The Armenian Episode in the History of the Christianisation of Iceland in Light of the Global Middle Ages
The Byzantine Christian missionaries, among them Armenians, played a notable role in the cultural and religious conversion of Scandinavia. Some of the Armenian missionaries reached as far as Iceland. The medieval Icelandic sources, namely Íslendingabók, Grágás, and Hungrvaka, preserve information ab...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Journal of early Christian history
Year: 2024, Volume: 14, Issue: 2, Pages: 123-144 |
| IxTheo Classification: | KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages KBE Northern Europe; Scandinavia KBK Europe (East) RJ Mission; missiology |
| Further subjects: | B
Armenia
B Christianisation of Iceland B Global Middle Ages B European civilisation B Christendom B Byzantine Armenians B Iceland |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Byzantine Christian missionaries, among them Armenians, played a notable role in the cultural and religious conversion of Scandinavia. Some of the Armenian missionaries reached as far as Iceland. The medieval Icelandic sources, namely Íslendingabók, Grágás, and Hungrvaka, preserve information about the presence of the Armenian Christian missionaries in Iceland in the 50s and 60s of the eleventh century. Ari Thorgilsson in his Íslendingabók writes about the visit of three ermskir (Armenian) bishops—Petros, Abraham, and Stephanos—to Iceland. Remarkably, the Christian laws section of the laws of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth links it not only to the Western ecclesiastical canons but also to Greek and Armenian Christianity. The Armenians alongside the Greeks comprised one of the core nations of the Byzantine empire. Hence, based on medieval Icelandic sources and via comparative historical analysis, the article argues that the Armenian missionaries had significant input in the spread of Christian doctrine in Iceland, although the Armenian episode in the Christianisation of Iceland had no further historical consequences. The concept of the Global Middle Ages invites us to consider the interconnectedness of the medieval world, its complexity, and the possibility of cultural, religious, and commercial contacts between diverse communities across vast distances. |
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| ISSN: | 2471-4054 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian history
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/2222582X.2024.2421354 |
