Gripla - 01.01.1993, Page 237

ABBOT ARNGRÍMR’S GUÐMUNDAR SAGA BISKUPS 237
Arngrímr, were at a remove from Icelandic experience. The world of
Henry II and of Thomas of Becket was closer, in that the stature, char-
acter, association, and political situation of king and archbishop could
be related to events in Iceland during the first few decades of the thir-
teenth century. In order to present this similarity in a suprahistorical,
religious dimension, Arngrímr uses a favorite device, typological com-
parison. Guðmundr was deemed the novus Thomas of Becket and
Guðmundr's chief enemies, Kolbeinn and Sighvatr, are each thought
of, the first explicitly, the second implicitly, as a novus Henricus. First,
Arngrímr likens the character of Guðmundr’s first enemy, Kolbeinn,
to that of Henry II. Then he presents a variant that features Kolbeinn
as one of Henry’s loyal justices, in effect as an embodiment of Henry’s
will as law (chs. 20, 28, pp. 215-16, 245). The purpose of the variant is
to highlight Kolbeinn’s lawsuits as a means of secular opposition to ca-
nonical law. By extension, the Henricus novus theme is carried further,
to define the character of Kolbeinn’s chieftaincy and, subsequently, to
vilify Sighvatr as Guðmundr’s hellish foe.
Kolbeinn Tumason
Kolbeinn, a kinsman of Guðmundr and the leading chieftain of the
diocese,21 was among those who had furthered Guðmundr’s candidacy
to the see of Hólar (1201).22 Soon after Guðmundr’s election and con-
firmation (1202-1203), relations began to sour, as Guðmundr zealously
sought to enforce the liberties of the church. He prosecuted violation
of canon law in cases which, according to customary law, were legal.23
On Kolbeinn and his kinsmen, see Magnús Jónsson, “Asbirningar," Skagfirzk
frœði 1 (1939), 7-184.
22
See Turville-Petre, p. xxii: Arnold Angenendt, “Religiositat und Theologie. Ein
spannungsreiches Verhaltnis im Mittelalter,“ Archiv fiir Liturgiewissenschaft, 20-21
(1978-79). 46, discusses the practice of powerful families to attract to and settle on their
estates ascetics. This was done in order to secure the gifts of grace these men of God
might confer. While this sentiment is not expressed during the election proceedings, it is
implicit in a discussion on Kolbeinn’s salvation (ch. 30, pp. 253-54).
23 See Alphonse van Hove, “Droit Justinien et droit canonique depuis le décret de
Gratien (1140) jusqu'aux Décrétales de Grégoire IX (1234),“ Miscellanea Historica in
honorem Leonis van der Essen universitatis catholicae in oppido Lovaniensi iam annos
XXXV professoris (Brussel: Éditions Universitaires, 1947), p. 258, for a citation of Grat-
ien’s canon 6, Distinction X, an early reference to the precedence of canon law over
secular law.