Magnús góði Guðmundarson (or Guðmundsson; 1172 – 20 September 1240) was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

chieftain A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...

(

gothi Gothi or (plural , fem. ; Old Norse: ) was a position of political and social prominence in the Icelandic Commonwealth. The term originally had a religious significance, referring to a pagan leader responsible for a religious structure and com ...

) of

Þingvellir Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter thorn (letter), "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Althing, Alþing, the annual ...

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 ...

. He was the ''

allsherjargoði Allsherjargoði (, ''All-People Chieftain''; plural ''-goðar'' ) was an office in the Icelandic Commonwealth, held by the goði who held the ''goðorð'' of the descendants of Ingólfr Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland. The role of the ''all ...

'' of the

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

(assembly of free men) from 1197 to 1234. He inherited the office from his father Guðmundr gríss Ámundason, who was the descendant of Ingólfur Arnarson, one of the first

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

settlers on the island. Magnús was the next-to-last allsherjargoði before the dissolution of the

Icelandic Commonwealth The Icelandic Commonwealth, also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing () in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. W ...

in 1262. He had no offspring, and contemporary sources only offer conjectures about his successor, possibly Árni óreiða Magnússon, nephew of Guðmundr gríss Ámundason and son-in-law of the

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

. In fact, the

saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

s narrate that Sturluson caused Magnús's fall: during his first term as

lawspeaker A lawspeaker or lawman ( Swedish: ''lagman'', Old Swedish: ''laghmaþer'' or ''laghman'', Danish: ''lovsigemand'', Norwegian: ''lagmann'', Icelandic: , Faroese: '' løgmaður'', Finnish: ''laamanni'', ) is a unique Scandinavian legal offic ...

, Sturluson convinced the

to outlaw (''skógarmaðr'') Magnús. Despite his title, Magnús was not one of Iceland's more powerful citizens. According to '' konungsannáll'', Magnús obtained the support of the clans

Haukdælir The Haukdælir (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) were one of the family clans who controlled medieval Iceland during the period of the Icelandic Commonwealth. Their name is derived from Haukadalur (literally, ''Valley of the Hawks''). The Haukd� ...

Oddaverjar The Oddaverjar (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) were a powerful family clan in the medieval Icelandic Commonwealth. They were based in Oddi at in South Iceland. Their ascendancy was during the second half of the 12th century, but their power subs ...

and

Svínfellingar The Svínfellings (or Svínfellingar) were a family clan in the medieval Icelandic Commonwealth. They ruled the Eastern Region of Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Ar ...

to become

bishop 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 ...

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 ...

in 1236, but he did not obtain the

Apostolic Blessing The apostolic blessing or papal blessing is a blessing imparted by the pope, either directly or by delegation through others. Bishops are empowered to grant it three times a year and any priest can do so for the dying. The apostolic blessing is n ...

since he did not fulfil the requirements for the position; his candidacy was approved neither by the Norwegian

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

nor

the Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the 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 pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

References

Literature

* Björn Þorsteinsson: '' Íslensk miðaldasaga '', 2. útg., Sögufélagið, Rvk. 1980 * Byock, Jesse L .:
Medieval Iceland: Society, Sagas, and Power
', University of California Press, US, 1990 * Gunnar Karlsson: "Frá þjóðveldi til konungsríkis", "Saga Íslands II", ed. Sigurður Líndal, Hið íslenzka bókmenntafélag, Sögufélagið, Reykjavík 1975 * "Goðar og bændur", s. 5-57, '' Saga X '', Sögufélagið, Reykjavík, 1972
Vísindavefurinn: Hvað var Sturlungaöld?

External links

''Islendingabók''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gudmundarson, Magnus godi 1172 births 1240 deaths Magnús gódi Guðmundarson Magnús gódi Guðmundarson Magnús gódi Guðmundarson