Kirkjubæjar Abbey (Icelandic: ''Kirkjubæjarklaustur''), in operation from 1186 until the

Icelandic Reformation The Icelandic Reformation () took place in the middle of the 16th century. Iceland was at this time a territory ruled by Denmark-Norway, and Lutheran religious reform was imposed on the Icelanders by King Christian III of Denmark. Resistance t ...

, was a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

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 ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

s of the Order of St. Benedict. It was located at

Kirkjubæjarklaustur Kirkjubæjarklaustur ( Icelandic for "church farm cloister", pronounced ; often referred to locally as just Klaustur) is a village in the south of Iceland on the hringvegur (road no. 1 or Ring Road) between Vík í Mýrdal and Höfn. It is pa ...

. Iceland had nine religious communities before 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 ...

, two of which were monasteries of nuns, of which this is the first and oldest. In contrast to the other women's monastery in Iceland,

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 ...

(1295–1563), which was placed under the authority of the

Bishop of Hólar A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, at Kirkjubæjar Abbey the

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 ...

was left in full authority over the community, free of

episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

oversight.

History

The Abbey was founded in 1186. The first abbess was

Halldóra Eyjólfsdóttir Halldóra Eyjólfsdóttir (died 1210; Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) became the first abbess of Kirkjubæjar Abbey Kirkjubæjar Abbey (Icelandic: ''Kirkjubæjarklaustur''), in operation from 1186 until the Icelandic Reformation, was a monastery ...

, who died in 1210. The abbey was regarded as a center of culture and literature. In the mid-14th-century, the abbey was given a name of being in opposition to the Pope. A nun named Karin or Kristin held what was heretic sermons in the convent. She was put on trial on charges of having sold her soul to the Devil, of carrying the

Blessed Sacrament The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

outside the church, having carnal knowledge with men and speaking blasphemously of the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. She was sentenced guilty as charged of heresy and fornication and executed by burning.Ólína Þorvarðardóttir. „Hvað voru margar nornabrennur á Íslandi, hvenær hættu þær og hverjar voru brenndar?“ Vísindavefurinn, 24. apríl 2006, sótt 7. október 2024, https://visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=5836. This event reportedly occurred in 1343. This event became the subject of legend and the nun in question was split in two: one executed for fornication, and the other one for heresy. After the Icelandic Reformation, the latter nun was vindicated, and flowers are said to bloom on her grave, but not that of the first nun. The ''Systrastapi'' (Sister's rock) is where one of the nuns of the Abbey was buried after being burned at the stake. In 1402, most of the abbey's servants and many nuns died of the plague, and the nuns themselves were, for a period, forced to tend to the cattle. This they are said to have done badly, as the majority of them were from wealthy families and unused to manual labor.

Dissolution

During the

, Kirkjubæjar Abbey was declared dissolved and the property of the king and banned from accepting new novices, but the former nuns were allowed to remain in the building if they wished. At the time of the reformation, the reformation bishop

Gissur Einarsson Gissur Einarsson (c. 1512 – 24 March 1548; Modern Icelandic: ) was a bishop in Skálholt from 1540 to his death, and the first Lutheran bishop in Iceland. Gissur was the son of Einar Sigvaldason on Hraun í Landbroti and of Gunnhildur Jónsdó ...

had two relatives in the convent, as his sister was a nun there and his aunt its abbess. The former nuns are last mentioned in 1544, when six of them, Guðríður, Oddný (sister of the reformation bishop Gissur Einarsson) Arnleif, Ástríður, Margrét and Valgerður were still in residence in the abbey buildings with their abbess

Halldóra Sigvaldadóttir Halldóra Sigvaldadóttir (died after 1544) was the last abbess of the Kirkjubæjar Abbey on Iceland. Halldóra Sigvaldadóttir was the daughter of Sigvalda Gunnarssonar langalífs, who had a secular position within the church. She is described as ...

Legacy

The place names of ''

Systrafoss Systrafoss (, "sisters' waterfall") is a waterfall in Iceland, found at Kirkjubæjarklaustur in Skaftárhreppur in the Suðurland region. Geography The waterfall is part of the river Fossá, which runs south from its source Systravatn. To the ...

'' ('Waterfall of the Sisters') and of Lake '' Systravatn'' ('Water of the Sisters') in the mountains above the village refer to this abbey. Folk tales illustrate history with stories about both good and bad nuns. Systravatn also has a legend related to the cloister. The nuns traditionally bathed in the lake, and one day two nuns saw a hand with a gold ring extending from the water. When they tried to seize the ring, they were dragged below the water and drowned.

References

* Anna Sigurðardóttir: Allt hafði annan róm áður í páfadóm. Nunnuklaustrin tvö á Íslandi og brot úr kristnisögu. Kvennasögusafn Íslands, Rvík 1988, 412 bls. Úr veröld kvenna 3. * „Kirkjubæjarklaustur. Tímarit hins íslenzka bókmenntafélags, 8. árgangur 1887.“, {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkjubaejar Abbey Benedictine nunneries in Iceland Christian monasteries established in the 1180s 1186 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in Iceland Monasteries dissolved under the Icelandic Reformation

History

Dissolution

Legacy

See also

References