Jón Arason
|
His Excellency Jan Arason |
|
|---|---|
| Bishop of Holar | |
Bishop Arason
|
|
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Diocese | Hólar |
| Appointed | 22 November 1520 |
| Installed | 1524 |
| Term ended | 7 November 1550 |
| Predecessor | Gottskálk grimmi Nikulásson |
| Successor | Ólafur Hjaltason |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1504 |
| Consecration | 1524 by Olav Engelbrektsson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1484 Gryta Iceland |
| Died | 7 November 1550 Skalholt Iceland |
| Nationality |
 Icelandic
|
Jón Arason (1484 – November 7, 1550) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic bishop and poet, who was executed in his struggle against the imposition of the Protestant Reformation in Iceland.
Jón Arason was born in Gryta, educated at Munkaþverá, the Benedictine abbey of Iceland, and was ordained a Catholic priest about 1504. Having attracted the notice of Gottskálk Nikulásson (1469– 1520), bishop of Hólar, he was sent by that prelate on two missions to Norway. In 1522 he succeeded Gottskálk in the episcopal see of Hólar, but he was soon driven out by the other Icelandic bishop, Ögmundur of Skálholt. Bishop Ögmundur later opposed the imposition of Lutheranism to Iceland, but being old and blind by that time his opposition proved effectively meaningless.
By this point Jón Arason had become known for his great talents if somewhat erratic faith. He fathered numerous children who fought for his causes figuratively and later literally. This was despite the canonical obligation that Catholic bishops are to be celibate, but Iceland was distant enough from Rome for clerical discipline in that age to be very lax.
Bishop Jón Arason became involved in a dispute with his sovereign, King Christian III, because of the bishop's refusal to promote Lutheranism on the island. Although initially he took a defensive rather than an offensive position on the matter, this changed radically in 1548. At that point he and Bishop Ögmundur joined their forces to attack the Lutherans. Bishop Ögmundur's contribution did not last, however, due to his infirmities, and he quickly faced exile to Denmark.
Jón Arason's continued resistance is thought to have come from a kind of primitive nationalism and simple ambition as much as religion. He resented the Danes' changing the religious landscape of Iceland and felt their culture would be less disrupted by staying Catholic. Hence he took encouragement from a letter of support from Pope Paul III in continuing his efforts against the Lutheran cause. For the Pope, this seems to have been a generalized opposition to the spread of Protestantism, not necessarily support for the peculiarities of Jon's life or Icelandic culture. Still, the encouragement helped strengthen the opposition against the Lutherans into a kind of civil war.
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Wikipedia