Hallbera Þorsteinsdóttir (died 1330;

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

: ;

Modern Icelandic Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Since it is a West Scandinavian language, it ...

: ) was the founder and

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

of the convent

Reynistaðarklaustur Reynistaðarklaustur (Modern Icelandic: ; Old Norse: ) or Reynistathir abbey was a Catholic monastery in Iceland, belonging to the Order of Saint Benedict and active from 1295 until 1562, when it was closed down during the Icelandic Reformation I ...

of the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

order on

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. Hallbera belonged to a wealthy and powerful Icelandic family. She was the daughter of Abbot Þorsteinn Halldórsson of Hestur and later Stórólfshvoll and Ingigerður Filippusdóttir of the Oddaverjar. Her sister, Guðrún Þorsteinsdóttir, was married to the chieftain Kolbeinn Bjarnason, but Hallbera's marital status prior to taking the habit is not mentioned in contemporary sources. She could have lived as a financially independent widow before turning to a religious life, as was not uncommon for aristocratic women in Iceland at the time. In 1295, Hallbera donated vast lands to the foundation of a convent for nuns of the order of Saint Benedict. This was to be one of only two convents open to females in medieval Iceland, both of which were closed during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. Hallbera is known to have served as abbess of Reynistaðarklaustur from at least 1299 (until her death), but scholars Ármann Jakobsson and Ásdís Egilsdóttir also identify her as the "Sister Katrín" who was Reynistaðarklaustur's first abbess, arguing that Katrín was Hallbera's

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should n ...

. Sister Katrín otherwise served as abbess for only one year before vanishing from all sources. If Hallbera and Sister Kristín are the same person, then she lived at Munkaþverá as a nun or

anchorite In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress); () is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, Asceticism , ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. Anchorit ...

prior to the founding of Reynistaðarklaustur and was an educated and literate woman for whom the religious name Katrín (

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

) would have been highly appropriate. Hallbera had a close professional relationship to the Bishops of Holar, Auðunn rauði Þorbergsson and

Lárentíus Kálfsson Lárentíus Kálfsson (medieval Icelandic Laurentius Kálfsson; 10 August 1267 – 16 April 1331) was bishop of the northern Icelandic diocese of Hólar 1324–31. Laurentius studied first with Þórarinn kaggi, his maternal uncle, in Vellir in ...

, who respected her opinion. The latter dedicated several poems to her.

References

Sources

*„„Reynistaðarklaustur“. Tímarit Hins íslenska bókmenntafélags, 8. árg. 1887.“, *„„Reynistaðarklaustur“. Sunnudagsblað Tímans, 6. ágúst 1967.“, *Sigríður Gunnarsdóttir: Nunnuklaustrið að Reynistað. Smárit Byggðasafns Skagfirðinga. * Ármann Jakobsson and Ásdís Egilsdóttir, “Abbadísin sem hvarf,” in ''Þúsund og eitt orð sagt Sigurgeiri Steingrímssyni fimmtugum 2. október 1993'' (Reykjavík: Menningar- og minningarsjóður Mette Magnussen, 1993), 7–9. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallbera Thorsteinsdottir 13th-century Icelandic people 14th-century Icelandic people 1330 deaths Year of birth unknown Benedictine abbesses 14th-century Icelandic women 13th-century Icelandic women