he and
his diocese were able to maintain their Catholic religion and customs.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
In fifteen forty two, King Christian the third ordered Gisser
and Joan to come to Copenhagen. Gisser went, but Jone
said he was ill, and he sent delegates in his place,
one of them being his son, Sigurdur. Sigadre and Gisser
both signed on to the Lutheran Ordinance while there, and
a priest who had traveled with Sigadure started preaching Lutheran doctrine.
(23:51):
When they got back to Iceland, Joan refused to be
bound by the ordinance that his son had signed as
his delegate, but for the moment Christian seems to have
considered the matter settled and didn't do much to interfere
with the North. This kind of uneasy peace did not last, though,
and we will get to that after a sponsor break
(24:21):
on good Friday of fifteen forty eight, Bishop Gisser Anderson
died at the age of only thirty six. He had
gone to Caldetharnis, which is southeast of Raykivic, to remove
a wooden cross that had long been seen as a
healing relic and was frequently used as a pilgrimage site,
(24:43):
obviously among Catholics. Gisser got sick and died after returning
to Skyhold from that trip. When Yown heard about his death,
he rode to Skuleholt and on the way wrote a
letter offering to handle any church and religious and nothing
else until a replacement could be elected as bishop of
(25:05):
the Southern Diocese. Before the start of Christian the Third's
efforts to make Iceland a Lutheran country, this would have
been a completely normal and uncontroversial thing to do. With
Gisser's death. Joan was the only Catholic bishop in Iceland.
The Archdiocese of Nideros had been dissolved as Christian the
(25:25):
Third had converted Norway to Lutheranism, so Yan was also
reporting directly to the Pope and was seen as the
Pope's representative in Iceland. It was routine for an Icelandic
bishop to take on or at least assist with the
duties of his counterpart at the other diocese if he
died or for some other reason was incapacitated. But the
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Protestant Reformation made all of this a whole lot more complicated,
especially as the Reformation and counter Reformation had led to
wars in other parts of Europe.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yan also did not simply step in to keep things
running in the Southern diocese. After Gisser's death, he started
trying to re establish Catholicism there. He chose an abbot
named Sigvador Haldersen as Giessard's replacement and sent him to
Denmark to be consecrated. Of course, Lutheran church authorities in
(26:21):
Denmark were not going to do that. They did not
consecrate Sigfrither as bishop, and they also did not let
him leave Denmark. Sigrither died in Denmark a couple of
years later, after having first become a Lutheran. Lutherans had
also put forth their own candidate for that bishop spot,
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an Icelandic priest named Martin Anderson. Martin was already in Copenhagen.
He became Bishop of Skalhold instead before Martin returned from Denmark.
Yoon continued trying to re implement Catholicism in the South
with the help of people living there who were still Catholic.
(27:04):
This included reconsecrating monasteries and cathedrals, including the monastery at
v Day. He arrested Lutheran clerics and forced them to
either readopt Catholicism or to leave Iceland. Yoan also declared
Giesser a heretic, exuming his body from its grave and
throwing it into a pit. In the late summer of
(27:26):
fifteen forty eight, some of Joan's men lay siege to
Scouhold for eight days, but they were ultimately repelled thanks
to its having been fortified by Martin's brother Pyotr. Martin
and Pyotr's brother in law, Dottie Guthmunson was also heavily
involved in the Lutheran opposition to Joan's efforts. There was
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another pause in the winter as the seas once again
became impassable, but on February eleventh, fifteen forty nine, the
king declared Joan Arson outlawed. When Martin Anderson arrived back
in Iceland in the spring, he was carrying a summons
for Yoon's arrest, and of course Yon considered that to
(28:07):
be invalid. Dotty Gudmundson started working with the latest Icelandic governor,
Laurences Mullah, to try to get the king to condemn Yon. Instead,
the King ordered Doty to arrest Jon and his sons,
thinking this would be a lot less bloody and expensive
than sending some more warships and trying.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
To fight over it. Meanwhile, Yon had written a letter
to Pope Paul the Third asking for guidance for what
to do with donations that normally would have gone to
the archdiocese at Nideros. The Pope's response was to distribute
them to the poor. The Pope also described Yoon as
pious and full of veneration and obedience toward the Pope
(28:52):
and the Holy See. This letter said in part quote,
we therefore pronounce on you our highest recognition in the Lord,
and exhort you with the flock entrusted to you, to
persevere in the same mind. For this you will receive
praise from men here on earth and from God himself
eternal life in heaven. Joan saw this as confirmation that
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what he was doing was right and had the Pope's support,
and he had it translated into Icelandic, and then he
distributed that around the diocese. Then Yan sent two of
his sons to Skalholt to try to arrest Martin Anderson
and Die the Goodmunson. One of the sons, Ari was
(29:38):
a loe mother or a lawyer or law speaker, and
the other one, Jorn, was a priest. They did manage
to capture the bishop, but dot These men reportedly put
on gray clothing to camouflage themselves and then were able
to ambush Yon's men and drive them back. Bishop Martin
was kept in Ari's custody at a monoch they where
(30:01):
he was forced to work drying cod We said earlier
that most of yoan Arson's poetry was religious, but he
also wrote a number of insulting poems about Martin while
he was in custody, and about a cleric named Arnie
Arnerson who had also been captured in fifteen fifty. The
next time the Althing convened, Joan, Ari and Bjorn were
(30:24):
all there, Yan with two hundred men, and Ari and
Bjorn with one hundred men apiece. Before the gathered assembly,
they all declared that one of the very prominent Lutheran
priests in Iceland was a heretic ultimately that led this
priest to flee to Denmark. Later in the summer, Yoan
(30:44):
and Dottie arranged a thing at which they would discuss
their various grievances, but once they were there, Dotty announced
that he was going to put things off until the
next all Thing the following spring. An official thing was
supposed to come along with protections for its partition, but
postponing the proceedings meant those protections essentially disappeared. Realizing they
(31:07):
were under threat, Yoan declared himself and his sons to
be under the King's protection, but Dottie's men took them captive.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Something else that was supposed to happen at this point
was that the three men would be held until they
could be tried at the next all Thing. Christian Screever,
who was the governor's representative, took custody of Yan and
his sons on October twenty third, fifteen fifty. The idea
was they were going to hold them until the following summer,
(31:37):
but everybody knew that doing that would be challenging at best,
even with the reduced travel during the colder months, there
would probably be people from the north who would be
coming to Joan's defense. Unrest would probably be spreading through
and from the North without Yan there. This led to
(31:58):
a lot of discussion among ya Jones captors, and a
clergyman named Joan Bjarnison is often cited as offering this
solution quote the axe and the earth will keep them best.
