’Marteinn Einarsson (died 7 October 1576) was bishop of Skálholt from 1548 to 1556. He was the second

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

bishop and was directly involved in 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 ...

Early life

Marteinn was born in Staðarstaður on the

Snæfellsnes The Snæfellsnes () is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland. The peninsula has a volcanic origin having the Snæfellsnes volcanic belt down its centre, and the Snæfellsjökull volcano A volcano is com ...

peninsula to the poet Einar Ölduhryggjarskáld and Ingiríður Jónsdóttir. Marteinn's family had a tradition of serving as priests. His father, Einar, was a priest in Staðarstaður from about 1500 until his death in 1538, and Ingiríður's brother, , had served as bishop of Skálholt from 1491 to 1518. Marteinn's siblings included the sýslumenn and Brandur Einarsson, known as Gleraugna-Pétur and Moldar-Brandur respectively, as well as a sister, Guðrún, the wife of the magistrate

Daði Guðmundsson Daði Guðmundsson ( – 1563) or Daði of Snóksdal was a farmer and magistrate in 16th century Iceland. He lived in the town of Snóksdalur in Dalasýsla, Dalasýsla county and played an important role in the Battle of Sauðafell and the Icelan ...

. Marteinn spent nine years studying in England, where another of his sisters lived after marrying an Englishman, before returning to Iceland to work as a merchant in Grindavík.

Bishop

In 1533, Marteinn became a priest, serving in Staðarstaður after his father's death. He was an early supporter of 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 ...

, and in 1548, Marteinn was elected bishop of Skálholt after the death of Gissur Einarsson, the first Lutheran bishop in Iceland. Despite an effort by the Catholic bishop

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 ...

, the primary opponent of the spread of Protestantism in Iceland, to have named bishop instead, Marteinn was consecrated in Denmark as bishop of Skálholt on 7 April 1549. Upon his return to Iceland that summer, Marteinn was arrested by Jón's sons, Ara and Björn Jónsson, who detained him at Ara's farm at Möðrufell. Marteinn remained detained until after the

Battle of Sauðafell The Battle of Sauðafell (''Orrustan á Sauðafelli'') occurred in 1550, when the forces of Catholic Bishop Jón Arason clashed with the forces of Daði Guðmundsson of Snóksdalur. Location Sauðafell was an important part of Daði's fief in ...

in 1550, where Daði Guðmundsson defeated Jón Arason, ending organized Catholic resistance to the Reformation, at which time he formally took control of the bishopric 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 ...

. In 1555, Marteinn published the first Icelandic hymnal, ''Lítið Psálmakver''. Marteinn served as bishop until 1557, when he resigned in protest of claims by the king decision to appropriate church tithes. He returned to Staðarstaður where he served as a priest until his retirement in 1569.

Personal life

Marteinn was married to Ingibjörg, whose father's name is unknown. They had four sons and two daughters. Marteinn lived out his retirement in where he published a collection of psalms and was considered a good painter, although none of his paintings are known to survive. He died in 1576.

Fiction

Marteinn appears in Ólafur Gunnarsson's 2003 historical novel ''Öxin og jörðin'' (translated into English as ''The Ax and the Earth''), which is set amid Jón Arason's struggle against the Icelandic Reformation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marteinn Einarsson 1576 deaths 16th-century Icelandic Lutheran bishops