Icelandic Commonwealth
| Icelandic Commonwealth | ||||||||||
| Þjóðveldið Ísland | ||||||||||
| Commonwealth | ||||||||||
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 Map of Iceland by Abraham Ortelius (c. 1590)
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| Capital | Þingvellir | |||||||||
| Languages | Old Norse (later old Icelandic) | |||||||||
| Political structure | Federation under religious democracy | |||||||||
| Important chieftains (goðar) | ||||||||||
| • | 1199-1238 | Sturla Sighvatsson | ||||||||
| • | 1208-1245 | Kolbeinn ungi Arnórsson | ||||||||
| • | ????-1256 | Þórður kakali Sighvatsson | ||||||||
| • | 1208-1268 | Gissur Þorvaldsson | ||||||||
| • | 1214-1284 | Sturla Þórðarson | ||||||||
| Lawspeaker | ||||||||||
| • | 985-1001 | Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði | ||||||||
| • | 1004-1030 | Skapti Þóroddsson | ||||||||
| • | 1031-1033 | Steinn Þorgestsson | ||||||||
| • | 1034-1053 | Þorkell Tjörvason | ||||||||
| • | 1054-1062/1072-1074 | Gellir Bolverksson | ||||||||
| • | 1063-1065/1075 | Gunnar Þorgrímsson the Wise | ||||||||
| Legislature | Lögrétta of Alþingi | |||||||||
| Historical era | High Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Alþingi established | c. 930 | ||||||||
| • | Norwegian kingship | 1262 | ||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||
| • | 950 | 103,000 km² (39,769 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | ||||||||||
| • | 950 est. | 50,000 | ||||||||
| Density | 0.5 /km² (1.3 /sq mi) | |||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Iceland
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The Icelandic Commonwealth, Icelandic Free State, or Republic of Iceland (Icelandic: þjóðveldið or, less commonly, goðaveldið) was the state existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Alþingi (Althing) in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. With the probable exception of Papar, Iceland was an uninhabited island until around 870.
The medieval Icelandic state had a unique judicial structure. The first settlers of Iceland were greatly influenced by their Norwegian roots when creating their own form of government. They wanted to avoid the strong centralized authority of Harald Fairhair from which some of them had fled, but they also wanted to replicate the Norwegian tradition of laws and district legal assemblies (Þing). This created a unique structure.
The most powerful and elite leaders in Iceland were the chieftains (sing. goði, pl. goðar). The office of the goði was called the goðorð. The goðorð was not delimited by strict geographical boundaries. Thus, a free man could choose to support any of the goðar of his district. The supporters of the goðar were called Þingmenn ("assembly people"). In exchange for the goði protecting his interests, the Þingmaðr would provide armed support to his goði during feuds or conflicts. The Þingmenn were also required to attend regional and national assemblies.
On a regional level, the goðar of the thirteen district assemblies convened meetings every spring to settle local disputes. The goðar also served as the leaders of the Alþingi, the national assembly of Iceland. Today, the Alþingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in existence. It began with the regional assembly at Kjalarness established by Þorsteinn Ingólfsson, son of the first settler. The leaders of the Kjalarnessþing appointed a man named Úlfljótr to study the laws in Norway. He spent three years in Norway and returned with the foundation of Úlfljótr’s Law, which would form the basis for Iceland's national assembly. Sections of his law code are preserved in the Landnámabók, ("Book of Settlements"). The first Alþingi assembly convened around the year 930 at Þingvellir, ("Assembly Plains"). The Alþingi served as a public gathering at which people from all over the country met for two weeks every June. The Alþingi revolved around the Lögrétta, the legislative council of the assembly, which was responsible for reviewing and amending the nation's laws. The Lögrétta comprised the 39 goðar and their advisors. They also appointed a Lawspeaker (lögsögumaður) once every three years. The Lawspeaker recited and clarified laws at Lögberg ("Law Rock"), located at the center of Þingvellir. The descendants of Ingólfr Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland, held the ceremonial position of allsherjargoði and had the role of sanctifying the Alþingi each year.
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