On November sixth, fifteen fifty, Christian Screever gave a recitation
of all the purported crimes of Joan Arson and his sons,
(32:19):
and even though there had been no real trial, they
were all beheaded the next day. Various accounts give some
different details, but Ari Joonsen was beheaded first, with his
head severed in one blow. Bjorn Yoonsen was next, and
it took four blows to decapitate him, and then for
(32:40):
Yoan Arson, it took seven blows and he gave his
last words after the third, saying in Latin, into your hands, Lord,
I commend my spirit. He died at the age of
sixty six, or you know, seventy six if you're looking
at that date. Discrepancy the story that our guide God
(33:02):
told us on our trip about why it took seven
blows was that the regular executioner didn't want to behead
Yoan Arson, so this task instead fell to somebody who
was not considered to be particularly smart and did not
have a sharp axe. If Danish authorities were trying to
avoid a hassle by executing Yoan and his sons rather
(33:25):
than holding them until the all thing that really did
not work out for them. Especially in the north of Iceland.
Yan was immediately seen as a martyr. A force from
the north, which may have been sent by Joan's daughter Thorn,
marched to Skullholdt and killed every Danish person there. In
(33:45):
the spring, another party was sent from Hullar to claim
the bodies of Yon and his sons. Their bodies were
exhumed and placed in coffins still covered in mud. Those
coffins had bells attached and they were carried from Skalholt
back to Holar. This party stopped at Loeugerwatten, which was
(34:05):
home to a consecrated hot spring, where the bodies were
washed before being returned to their coffins. There are six
stones beside this pool, which, according to tradition, are where
the coffins were laid while the bodies were being cleaned
and prepared.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Also, according to legend, church bells rang as this processional
passed on the way back to Holar. This ended with
the largest bell at the Holar Cathedral, which started ringing
by itself as the procession came down into the valley
and continued ringing until they were insight of town, at
which point it cracked.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
There had once again been very little Danish presence in
Iceland over the winter of fifteen fifty to fifteen fifty
one because they were all dead, But four Danish warships
arrived in the spring and troops started marching on the north.
They had been sent to arrest Joan Arson, not knowing
(35:05):
when they set sail that he had already been executed.
Yone was posthumously condemned as a trader, and troops re
established Danish and Lutheran control over Iceland. Catholicism was made
illegal and Catholics were outlawed. The remaining monastic houses in
Iceland were dissolved and their assets were all seized, and
(35:27):
that included that chalice that Yon had delivered the gold
for early in his years as a priest.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
During all of.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
This, Johan's common law wife helegas Cigaret's daughter had to
go into hiding. Most Catholic Icelanders who refused to convert
to Lutheranism left. A lot of them went to Scotland,
where for the moment Catholicism was still legal, but then
that changed in fifteen sixty.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
From an outsider's perspective, Joan Arson's legacy is fascinating. Own
died as one of the wealthiest men in all of Iceland,
if not the wealthiest. He had stewardship of more than
three hundred and fifty estates. One of the sources used
in this episode said that he controlled eighteen percent of
Iceland's real estate. There was one Danish official who wrote
(36:17):
that if you were riding through Iceland and asked whose
farm that was, the answer was either Bishop Jones or
Bjorn Johnson's. He was incredibly rich at a time when
people in Iceland overwhelmingly were not, and he faced criticism
for that wealth while he was alive. But he and
his sons Ari and Bjorn are also seen as emblematic
(36:38):
of Iceland's past. Nineteenth century Icelandic historian Joan Sigurdson called
them the last Icelanders. There's another degree of irony in
Jon Arson's status as a national hero in Iceland. He
was fighting against something that's now part of the national
fabric of Iceland Today. The Evangelic Lutheran Church of Iceland
(37:02):
is the state church of Iceland. More than sixty percent
of the population or members. The religion Yon observed and
fought for was outlawed in Iceland for centuries, with Catholics
only starting to return to Iceland in the extremely late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The Apostolic Prefecture of Iceland
(37:23):
was established in nineteen twenty three, and it became the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Reykovic in nineteen sixty eight. According
to statistics Iceland, only three point nine percent of people
in Iceland are Catholic today, and between two thirds and
three quarters of those.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Are people who immigrated to Iceland from places where Catholicism
is a lot more widely practiced. This irony connects to
some debate and varying interpretations around Yoon's motivations. How much
of it was about religious faith, how much about his
ambition and personal wealth and and how that was tied
to the Catholic Church, And how much was about wanting
(38:04):
Iceland to be free of royal control by Denmark. That
last part is definitely connected to his status as an
icon and national hero. Centuries passed before Iceland became independent.
It became a sovereign state in a union with Denmark
in nineteen eighteen, and an independent republic in nineteen forty four.
(38:26):
There's also a saying that all Icelanders are descended from
Joan Arson. The Icelandic Web of Science website tackled the
question of whether this was true in a two thousand
and five piece by the late Ghislie Gunnerson, who had
been a history professor at the University of Iceland. This
was translated into English by Nicholas Jones. This piece looked
(38:49):
at math and at historical laws banning marriages between third
and fourth cousins, and of course people more closely related
than that. This piece a proximated that a person living
in two thousand and five would have about sixty five thousand,
five hundred and thirty six ancestors who were alive in
(39:10):
fourteen eighty four when Yon Arson was born. The population
of Iceland in fourteen eighty four was probably less than that,
and some of the people living in fourteen eighty four
would for various reasons not ever have any children. So
this article concluded it is at least possible that everyone
(39:31):
with Icelandic heritage is related to Yon Arson in some way.
