THE 1257 SAMALAS ERUPTION AND THE FALL OF THE ICELANDIC CHIEFTAIN SYSTEM

In the summer of 1257, the Samalas volcano on the Indonesian island of Lombok produced one of the largest explosive eruptions since the end of the last ice age. The eruption was catastrophic for people living in the vicinity, but it also caused temporary weather and climatic changes on a global scale, resulting in a cooler climate for three to four years. This article discusses the Samalas eruption and its consequences in Iceland. Evidence in the Icelandic annals and Sturlunga saga demonstrates that environmental conditions in Iceland deteriorated due to prolonged cooling in the years 1258–1259. However, the cooling reached its climax during the winter of1260–1261, when sea ice — the country’s ancient bane — surrounded the island and made sailing to and from it difficult. The sources indicate that cold and scarcity swept the country and that Icelandic farmers avoided famine by slaughtering their livestock in vast numbers, while making religious vows in the hope of better weather conditions. It is maintained that the difficult climate conditions are one of the reasons why the Icelandic parliament (Alþingi) entered into an agreement with the king of Norway in the summer of 1262, when the so called Old Covenant was signed. It is argued that the purpose of the covenant’s ship clause — which stipulated six ships were to sail between Norway and Iceland for the next two summers — was to ensure that supplies reached the residents who needed help. Acceptance of the covenant marked a turning point in Iceland’s history. The chieftain system, which had been the governance system on the island since the Age of Settlement, had come to an end, and by 1264 the inhabitants had become subjects of the king of Norway. While it has previously been suggested that the Old Covenant manuscripts were fifteenth-century fabrications, the article’s conclusion provides further support for the argument that they are rooted in the mid-thirteenth century. The subject is placed within the broader context of Icelandic–Norwegian political history during the thirteenth century in general, and volcanology and climatology in particular.