Saga - 2022, Page 83

Abstract
helgi þorláksson
GUÐMUNDUR THE GOOD, A BAD BISHOP? ON BISHOP GUÐMUNDUR
GÓðI ARASON AND HIS HARSH RECEPTION

Bishop Guðmundur góði Arason has often been subjected to harsh criticism from
historians and others who have written about him. Those writing in a nationalist
spirit have argued that Bishop Guðmundur yielded to the authority of foreign
powers—the pope and the Archbishop in Norway—igniting a conflict that led to
the end of the Icelandic Commonwealth. More recently, historians have generally
made weighty arguments against such a narrative. However, some scholars,
including historians, suggest that Guðmundur was dealt the wrong hand and that
his selection for the position of bishop was a mistake. His control over the funds
of the episcopal see in Hólar was lacking or, given how much money he spent,
even ludicrous; in addition, he has been said time and again to have been unrea-
sonable and unrelenting. This article dissects and reconsiders such accounts and
explores whether they reflect historical views shaped by nationalism.
While various authors have refuted the assertion that Guðmundur’s demand for
judicial power over his clergy caused dissension and undermined the Com mon -
wealth, others maintain this was the case. This debate is examined here. The concept
of episcopal polity is also addressed, exploring how some scholars’ shifting position
on it has changed the general understanding of Guðmundur’s struggle. Today, this
struggle is viewed in an international context, and it is pointed out here that Guð -
mundur’s hard stance in favour of episcopal polity must have been in accordance
with the wishes of the Archbishop at first and has many foreign parallels.
Two aspects are highlighted here, namely, Guðmundur’s management of the
funds at Hólar and his supposed intransigence. It is refuted that Bishop Guð -
mundur fed the poor from Hólar’s provisions without precaution or restraint, as
there has never been any evidence supporting such claims. He would have cer-
tainly gone further than usual in caring for and feeding the poor, but he did so in
moderation. However, it is argued that local chieftains’ interventions in Guð -
mundur’s financial management reveals their ambitions for money and power.
Finally, it is demonstrated that the debate among scholars about Guð mund -
ur’s character, with harsh judgment of his supposed temperament—or his tem-
peramental deficiencies—is mainly an inheritance from Iceland’s independence
movement, when his irrationality was believed to have undermined the Com -
monwealth and led to the nation’s loss of independence. As such, he was found
to have great faults. The article concludes that such views should be approached
with caution, as Guðmundur is likely to have been misrepresented.
Lykilhugtök: Guðmundur Arason; kirkjuvaldsstefna; fjárstjórn biskupsstóla; sögu -
skoðun sjálfstæðisbaráttunnar
Keywords: Guðmundur Arason; episcopal polity; financial management of episco-
pal sees; historical perspectives of the Icelandic independence movement
guðmundur góði, vondur biskup? 81