Do you have Listener mail to take us out? I
do have Lisener mail. This is from Lorena, and Lorena wrote, Hi,
Holly and Tracy, I listened to your sl one Reactor
episode and the replay of the demon Core episode with
(39:52):
great interest slash Horror this week. The extreme laxity and
nuclear safety standards of the mid century was surprise to
me since I grew up in a nuclear town, Pickering, Ontario.
As a child in the early nineties, we had nuclear
drills which consisted of hiding under our desk question mark
and being told that our teachers would issue us a
(40:15):
potassium eyeed eyed pill if there was a real nuclear incident.
Details were not provided, and since my main source of
knowledge about nuclear exposure was the historical fiction about Satacho
Chan and the thousand paper cranes, I was under the
impression that we would invariably die painful deaths if we
were exposed to any radiation whatsoever. Nonetheless, it was clear
(40:37):
that there was a protocol Then in two thousand, my
Grade thirteen OAC for the Ontarians out There Art project
was helping paint a mural for the lunch room at
the nuclear plant. We painted the panels off site, and
I was only permitted a single tour of the working
part of the plant after assuring them there was zero
(40:58):
chance I could be pregnant. Even so, the staff got
quite sharp with me because I kept putting my pen
cap in my mouth as the tour began. The art
opening was held out doors and attendees were only permitted
to go in briefly in small groups to view the mural,
wearing safety gear, so it seemed Pickering was very safety conscious.
(41:18):
Wikipedia reveals that in fact, the plant operations were rather
lax at times, but we were blissfully ignorant. Thanks for
your work. I've learned so much from the podcast and
remittance of my pet tax. Here my weird little guys,
Pippin and Mary. Pippin and Mary are so cute babies.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
I don't know all the cat breeds, but these look
like simeuse to me, and they are lounging in almost
a little train along the back of a couch. Super
duper cute. Thank you so much, Larina for this episode.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
A couple of random things.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
One of the reasons there used to be ducking covered drills,
like people like to make fun of duck and cover
drills because see, it does seem completely pointless that if
there was going to be a massive radiation and exposure,
how is hiding under your desk going to work? And
the idea was that if you were not like at
the center of the blast, there would be you know,
(42:16):
the force of an explosion also happening. So being under
the desk was meant to protect you from things like
falling debris. But it does seem kind of silly because
also radiation happening. I don't know if Larina has heard it,
but we do have a two part episode back when
we were celebrating our one thousandth episode of the podcast
(42:36):
about Sadako Sasaki, so folding a thousand paper cranes if
folks want to go listen to that, and then I've
just I was sort of delighted by the whole uh,
putting your pen cap in your mouth being a cause
for alarm. It totally makes sense why that would be
the case, But yeah, I get that end what great
(42:58):
kiddie cats.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
Also, I have gone to open the email myself. We
don't always both have them open when we're doing it.
And yes, I would say those are chocolate points Simes.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Okay, yeah, thank you for the confirmation of that, so
thank you so much again. If you would like to
send us an email or at History Podcasts at iHeartRadio
dot com. You can also subscribe to our show on
the iHeartRadio app or anywhere else you'd like to get
your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a
(43:35):
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production
of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson
and I'm Holly Frye. While we were in Iceland, we
had this amazing local guide named Gwillion who went by
God and God was full of knowledge about Icelandic history.
And the trip also involved a lot of bus rides,
(00:32):
so those bus rides were full of God telling us
all about the history of where we were going. I
don't actually remember whether we were on the bus or
at one of the places that we visited, but one
of the people that he told us about was Joan Arrison,
who was the last Catholic bishop in Iceland before it
(00:52):
became a Lutheran country. This story had a lot of
gory details, including a pretty ruesome beheadings, so of course
I was like, that's going on the list. There's a
lot of writing about Joan Arson in Icelandic there's way
less writing about him in English. So if you're from Iceland,
(01:13):
you might know more about him than we do, and
you will probably, or I will say, certainly say all
the names in this episode better than we will.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Do one hundred percent. As a quick bit of background.
The Norse settled Iceland in the ninth century, and around
the year nine thirty a national parliament was established, known
as the All Thing. A Thing was essentially an assembly
or council, and smaller things were held across Iceland. The
(01:44):
All Thing was the one that brought the whole island
together every summer as both a legislative and judicial body.
Chieftains and other representatives would discuss and pass laws, and
judges would hear cases that hadn't been handled through one
of the smaller things. The All Things still exists today,
although it meets at a parliament building in Reykivic rather
(02:07):
than at the Assembly Fields or Thingvilier, which is where
it met historically.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, there's It's often described as the oldest parliament in
the world. There's various debate about whether that's correct or not.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
But and it has great acoustics.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes, Overwhelmingly. These first Norse settlers were polytheistic. The spread
of Christianity starting in the tenth century led to strife
and sometimes violence, which was also happening in other parts
of the Norse world. King Olaf Triggvisen christianized Norway by
force after coming to power there in the year nine
(02:44):
to ninety five. Been other people who had tried to
do that, but Olaf is the person that's usually pointed
at as successful. He also sent missionaries to other Nordic countries,
including Iceland. In the face of all of this, the
question of whether Iceland should become Christian came before the Alting.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
The Alting decided that Iceland would become a Christian nation
around the year one thousand. The Diocese of Skalholdt was
established in ten fifty six, about eighty kilometers or fifty
miles east of Reykiavik. The Diocese of Holar was established
in eleven oh six, near the northern coast of the island,
(03:23):
essentially on the opposite side of Iceland from Vick. The
Diocese of Skalholdt covered about two thirds of the country,
while the Diocese of Holar covered the other third.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Most sources say that Joan Arisen was born in northern
Iceland in fourteen eighty four, but some sources argue that
it was really a decade earlier than that in fourteen
seventy four. There's not much detail known about his early life.
