Garðar was the seat of the bishop in the Norse settlements in Greenland. It is a Latin Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

, and was the first Catholic diocese established in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

Diocese

The

saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to th ...

s tell that Sokki Þórisson, a wealthy farmer of the Brattahlíð area, launched the idea of a separate

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

for Greenland in the early 12th century and got the approval of the Norwegian King Sigurd I Magnusson 'the Crusader' (1103–1130). Most of the clergy came from Norway.

Bishops

* The first bishop of Garðar, Arnaldur, was ordained by the Archbishop of Lund in 1124. He arrived in Greenland in 1126. He began the construction of the cathedral dedicated to St Nicholas,

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of sailors. * The diocese was first assigned to the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

of the German Metropolitan

Archbishopric of Bremen The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (german: Fürsterzbistum Bremen) — not to be confused with the modern Archdiocese of Hamburg, founded in 1994 — was an ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic ...

. The diocese was subject to the Archdiocese of Lund (present-day Sweden) from 1126 to 1152. Arnaldur returned to Norway in 1150 and became bishop of

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lak ...

(Norway) in 1152. * In 1152, this diocese, as well as those 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 ...

, the

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, the Orkney Islands and the

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, became

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

s to the newly established Norwegian Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Nidaros The Archdiocese of Nidaros (or Niðaróss) was the metropolitan see covering Norway in the later Middle Ages. The see was the Nidaros Cathedral, in the city of Nidaros (now Trondheim). The archdiocese existed from the middle of the twelfth cen ...

(now

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

). The second bishop was Jón Knútr, who served from 1153 to 1186. * The third bishop was Jón Árnason (nicknamed Smyril). He took office in 1189. In 1202–1203 he went on a pilgrimage to Rome and met

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...

. He died in Garðar in 1209 and was buried there, most likely in the Northern Chapel of the cathedral. * The next bishop, Helgi, arrived in Greenland in 1212 and was bishop until his death in 1230. * In 1234, Nikulás was ordained. He arrived in Greenland in 1239. He died in 1242. * Ólafr was ordained in the same year, arriving in 1247. He remained bishop until the mid-1280s. He was abroad from 1264 to 1280, thus hardly serving in his own diocese. * The next bishop was Þórdr, who stayed in Garðar from 1289 until his return to Norway in 1309. * The next bishop was Árni, from 1315 to 1347. Due to poor communication between Greenland and Norway, it was assumed that he had died and a new bishop (Jón Skalli) was ordained in 1343. When it was discovered that bishop Árni was still alive, Skalli resigned and never went to Greenland. Jon Skalli never visited Garðar. * After Árni's death in 1347 there was a 19-year vacancy period. Norwegian cleric Ivar Bardsson served as principal during the interim period. *Bishop Álfr was ordained in 1365 and served as the last effectively residential bishop of Garðar until 1378. * The Greenland diocese disappeared in the 15th century, when ships from Norway stopped. *News of the diocese has been reported in two letters by popes Nicholas V and

Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Chur ...

, first compiled by papal chamberlain J. C. Heywood in 1893 in Rome and republished in 1903.

List of residential bishops

Ghost see

Although the diocese had ceased to function, 'full' bishops were nominated to the see until 1537, apparently none of whom ever visited the diocese: * Henricus (mentioned in 1386) * Bertholdus (circa 1407) * Jacobus Treppe, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (27 March 1411 – death 1421) * Nicolaus * Robertus Ryngman, O.F.M. (30 May 1425 – ?) * Gobelinus Volant, Canons Regular of Saint Augustine (C.R.S.A.) (circa 1 October 1431 – 19 March 1432), next bishop of Diocese of Børglum (Denmark) (1432.03.19 – ? not possessed) * Johannes Erles de Moys, O.F.M. (12 July 1432 – ?) * Bartholomeus de Sancto Hyppolito, O.P. (1433 – death 1440) * Gregorius (1440 – 1450) * Andreas * Jacobus Blaa,

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

(O.P.) (16 June 1481 – ? deposed) * Mathias Canuto (Matthias Knutsson), a Danish monk of the

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(O.S.B.) (9 July 1492 – ?). He had desired to reach Gardar in person, but there is no indication he ever did. * Vincenz Kampe, O.F.M. (20 June 1519 – 1537).

Titular see

In 1996, the diocese was nominally restored as Latin titular bishopric of Gardar (Curiate Italian) / Garðar (Norsk bokmål Norwegian) / Garden(sis) (Latin adjective). Its single incumbent of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank was Edward William Clark, Auxiliary bishop of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

(16 January 2001 – present).

Remains

Presently the settlement of Igaliku is situated on the same location. The site has been the subject of archaeological investigations since the 1830s. The cathedral was the primary target of much of the archaeological work and was fully excavated in 1926 by Danish archaeologist (1888–1951). Nørlund made several scientific studies in Greenland starting in 1921 and ending in 1932. Many Norse settlement ruins remain visible in Igaliku. The ruins mostly consist of the stone foundations of the walls in their original positions so that the extent of the settlement, both individual buildings and collectively, can be determined and understood. The main ruin is of the Garðar Cathedral, a cross-shaped church built of sandstone in the 12th century. The maximum length is 27 m, the width 16 m. Two large barns are on the site, able to have held up to 160 cows.

References

Sources and external links

Grønland i middelalderen fra landnam til undergang

* ''Grønlands Forhistorie'' (Gyldendal København, 2005) * Diamond, Jared M. ''Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'', pg.232; Viking Press, 2005 *