Kravchenko, I: The Role of Bishops in Icelandic Society (105

The Church played an important role the history of Icelandic Commonwealth (930 1264). Although prestigious, the Church wielded little power of its own; although wealthy, its influence was borrowed from positions in the political realm. Yet, the heads of the Icelandic Church remain under-appreciated and rarely studied. Most of scholarly works had been dealing with detached issues of political life or sainthood of some bishops. However, this study attempts to establish the characteristic features of different activities of high ecclesiastic from the middle of the 11th to the beginning of the 13th century. Analysis of the bishops role in conflicts, lawmaking, and education seeks to examine transformation of holy orders from the foundation of the office in Iceland to the beginning of the civil wars period. In addition, this book intends to cast new light on the mechanism of the bishops influence and the background to their politics.