Sometimes this family is described as poor and other times
of reasonable means. After his father died, possibly during the
(03:58):
course of Yoon's education, he took care of his mother.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yoon was ordained in about fifteen oh seven. At the
age of about twenty three, he started living with a
woman named Helga Sigordo Darter in what was basically a
civil union or a common law marriage. For the most part,
Catholic clergy in Iceland weren't observing a tradition of celibacy
at this point. Yohon's father had also been the son
(04:23):
of a monastic prior. Yon and Helga had nine children together,
six of whom lived until adulthood. The Bishop of Holar
at this time was Gottzog Nikolissen, who seems to have
put a lot of trust in Yoon. Gotskalk sent him
on missions to Norway at least twice, once to get
(04:43):
some timber for the church and once to deliver gold
that was going to be made into a chalice. In
fifteen nineteen.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Goskok also absolved Yon of any sin that was associated
with his relationship with Helga. Although both clergy and lay
people and i Iceland generally seemed to have thought it
was fine for priests to have common law partners. That
was not as true for bishops, so this absolution was
probably because Gottskulk was planning for Yoon to be his successor.
(05:15):
Bishop Gotzkalk died the following year in fifteen twenty, when
Joan was about thirty six. This circles back around to
the questions about his birth year. His rise through the
leadership of the diocese is seen as very fast if
he was really ordained around fifteen oh seven, when he
was about twenty three, but it wouldn't have been so
(05:37):
unusual if he was really in his mid forties when
Gotzkulk died. Regardless, in addition to taking on increasing power
and responsibility within the church, Yon had become prosperous and
prominent in Northern Iceland, much like a powerful chieftain. When
a group of clerics meant to choose an interim leader
for the Sea, they chose Yoon almost unanimously. Jon did
(06:00):
still have some detractors, though, and a different group of
clergymen also met and put forth a different candidate of
their own, named Pyotr Paulsen. It seems like they intended
for Jon and Pyotr to have sort of equal power
and responsibility. But Pyotr gave up this role by the
following April, and that left Yon in charge.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Lar also wasn't the only place where Yon had enemies.
Vander Paulsen, bishop of the Southern Diocese in Skuholt, had
been in Norway being consecrated when Bishop Goldskulk died. Norway
had taken control of Iceland in the thirteenth century, and
the Icelandic Diocese reported to the Archdiocese of Nideros, which
(06:44):
is now Trondheim. Nideros had been the capital of Norway,
and although the capital had been moved to Oslo, Nidios
was still Norway's religious center. The Archbishop of Nideros had
made Ownder interim bishop of Holar until in new bishop
could be elected. Omander seems to have really, really, really
(07:05):
hated Yon. If Yon really was only in his mid thirties,
this might have been related to his age. Was probably
also connected to how powerful Yoon had become in northern Iceland.
He had a reputation for being really ambitious and assertive,
and it's possible that Omander thought this would sort of
tip the balance of power between the two dioceses. Regardless
(07:29):
of the exact reasoning, Omanders started trying to remove Yoan
from power. He wrote to Pope Clement the seventh about it,
and he also tried to put George Paulsen back in
charge of the Sea. The Northern clergy refused to recognize this,
and on August eighteenth, fifteen twenty two, they elected Yon
to be the next bishop. They wrote to the Archdiocese
(07:52):
of Neteros to both name Jon as their choice for
bishop and to complain about Omander's behavior. Almander tried to
stop Yoon from going to Norway to be consecrated, so
Yon made arrangements to travel there aboard a German merchant ship.
Almander tried to take the matter to court before writing
North with a group of men, possibly as many as
(08:15):
three hundred, to physically stop Yoan from leaving. Almander also
sent word to the German merchants that they would be
attacked if they left Iceland with Yon aboard. Yon sent
a priest named Magnus back to Holar with a copy
of a letter that he had written to the Archbishop
of Nideros, outlining everything that had happened and saying that
(08:37):
Omander should go to Nideros to answer for his actions.
In what seems like a pretty astute move, Magnus read
them this letter through a window where they could not
reach him.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Although the German merchants initially had to turn back because
of some bad weather, Yon did ultimately make it to
Norway with them. Omander was probably hoping the king, King
Christian the Second, and the Archbishop of Nideros would refuse
to recognize Yon as bishop. Omander already had relationship with
(09:10):
both of those men because of the time he had
spent in Norway for his own consecration. But Christian the
Second was forced off the throne after a revolt in
early fifteen twenty three, and the archbishop who had consecrated
Omander had died. By the time John arrived, there were
different people in charge. The king was now Frederick the First,
(09:33):
who Joon developed a friendly relationship with, and the new
Archbishop of Nidos, olaf Ingelbertson, cleared Yoon of all the
charges against him on August ninth of fifteen twenty four
and formally consecrated him as Bishop of Holar. There is
a possibly apocryphal story about Joan's coronation, which is at
(09:55):
toward the end of the ceremony, his miter fell off.
That's the ceremonyeal headpiece worn by bishops. As a couple
of page boys raced to pick it up, he said
something along the lines of that's how my episcopal career
will end. We'll have some more after a sponsor break.
(10:22):
When Yon Arrison returned to Iceland in fifteen twenty five,
he became one of the country's wealthiest and most powerful men.
He was the bishop of one of the country's two dioceses,
and the church was deeply interconnected with every level of
Iceland's social fabric. He also had control of more than
one hundred farms that had been left to the church
(10:44):
by a wealthy landowner. But he continued to be at
odds with Umander and the Diocese of Skowhold for at
least the next couple of years. This came to a head,
with both jon and Omander showing up at the fifteen
twenty seven an Allthing with more than a thousand men
a piece. There may have even been a duel between
(11:06):
their champions at the All Thing that year. Eventually, though,
these two men started to tolerate each other. It seems
like eventually they were like that guy's not going anywhere
he's been formally consecrated. I just gotta live with it.
There's not a lot of documentation about Yoan's first years
as a bishop, beyond that he did introduce the printing
(11:28):
press to Iceland, probably around the year fifteen thirty five.
Iceland's first printer was a Swedish priest named Joan Matthiason.
Some documents from this press still survive today, and it
is possible that Yoan authorized a translation and printing of
an Icelandic Bible, but if that is true, no copies
of that Bible survive. He also wrote poetry, most of
(11:52):
it religious or devotional. Some sources describe him as the
greatest poet of his generation, and he worked on a
advancing his son's careers, playing a big enough role in
their upward mobility that some sources describe it as nepotism.
