Jón Halldórsson, OP (; – 2 February 1339) was a Norwegian Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Iceland from 1322 to 1339. He previously served in the Diocese 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 ...

and was a member of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

. Halldórsson grew up in Norway and has been assumed to have been of Norwegian birth, though since his mother's name, Freygerðr, is unknown outside Iceland, he may in fact have been (half) Icelandic. He studied both theology in Paris and canon law in Bologna, and his learning is seen as remarkable in contemporary Icelandic sources; '' Laurentius saga'' has him as one of Iceland's two best Latinists at his time, as fluent in Latin as in his mother-tongue. He was elected bishop following Grímr Skútuson and consecrated on 1 August 1322 but did not arrive in Iceland until the following year. He was noted for bringing the Icelandic Church more closely into line with canon law and for his skill as a preacher and storyteller; the introduction to ''

Klári saga ''Klári saga'' is one of the chivalric sagas of medieval Norway. Ostensibly derived from a Latin poem which Jón Halldórsson, Bishop of Skálholt, found in France, it became a prototype of the maiden king medieval Icelandic bridal-quest romances ...

'' claims that it is based on a Latin romance discovered by Jón in France, and there is a strong case that Jón indeed produced the saga, while Jón's fame as a gatherer of stories is clear from ''Laurentius saga''.Biskupa sögur, ed. Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir et al., 3 vols., Íslensk fornrit 15–17 (Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1998–2000), I p. 445. He died in Norway on

Candlemas Candlemas, also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian holiday, Christian feast day commemorating the presentation of ...

1339.

References

Aeventyri.''
H. Gering, 1882, Vol. II Foreword (German; English translation available throug
''Smashwords ebook purchase''
(see free sample preview, "translator's notes" for unpublished English translation of H. Gering's life of Jón Halldórsson).

See also

References

Further reading