The Diocese of Hólar is a suffragan diocese of 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 ...

. The Bishop of Hólar is one of two suffragan bishops to the

Bishop of Iceland The following is a list of Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, Evangelical Lutheran bishops of Iceland. The first bishop of Iceland was Geir Vídalín who took office in 1801. As of 2024, 15 people have held the office of Bishop of Iceland. Li ...

. The Diocese of Hólar existed between 1106 and 1801 when it was amalgamated into the Diocese of Iceland under the leadership of the

. In 1909, the diocese was revived as a titular see of the

. The following people were bishops of

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the valley Hjaltadalur, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is t ...

, Iceland:

Roman Catholic

Former bishopric

*1106–1121: St.

Jón Ögmundsson Jón Ögmundsson or Ögmundarson (; 1052–23 April 1121), also known as John of Hólar and St. Jón Ögmundarson or Ögmundsson (), was an Icelandic Catholic bishop. In 1106, the second Icelandic diocese, Hólar, was created in the north of Ice ...

*1122–1145: Ketill Þorsteinsson *1147–1162: Björn Gilsson *1163–1201: Brandur Sæmundsson *1203–1237: Guðmundur góði Arason *1238–1247: Bótólfur *1247–1260: Heinrekur Kársson *1263–1264: Brandur Jónsson *1267–1313: Jörundur Þorsteinsson *1313–1322: Auðunn rauði Þorbergsson *1324–1331:

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 ...

*1332–1341: Egill Eyjólfsson *1342–1356:

Ormr Ásláksson Ormr Ásláksson was Bishop of Hólar, Iceland's northern diocese, from 1343-56. Biography Ormr was a Norwegian, who prior to his election had been a canon of the cathedral of Stavanger from at least 1319, in which role he oversaw the collection o ...

*1358–1390: Jón skalli Eiríksson *1391–1411: Pétur Nikulásson *1411–1423: Jón Henriksson *1425–1435: Jón Vilhjálmsson *1435–1440: Jón Bloxwich *1441–1441: Róbert Wodbor *1442–1457: Gottskálk Keneksson *1458–1495: Ólafur Rögnvaldsson *1496–1520: Gottskálk grimmi Nikulásson *1524–1550:

Jón Arason Jón Arason (1484 – November 7, 1550) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic bishop and poet, who was executed in his struggle against the Reformation in Iceland. Background Jón Arason was born in Gryta, educated at Munkaþverá, the Benedictine ...

Lutheran

*1552–1569: Ólafur Hjaltason *1571–1627:

Guðbrandur Þorláksson Guðbrandur Þorláksson ( – 20 July 1627) was bishop of Hólar from 8 April 1571 until his death. He was the longest-serving bishop in Iceland and is known for printing the ''Guðbrandsbiblía'', first complete Icelandic translation of the ...

*1628–1656:

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 ...

*1657–1684: Gísli Þorláksson *1684–1690: Jón Vigfússon *1692–1696: Einar Þorsteinsson *1697–1710:

Björn Þorleifsson Bjorn, Bjorne (English, Dutch), Björn (Swedish, Icelandic, Dutch, and German), Bjørn (Danish, Faroese and Norwegian), Beorn (Old English) or, rarely, Bjôrn, Biorn, or Latinized Biornus, Brum (Portuguese), is a Scandinavian male given name, or ...

*1711–1739: Steinn Jónsson *1741–1745: Ludvig Harboe *1746–1752: Halldór Brynjólfsson *1755–1779: Gísli Magnússon *1780–1781: Jón Teitsson *1784–1787: Árni Þórarinsson *1789–1798: Sigurður Stefánsson The Diocese was amalgamated in 1801 and now forms part of the Diocese of Reykjavik.

Suffragan bishopric

The see was discontinued from 1801 to 1909. It was revived in 1909 as a suffragan bishopric to the Bishop of Iceland, with the bishop's cathedra in the traditional Hólar cathedral church. In 1990, fresh legislation increased the authority and responsibilities of the Bishop of Hólar as an assistant bishop in the Reykjavik diocese. *1909–1927: Geir Sæmundsson *1928–1937: Hálfdán Guðjónsson *1937–1959: Friðrik J. Rafnar *1959–1969: Sigurður Stefánsson *1969–1981:

Pétur Sigurgeirsson Pétur Sigurgeirsson (2 June 1919 – 4 June 2010) was the Bishop of Iceland from 1981 until 1989. Biography Pétur was the son of Sigurgeir Sigurdsson who later became Bishop of Iceland and Gudrún Pétursdóttir. He had 3 other siblings and ...

*1982–1991: Sigurður Guðmundsson *1991–2002: Bolli Gústavsson *2003–2012: Jón Aðalsteinn Baldvinsson *2012–2022: Solveig Lára Guðmundsdóttir *2022–present: Gísli Gunnarsson

References

Sources

* Sigurdson, Erika Ruth, 'The Church in Fourteenth-Century Iceland: Ecclesiastical Administration, Literacy, and the Formation of an Elite Clerical Identity' (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Leeds, 2011), p. 242, http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/2610

(pre-Reformation bishops). * Gunnar Kristjánsson et al., eds, Saga biskupsstólanna: Skálholt 950 ára 2006, Hólar 900 ára (Akureyri: Hólar, 2006), pp. 854–55.

External links

GigaCatholic with incumbent lists and linked biographies
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Holar bishops History of Christianity in Iceland Holar Holar Holar