He also arranged marriages for his daughters to wealthy men.
(12:12):
These same years were tumultuous elsewhere in the Norse world.
In fifteen thirty three, King Frederic the First died. This
led to a war of succession in Denmark known as
the Count's War or the Count's Feud. On one side,
was Christian the second that was the one who had
been deposed back in fifteen twenty three, and then on
(12:33):
the other side was Frederick's only son, Christian, who was
the ultimate victor and became King Christian the third.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Christian the third was a devout Lutheran. Martin Luther was
a German theologian who had initially intended to try to
reform the Catholic Church, but he had been excommunicated in
fifteen twenty one. The reform movement he was part of
had evolved into a schism in which reformers broke from
the Catholic Church and started establishing new denominations. Today, this
(13:05):
is known as the Protestant Reformation. After coming to the
throne in Denmark, Christian third immediately began the process of
turning it into a Lutheran nation, which was something he
had already done in territory that he controlled before becoming king.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
This included things like arresting the Catholic bishops and seizing
all their assets and introducing a Lutheran Church order that
had been approved by Martin Luther himself. Christian then did
the same in Norway after ascending to the throne there.
In fifteen thirty seven. Of course, all of this is
an entire other story that we are not getting into today.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Bishops John and Omander recognized that the king's religious efforts
were a threat and that he would probably try to
implement Lutheranism in Iceland, and he did. He had the
Lutheran Church Order read at the All Thing in fifteen
thirty eight. Not much as known about the bishop's response
to this first reading, but it doesn't seem like it
(14:05):
led to meaningful changes right away. Also, this was not
the first time Lutheranism was introduced to Iceland. It was
likely introduced by German merchants earlier in the fifteen thirties,
and there was at least one Lutheran church in Iceland
by fifteen thirty seven. It was also common for promising
young men to be sent to Germany to study, and
(14:26):
as Martin Luther grew in prominence, they started to be
exposed to his ideas there.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It did not take long for things to escalate in Iceland, though.
In fifteen thirty nine, Iceland's governor was Klaus vander Marvitzen.
His representative, Diedrich van Minden, led a small group of
men in an attack on the monastery at Vide on
an island northeast of Reykivic. They expelled all the monks
(14:53):
and they seized the monastery in all of its lands
and assets. When the all thing convened not long after that,
Amander questioned the men who were involved with this, and
the assembly excommunicated both the governor and Diedrich van Menden.
Omander set a letter to the king, signed by most
of the southern clergy and a lot of lay people,
(15:14):
detailing what had happened. But Diedrich tried to do this
again at another monastery not long after, and he and
his men stopped in Skullhold on the way, where they
insulted and harassed the bishop and in some accounts physically
assaulted him. In response, a group of farmers rose up
and killed Diedrich and his men. On August tenth, Icelandic
(15:37):
courts condemned the governor and acquitted the farmers who were involved.
By the time word reached Denmark about what had happened,
it was too late to send reinforcements to Iceland. Travel
between Denmark and Iceland wasn't really possible in the winter,
everything was frozen, so since many of Denmark's representatives in
(15:58):
Iceland had been killed, and Icelandic courts were not recognizing
the authority of the governor. Over that winter, Iceland was
more or less out of Denmark's control. But this what
had happened, these killings, that was also a major issue
to the king, so when travel resumed in the spring,
he wanted to both regain control of Iceland and accelerate
(16:21):
its conversion to Lutheranism. And then there were also rumors
spreading that Omander had ordered those killings, so the King
wanted somebody to get to the bottom of that too.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Meanwhile, both Joan Arison and Omander Paulson had written to
the King to express their loyalty to Denmark but also
maintain their dedication to their existing religion and traditions. Joan
also said that if the King insisted that Iceland adopt
these Lutheran religious reforms, Catholics should be allowed to leave
the island and resettle in whatever place God showed them.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Although Yon and Omander were now solidly on the same side,
and they were both trying to keep Iceland as a
Catholic country, they were at very different points in their
lives and their careers as bishops. Joan was fifty six,
or maybe sixty six, if you're going by that earlier
birth year. He was still really active, and as we've said,
(17:19):
he was one of the wealthiest and most powerful men
in northern Iceland. But Olmander was in his eighties and
had lost most of his eyesight. He had already tapped
his nephew Sigmund as his successor, but Sigmund had then
died in Norway shortly after being consecrated. Olmander's second choice
(17:40):
was his assistant Gisser Anerson, who was already in Norway
when Didrich von Menden and his men were killed. Gisser
was sent back to Iceland as Bishop elect, but without
formally being consecrated yet, possibly because of his age. He
was only twenty eight. He arrived back in Iceland in
May of fifteen forty. What Omender apparently did not know
(18:05):
was that Gisser was a Lutheran. When Gisser appeared at
the All Thing that summer, he read the Lutheran Order
and Christian's command that it be adopted in Iceland and
that Didrich's killers be brought to justice.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
After discussing these issues, the All Thing wrote back to
the King, refusing to adopt the church order and maintaining
not only that Omander had not ordered the killings, but
also that the perpetrators had already been tried and acquitted
under Icelandic law. The all Thing also asked the King
for a new governor, which did lead the King to
recall and imprison Klaus van der Marvitsen.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Another complication was that, in addition to Gisser, there were
multiple other Lutherans in Omander's household and at the Diocese
of Skalholt. It really just kind of reads to me
like a hotbed of secret Lutheranism. One of these was
Omender's secretary, Otdter Gotzkuksen, who was the son of gotzkuk Nicholson,
(19:05):
who had been Joan Arson's predecessor back in Hular. Otter
had secretly converted while studying in Denmark and Germany, and
he was spending his free time secretly translating a Lutheran
version of the New Testament into Icelandic out in Omander's barn.
It does not seem like Omander was at all aware
(19:27):
of Gisser's thoughts on Lutheranism when he chose him as
his successor or that there were other Lutherans in his
household and staff. When he realized what was happening, he
was not happy about it. He wrote to Joan Arison
complaining about Gisser's actions and claiming he had taken silver
and other church property from the cathedral to his own residence.
