330 BC: Ultima Thule
330 BC An explorer named Pytheas sailed north from Marseilles (in modern France) to discover how far the world would reach in that direction. He navigated the British Isles and the northern seas and wrote about an island that he called Thule or Ultima Thule in his now lost work, On the Ocean. This island was six days north of Britain and one day from "the end of the world". The island he found is thought to have been Iceland.
874-930 AD: Irish Monks and the Settlement of Iceland
The first geographical document of the northern seas was written by an Irish monk named Dicuil, early in the 9th century. The geography book was called 'De mensura orbis terrae' (Concering the Measurement of the World) and in it he related his interviews with Irish priests, the 'Papas', who claimed to have sailed north to Thule and lived there from February to August each year. The Papas also confirmed Pytheas' story that after a day's journey north of the island they had come to 'frozen sea'. Dicuil was therefore the first man to document Thule as the uninhabitted island that had already been known to Irish monks in the latter part of the 8th century.
The settlement of Iceland by the Vikings started in 874 and was largely over by 930 AD. It was precipitated largely by internal struggles in Norway between the barbarian King Harald the Fairhaired and former rulers. King Harald won a major victory late in the 8th century, after which he drove his enemies to the Scottish Isles, which he then later conquered. Many of these people fled onwards to Iceland - which by then was well-known amongst the Vikings - either directly from Norway or from the Scottish Isles, in order to evade Harald's rule.
The Irish monks are believed to have left Iceland soon after the heathen Vikings arrived. It is possible, however, that they remained in Iceland, in which case they bore no influence on subsequent events in Iceland.
The main source of information about the settlement of Iceland is the Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), written in the 12th century, that gives a detailed account of the first settlers. According to the book, Ingólfur Arnarson was the first settler of Iceland. He was a chieftain from Norway, who arrived in Iceland with his family and dependants in 874. He started a farm in Reykjavik, which later became the country's capital. The years between 874 and 930 AD saw increasing numbers of Viking settlers (bringing with them Celtic women) who arrived from Scandinavia and claimed land in the inhabitable areas.
930 AD: Establishment of the Althing
The Althing, Iceland's present-day parliament, is the world's oldest existing national assembly. Founded at Thingvellir ('Parliament Plains') in 930 AD, the country's democratic system of government was completely unique in its day. In the year 930, at the end of the settlement of Iceland, a constitutional law code was written and the Althing parliament established. The judicial power of the Althing was distributed among four regional courts, together with a supreme court which convened annually at the national assembly at Thingvellir.
982 AD: Discovery of Greenland
Erik the Red (Eiríkur Rauði) discovers Greenland in approximately 982 AD. He left Iceland with 25 ships loaded with prospective settlers, of which only 14 made it to Greenland. Around 984 AD they established the Eastern and Western settlements in deep fjords near the southwestern tip, where they thrived for the next few centuries, and then disappeared completely after more than 450 years of habitation. When they were at their most numerous, the farms in the Norse colonies reached 300 in number. These had some 5000 inhabitants who, among other things, raised cattle, harvested the earth and hunted seals.
1262: Iceland comes under Norway
The first naval battle in Iceland took place in 1244 at Húnaflói, and has subsequently been called 'The Bay Battle'. This particular battle occurred near the end of a series of battles and bloody clashes, which raged more or less continuously between 1208 and 1258. By the early 13th century, the enlightened period of peace that had lasted 200 years had come to an end. The country then entered the infamous Sturlung Age, a turbulent era of political treachery and violence, dominated by Sturla Thurdason and his sons. The opportunistic Norwegian King Hákon Hákonarson promptly stepped in and Iceland became a Norwegian province.
1380: Iceland and Norway come under Denmark
The volcano Mt. Hekla erupted in 1300, 1341 and 1389, causing widespread death and destruction. Recurring epidemics also plagued the country, and the Black Death that struck Norway in 1349 effectively cut off trade and supplies.
At the end of the 14th century, Iceland was brought under Danish rule. Disputes between church and state resulted in the Reformation of 1550, and the imposing of Lutheranism as the country's religious doctrine. Throughout the next two centuries, Iceland was crippled by rampant Danish profiteering, beset by international pirates and subject to an increasing number of natural disasters. The eighteenth century marked the most tragic age in Iceland's history. In 1703, when the first complete census was taken, the population was approximately 50,000, of whom about 20% were beggars and dependants. From 1707 to 1709 the population sank to about 35,000 because of a devastating smallpox epidemic. Twice more the population declined below 40,000, both during the years 1752-57 and 1783-85, owing to a series of famines and natural disasters.
19th & 20th Centuries: Stepping-Stones Towards Independence
By the end of the 18th century the Althing had been dissolved and the old dioceses replaced by a bishop residing in Reykjavík. Due to the desperate plight of the population, the Danish trade monopoly was modified in 1783 and from then on all subjects of the Danish king were given the right to trade in Iceland. Denmark's grip on Iceland was broken in 1874 when Iceland drafted a constitution that gave it permission to handle its own domestic affairs.
In 1904 Home Rule came to Iceland with the appointment of the first Icelandic government minister. In 1918 Denmark recognised Iceland as a fully sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king. Denmark though retained responsibility for Iceland's defence and foreign affairs. In 1930 there were huge celebrations at Thingvellir in honour of a millennium since the establishment of the Althing parliament.
1944: Proclamation of the Republic of Iceland
After the Germans occupied Denmark in April 1940, Iceland took over its own foreign policy and proclaimed its neutrality. The island's vulnerability and strategic value became a matter of concern for the Allies who took the step of occupying Iceland in May 1940. Following a plebiscite, Iceland formally became an independent republic on June 17, 1944 even though Denmark was still occupied by Nazi Germany.
1950's to the Present
In 1951 Iceland agreed that the US should take responsibility for Iceland's defence and the US established a military base at Keflavik which remained there until 2006. Meanwhile in the 'Cod Wars' of the 1970's British warships clashed with Icelandic coastguards when the UK refused to recognise Iceland's expanded territorial fishing rights.
Since the mid 1990´s the economy has grown considerably following a policy of privatisation by successive right wing governments. In particular the banking sector has developed rapidly and Iceland is now one of the richest countries in the world. Areas of growth have been most obvious in aluminium smelting, information technology and tourism whilst the reliance on fishing has diminished. Thanks to a healthy economy, Icelanders are now looking forward to a brighter future for the 21st century.
http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2011/08/25/why-iceland-shold-be-in-the-news-but-is-not/
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