Þórður Þorláksson (14 August 163717 March 1697), also known by the Latinized name Theodorus Thorlacius, was the Lutheran bishop of

Skálholt Skálholt (Modern Icelandic: ; ) is a historical site in the south of Iceland, at the river Hvítá, Árnessýsla, Hvítá. History Skálholt was, through eight centuries, one of the most important places in Iceland. A bishopric was established ...

from 1674 until his death. Under Þórður's direction, the

Church of Iceland The Church of Iceland (), officially the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland (), is the State religion, national church of Iceland. The church is Christian and professes the Lutheranism, Lutheran faith. It is a member of the Lutheran World ...

's printing press was moved from Hólar í Hjaltadal to Skálholt where he established the first print archive in the country.

Family and early life

Þórður was the son of

Þorlákur Skúlason Þorlákur Skúlason (24 August 1597 – 4 January 1656) was bishop of Hólar from 1628 until his death in 1656. During his tenure, he oversaw publication of the second Icelandic translation of the full Bible. Early life Þorlákur was bo ...

, bishop of Hólar, and Kristín Gísladóttir. He studied at the Hólaskóli college before travelling to Denmark to attend the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

. Þórður returned to Iceland in 1660 to serve as headmaster of Hólaskóli but went abroad again in 1663 to study in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

and the

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

. He also travelled to Paris, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as well as visiting

Stangaland Stangaland is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was part of the Districts of Norway , traditional district of Haugaland. The municipality of Stangaland existed from 1909 until 1965 when ...

, Norway, where he worked with the historian Þormóður Torfason. During this time, Þórður wrote a history of Iceland, ''Dissertatio Chorographico-Historica de Islandia'', which was published in 1666.

Bishop

Þórður was ordained as a Lutheran minister in Copenhagen on 25 February 1672. The following year, he returned to Hólar and took office as Bishop of Skálholt upon the resignation of

Brynjólfur Sveinsson Brynjólfur Sveinsson (14 September 1605 – 5 August 1675) served as the Lutheran Bishop of the see of Skálholt in Iceland. His main influence has been on modern knowledge of Old Norse literature. Brynjólfur is also known for his support ...

in 1674. In 1685, Þórður received approval from

King Christian V Christian V (15 April 1646 – 25 August 1699) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the de ...

to move the church's printing press from Hólar to Skálholt, where a lively printing business for both ecclesiastical and secular works began, including the first printed edition of the medieval ''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ov ...

'' in 1688. Other works published under Þórður's direction include

Ari Þorgilsson Ari Þorgilsson (1067/1068 – 9 November 1148; Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; also anglicized Ari Thorgilsson) was Iceland's most prominent medieval chronicler. He was the author of '' Íslendingabók'', which details the histories of the ...

's ''

Íslendingabók (, , ; ) is a historical work dealing with early history of Iceland, Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Þorgilsson, working in the early 12th century. The work originally existed in two different versions but only the y ...

'', the ''

Kristni saga ''Kristni saga'' (; ; "the book of Christianity") is an Old Norse account of the Christianization of Iceland in the 10th century and of some later church history. It was probably written in the early or mid-13th century, as it is dependent on the L ...

'', and a two-volume edition of The Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason. This last work included a number of the

Icelandic sagas The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early elev ...

as part of the second volume. In all, more than 60 books were printed at Skálholt during Þórður's lifetime. Þórður also produced maps of Iceland and Greenland, as well as a copy of Sigurður Stefánsson's map of ancient Norse sites in the western Atlantic. In addition to geography, Þórður was interested in agriculture and he oversaw experiments with different varieties of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

in Skálholt.

Personal life

In 1674, Þórður married Guðríður Gísladóttir (1651–1707), daughter of Vísa-Gísla Magnússon, governor of

Hlíðarendi Hlíðarendi () is a famous place in Icelandic historical literature. Hlíðarendi in Old Icelandic (Old Norse) mean'Slope's End' Gunnar Hámundarson the Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmar ...

. Their sons were Þorlákur, a school headmaster in Skálholt, and Brynjólfur, a farmer and district magistrate in

Rangárvallasýsla Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police ( ...

References

{{authority control 1637 births 1697 deaths Lutheran bishops of Iceland 17th-century Icelandic Lutheran bishops