(19:51):
Joan was still upholding Catholic traditions in the north of Iceland,
and he was alarmed by what was happening in the south.
But it also seems like he thought it it was
prudent to keep a positive working relationship with Gisser as
his counterpart in the Southern diocese. Yon and Gisser agreed
to help and support one another through a covenant of
(20:11):
friendship and mutual aid. King Christian dispatched a new governor
to Iceland. That was Christopher Huetfeldt, who arrived in May
of fifteen forty one along with two warships. Christopher was
tasked with converting Iceland to Lutheranism and with implementing a
new tax to help the king pay off the debt
(20:34):
from the Count's war that had put him on the throne.
With Gisser in charge, the diocese at Skalholt quickly adopted
all of this, but Yon and his counsel wrote to
the king to say that they would pay this tax
in exchange for maintaining their religious liberty and their traditional customs.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
In the summer of fifteen forty one, the governor started
making plans to take Omander into custody. Although Omander had retired,
he had not yet left Scouhold. Some of his friends
convinced him that it would be safer for him to
retire to a monastery, and on the way there he
stopped to visit his sister. On June second, fifteen forty one,
(21:15):
some of the governor's men showed up while Omander was
still sleeping, forced him out of his sister's house, still
in his night clothes, and put him on a Danish ship.
He was deported, and he either died on the journey
or sometime within a couple of years of arriving in Denmark.
Remembering that he was a very old man through all
of this.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, I think they did let him change into something
other than his night clothes, but he was described as
still like he was not adequately dressed. Uh. When Amander
was planning this journey to this monastery, Giesser had told
him he did not have anything to worry about. But
Giesser was definitely involved in this whole abduction and deportation plan.
(22:00):
He may have actually instigated it, but that part is
less clear. Gisser later wrote to Joan Arson saying he
believed what he had done was for the greater good,
and he asked Joan not to believe any quote evil
rumors that he might hear. Joan agreed to this, saying
that if he were to hear any slander about Gisser,
(22:22):
he would not believe it unless he received some kind
of certified documentary proof.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Joan Arison had been traveling south for the All Thing
when Omander was abducted and deported, and when he heard
about it, he turned back. He sent letters to the
All Thing and to the governor forbidding any action against
his diocese, without Yoan and Omander there to argue against it.
This time, the All Thing agreed to adopt the Lutheran
(22:49):
Church Order, but since the Diocese at Holar was not
represented at the All Thing when this was decided, it
was not considered to apply to them. For a while,
Jon didn't really interfere with what was happening in the
Southern diocese. While he thought Gisser's acceptance of Lutheranism was heresy,
(23:10):
Gisser had also been lawfully appointed as bishop of the diocese.
Jon also agreed to pay the.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Taxes and assist Danish officials as long as he and
his diocese were able to maintain their Catholic religion and customs.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
In fifteen forty two, King Christian the third ordered Gisser
and Joan to come to Copenhagen. Gisser went, but Jone
said he was ill, and he sent delegates in his place,
one of them being his son, Sigurdur. Sigadre and Gisser
both signed on to the Lutheran Ordinance while there, and
a priest who had traveled with Sigadure started preaching Lutheran doctrine.
(23:51):
When they got back to Iceland, Joan refused to be
bound by the ordinance that his son had signed as
his delegate, but for the moment Christian seems to have
considered the matter settled and didn't do much to interfere
with the North. This kind of uneasy peace did not last, though,
and we will get to that after a sponsor break
(24:21):
on good Friday of fifteen forty eight, Bishop Gisser Anderson
died at the age of only thirty six. He had
gone to Caldetharnis, which is southeast of Raykivic, to remove
a wooden cross that had long been seen as a
healing relic and was frequently used as a pilgrimage site,
(24:43):
obviously among Catholics. Gisser got sick and died after returning
to Skyhold from that trip. When Yown heard about his death,
he rode to Skuleholt and on the way wrote a
letter offering to handle any church and religious and nothing
else until a replacement could be elected as bishop of
(25:05):
the Southern Diocese. Before the start of Christian the Third's
efforts to make Iceland a Lutheran country, this would have
been a completely normal and uncontroversial thing to do. With
Gisser's death. Joan was the only Catholic bishop in Iceland.
The Archdiocese of Nideros had been dissolved as Christian the
(25:25):
Third had converted Norway to Lutheranism, so Yan was also
reporting directly to the Pope and was seen as the
Pope's representative in Iceland. It was routine for an Icelandic
bishop to take on or at least assist with the
duties of his counterpart at the other diocese if he
died or for some other reason was incapacitated. But the
(25:48):
Protestant Reformation made all of this a whole lot more complicated,
especially as the Reformation and counter Reformation had led to
wars in other parts of Europe.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Yan also did not simply step in to keep things
running in the Southern diocese. After Gisser's death, he started
trying to re establish Catholicism there. He chose an abbot
named Sigvador Haldersen as Giessard's replacement and sent him to
Denmark to be consecrated. Of course, Lutheran church authorities in
(26:21):
Denmark were not going to do that. They did not
consecrate Sigfrither as bishop, and they also did not let
him leave Denmark. Sigrither died in Denmark a couple of
years later, after having first become a Lutheran. Lutherans had
also put forth their own candidate for that bishop spot,
(26:42):
an Icelandic priest named Martin Anderson. Martin was already in Copenhagen.
He became Bishop of Skalhold instead before Martin returned from Denmark.
Yoon continued trying to re implement Catholicism in the South
with the help of people living there who were still Catholic.
