Jón Loftsson (1124–1197; Modern Icelandic: ;

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ) was chieftain of

Oddi Oddi ( Icelandic: ) is a small village and church at Rangárvellir in Rangárvallasýsla, Iceland. Oddi at Rangárvellir was a cultural and learning center in South Iceland during the Middle Ages. There has been a church at Oddi since the introdu ...

at Rangárvellir in the south part of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. Jón Loftsson was a member of the

Oddaverjar The Oddaverjar (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) were a powerful family clan in the medieval Icelandic Commonwealth. They were based in Oddi at in South Iceland. Their ascendancy was during the second half of the 12th century, but their power subs ...

family clan. His parents were Loftur Sæmundsson and Þóra Magnúsdóttir. His paternal grand-father was Sæmundur Sigfússon (''

Sæmundr fróði Sæmundr Sigfússon, better known as Sæmundr fróði (''Sæmundr the Learned''; 1056–1133), was an Icelandic priest and scholar. Biography Sæmundr is known to have studied abroad. Previously it has generally been held that he studied in Fra ...

''). His maternal grand-father was King

Magnus III of Norway Magnus Olafsson (Old Norse: ''Magnús Óláfsson'', Norwegian: ''Magnus Olavsson''; 1073 – 24 August 1103), better known as Magnus Barefoot (Old Norse: ''Magnús berfœttr'', Norwegian: ''Magnus Berrføtt''), was King of Norway (being Ma ...

. He was educated at Konghelle (''Kungahälla'') in Bohuslän (''Båhuslen'') which at that time a royal center of the

Kingdom of Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. Jón Loftsson was married to Halldóra Brandsdatter with whom he had several children. Jón Loftsson was one of the most popular chieftains and politician of his age in the country. The poem '' Nóregs konungatal'' was composed for Jón Loftsson and recounts his descent from the Norwegian royal line. At a young age, the great scholar Snorri Sturluson was fostered and educated by Jón Loftsson. In 1179, he participated and was victorious in the conflicts between bishops of the

Diocese of Skálholt The Diocese of Skálholt ( is, Skálholtsbiskupa ) is a suffragan diocese of the Church of Iceland. It was the estate of the first bishop in Iceland, Isleifr Gizurarson, who became bishop in 1056. (Christianity had been formally adopted in 100 ...

and secular rulers. Known as ''Staðarmál'', the conflict dealt principally with control over Church lands. After Jón died the family at Oddi was still the most powerful family in Iceland but their power soon began to go downhill after his death.

References

External links

Islendingabók (Book of Icelanders)
1124 births 1197 deaths Jon Loftsson Jon Loftsson Goðar {{Iceland-bio-stub