(27:04):
This included reconsecrating monasteries and cathedrals, including the monastery at
v Day. He arrested Lutheran clerics and forced them to
either readopt Catholicism or to leave Iceland. Yoan also declared
Giesser a heretic, exuming his body from its grave and
throwing it into a pit. In the late summer of
(27:26):
fifteen forty eight, some of Joan's men lay siege to
Scouhold for eight days, but they were ultimately repelled thanks
to its having been fortified by Martin's brother Pyotr. Martin
and Pyotr's brother in law, Dottie Guthmunson was also heavily
involved in the Lutheran opposition to Joan's efforts. There was
(27:46):
another pause in the winter as the seas once again
became impassable, but on February eleventh, fifteen forty nine, the
king declared Joan Arson outlawed. When Martin Anderson arrived back
in Iceland in the spring, he was carrying a summons
for Yoon's arrest, and of course Yon considered that to
(28:07):
be invalid. Dotty Gudmundson started working with the latest Icelandic governor,
Laurences Mullah, to try to get the king to condemn Yon. Instead,
the King ordered Doty to arrest Jon and his sons,
thinking this would be a lot less bloody and expensive
than sending some more warships and trying.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
To fight over it. Meanwhile, Yon had written a letter
to Pope Paul the Third asking for guidance for what
to do with donations that normally would have gone to
the archdiocese at Nideros. The Pope's response was to distribute
them to the poor. The Pope also described Yoon as
pious and full of veneration and obedience toward the Pope
(28:52):
and the Holy See. This letter said in part quote,
we therefore pronounce on you our highest recognition in the Lord,
and exhort you with the flock entrusted to you, to
persevere in the same mind. For this you will receive
praise from men here on earth and from God himself
eternal life in heaven. Joan saw this as confirmation that
(29:17):
what he was doing was right and had the Pope's support,
and he had it translated into Icelandic, and then he
distributed that around the diocese. Then Yan sent two of
his sons to Skalholt to try to arrest Martin Anderson
and Die the Goodmunson. One of the sons, Ari was
(29:38):
a loe mother or a lawyer or law speaker, and
the other one, Jorn, was a priest. They did manage
to capture the bishop, but dot These men reportedly put
on gray clothing to camouflage themselves and then were able
to ambush Yon's men and drive them back. Bishop Martin
was kept in Ari's custody at a monoch they where
(30:01):
he was forced to work drying cod We said earlier
that most of yoan Arson's poetry was religious, but he
also wrote a number of insulting poems about Martin while
he was in custody, and about a cleric named Arnie
Arnerson who had also been captured in fifteen fifty. The
next time the Althing convened, Joan, Ari and Bjorn were
(30:24):
all there, Yan with two hundred men, and Ari and
Bjorn with one hundred men apiece. Before the gathered assembly,
they all declared that one of the very prominent Lutheran
priests in Iceland was a heretic ultimately that led this
priest to flee to Denmark. Later in the summer, Yoan
(30:44):
and Dottie arranged a thing at which they would discuss
their various grievances, but once they were there, Dotty announced
that he was going to put things off until the
next all Thing the following spring. An official thing was
supposed to come along with protections for its partition, but
postponing the proceedings meant those protections essentially disappeared. Realizing they
(31:07):
were under threat, Yoan declared himself and his sons to
be under the King's protection, but Dottie's men took them captive.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Something else that was supposed to happen at this point
was that the three men would be held until they
could be tried at the next all Thing. Christian Screever,
who was the governor's representative, took custody of Yan and
his sons on October twenty third, fifteen fifty. The idea
was they were going to hold them until the following summer,
(31:37):
but everybody knew that doing that would be challenging at best,
even with the reduced travel during the colder months, there
would probably be people from the north who would be
coming to Joan's defense. Unrest would probably be spreading through
and from the North without Yan there. This led to
(31:58):
a lot of discussion among ya Jones captors, and a
clergyman named Joan Bjarnison is often cited as offering this
solution quote the axe and the earth will keep them best.
On November sixth, fifteen fifty, Christian Screever gave a recitation
of all the purported crimes of Joan Arson and his sons,
(32:19):
and even though there had been no real trial, they
were all beheaded the next day. Various accounts give some
different details, but Ari Joonsen was beheaded first, with his
head severed in one blow. Bjorn Yoonsen was next, and
it took four blows to decapitate him, and then for
(32:40):
Yoan Arson, it took seven blows and he gave his
last words after the third, saying in Latin, into your hands, Lord,
I commend my spirit. He died at the age of
sixty six, or you know, seventy six if you're looking
at that date. Discrepancy the story that our guide God
(33:02):
told us on our trip about why it took seven
blows was that the regular executioner didn't want to behead
Yoan Arson, so this task instead fell to somebody who
was not considered to be particularly smart and did not
have a sharp axe. If Danish authorities were trying to
avoid a hassle by executing Yoan and his sons rather
(33:25):
than holding them until the all thing that really did
not work out for them. Especially in the north of Iceland.
Yan was immediately seen as a martyr. A force from
the north, which may have been sent by Joan's daughter Thorn,
marched to Skullholdt and killed every Danish person there. In
(33:45):
the spring, another party was sent from Hullar to claim
the bodies of Yon and his sons. Their bodies were
exhumed and placed in coffins still covered in mud. Those
coffins had bells attached and they were carried from Skalholt
back to Holar. This party stopped at Loeugerwatten, which was
(34:05):
home to a consecrated hot spring, where the bodies were
washed before being returned to their coffins. There are six
stones beside this pool, which, according to tradition, are where
the coffins were laid while the bodies were being cleaned
and prepared.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Also, according to legend, church bells rang as this processional
passed on the way back to Holar. This ended with
the largest bell at the Holar Cathedral, which started ringing
by itself as the procession came down into the valley
and continued ringing until they were insight of town, at
which point it cracked.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
There had once again been very little Danish presence in
Iceland over the winter of fifteen fifty to fifteen fifty
one because they were all dead, But four Danish warships
arrived in the spring and troops started marching on the north.
They had been sent to arrest Joan Arson, not knowing
(35:05):
when they set sail that he had already been executed.
Yone was posthumously condemned as a trader, and troops re
established Danish and Lutheran control over Iceland. Catholicism was made
illegal and Catholics were outlawed. The remaining monastic houses in
Iceland were dissolved and their assets were all seized, and
(35:27):
that included that chalice that Yon had delivered the gold
for early in his years as a priest.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
During all of.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
This, Johan's common law wife helegas Cigaret's daughter had to
go into hiding. Most Catholic Icelanders who refused to convert
to Lutheranism left. A lot of them went to Scotland,
where for the moment Catholicism was still legal, but then
that changed in fifteen sixty.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
From an outsider's perspective, Joan Arson's legacy is fascinating. Own
died as one of the wealthiest men in all of Iceland,
if not the wealthiest. He had stewardship of more than
three hundred and fifty estates. One of the sources used
in this episode said that he controlled eighteen percent of
Iceland's real estate. There was one Danish official who wrote
(36:17):
that if you were riding through Iceland and asked whose
farm that was, the answer was either Bishop Jones or
Bjorn Johnson's. He was incredibly rich at a time when
people in Iceland overwhelmingly were not, and he faced criticism
for that wealth while he was alive. But he and
his sons Ari and Bjorn are also seen as emblematic
(36:38):
of Iceland's past. Nineteenth century Icelandic historian Joan Sigurdson called
them the last Icelanders. There's another degree of irony in
Jon Arson's status as a national hero in Iceland. He
was fighting against something that's now part of the national
fabric of Iceland Today. The Evangelic Lutheran Church of Iceland
(37:02):
is the state church of Iceland. More than sixty percent
of the population or members. The religion Yon observed and
fought for was outlawed in Iceland for centuries, with Catholics
only starting to return to Iceland in the extremely late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The Apostolic Prefecture of Iceland
(37:23):
was established in nineteen twenty three, and it became the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Reykovic in nineteen sixty eight. According
to statistics Iceland, only three point nine percent of people
in Iceland are Catholic today, and between two thirds and
three quarters of those.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
Are people who immigrated to Iceland from places where Catholicism
is a lot more widely practiced. This irony connects to
some debate and varying interpretations around Yoon's motivations. How much
of it was about religious faith, how much about his
ambition and personal wealth and and how that was tied
to the Catholic Church, And how much was about wanting
(38:04):
Iceland to be free of royal control by Denmark. That
last part is definitely connected to his status as an
icon and national hero. Centuries passed before Iceland became independent.
It became a sovereign state in a union with Denmark
in nineteen eighteen, and an independent republic in nineteen forty four.
(38:26):
There's also a saying that all Icelanders are descended from
Joan Arson. The Icelandic Web of Science website tackled the
question of whether this was true in a two thousand
and five piece by the late Ghislie Gunnerson, who had
been a history professor at the University of Iceland. This
was translated into English by Nicholas Jones. This piece looked
(38:49):
at math and at historical laws banning marriages between third
and fourth cousins, and of course people more closely related
than that. This piece a proximated that a person living
in two thousand and five would have about sixty five thousand,
five hundred and thirty six ancestors who were alive in
(39:10):
fourteen eighty four when Yon Arson was born. The population
of Iceland in fourteen eighty four was probably less than that,
and some of the people living in fourteen eighty four
would for various reasons not ever have any children. So
this article concluded it is at least possible that everyone
(39:31):
with Icelandic heritage is related to Yon Arson in some way.
Do you have Listener mail to take us out? I
do have Lisener mail. This is from Lorena, and Lorena wrote, Hi,
Holly and Tracy, I listened to your sl one Reactor
episode and the replay of the demon Core episode with
(39:52):
great interest slash Horror this week. The extreme laxity and
nuclear safety standards of the mid century was surprise to
me since I grew up in a nuclear town, Pickering, Ontario.
As a child in the early nineties, we had nuclear
drills which consisted of hiding under our desk question mark
and being told that our teachers would issue us a
(40:15):
potassium eyeed eyed pill if there was a real nuclear incident.
Details were not provided, and since my main source of
knowledge about nuclear exposure was the historical fiction about Satacho
Chan and the thousand paper cranes, I was under the
impression that we would invariably die painful deaths if we
were exposed to any radiation whatsoever. Nonetheless, it was clear
(40:37):
that there was a protocol Then in two thousand, my
Grade thirteen OAC for the Ontarians out There Art project
was helping paint a mural for the lunch room at
the nuclear plant. We painted the panels off site, and
I was only permitted a single tour of the working
part of the plant after assuring them there was zero
(40:58):
chance I could be pregnant. Even so, the staff got
quite sharp with me because I kept putting my pen
cap in my mouth as the tour began. The art
opening was held out doors and attendees were only permitted
to go in briefly in small groups to view the mural,
wearing safety gear, so it seemed Pickering was very safety conscious.
(41:18):
Wikipedia reveals that in fact, the plant operations were rather
lax at times, but we were blissfully ignorant. Thanks for
your work. I've learned so much from the podcast and
remittance of my pet tax. Here my weird little guys,
Pippin and Mary. Pippin and Mary are so cute babies.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
I don't know all the cat breeds, but these look
like simeuse to me, and they are lounging in almost
a little train along the back of a couch. Super
duper cute. Thank you so much, Larina for this episode.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
A couple of random things.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
One of the reasons there used to be ducking covered drills,
like people like to make fun of duck and cover
drills because see, it does seem completely pointless that if
there was going to be a massive radiation and exposure,
how is hiding under your desk going to work? And
the idea was that if you were not like at
the center of the blast, there would be you know,
(42:16):
the force of an explosion also happening. So being under
the desk was meant to protect you from things like
falling debris. But it does seem kind of silly because
also radiation happening. I don't know if Larina has heard it,
but we do have a two part episode back when
we were celebrating our one thousandth episode of the podcast
(42:36):
about Sadako Sasaki, so folding a thousand paper cranes if
folks want to go listen to that, and then I've
just I was sort of delighted by the whole uh,
putting your pen cap in your mouth being a cause
for alarm. It totally makes sense why that would be
the case, But yeah, I get that end what great
(42:58):
kiddie cats.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
Also, I have gone to open the email myself. We
don't always both have them open when we're doing it.
And yes, I would say those are chocolate points Simes.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Okay, yeah, thank you for the confirmation of that, so
thank you so much again. If you would like to
send us an email or at History Podcasts at iHeartRadio
dot com. You can also subscribe to our show on
the iHeartRadio app or anywhere else you'd like to get
your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a
(43:35):
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Stuff You Missed in History Class News
Hosts And Creators
Holly Frey
Tracy Wilson
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