siðaskiptum

Siðaskiptin, or siðaskiptum (the Reformation), refers to the 16th-century shift in Iceland from Roman Catholicism to Lutheran Protestantism. It was part of the broader European Protestant Reformation, which began with Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in 1517 and spread across northern Europe during the mid-16th century.

In Iceland, political authority rested with the Danish crown within the Denmark-Norway realm. The Reformation was driven largely from above, and the last Catholic bishop of Iceland, Jón Arason, and his two sons were defeated in 1550, after which the church was reorganized under Lutheran doctrine and state control.

Key consequences included the confiscation of church lands, the establishment of Lutheran liturgy, and the translation of the Bible into Icelandic. An early New Testament translation by Oddur Gottskálksson appeared in the 1540s, and the complete Icelandic Bible was published by Guðbrandur Þorláksson in 1584. The reform also fostered greater literacy and education as religious texts were produced in the vernacular.

Today, siðaskiptin is regarded as a turning point in Icelandic religious and cultural history, shaping the structure of the Church of Iceland, language, and literature. The Reformation cemented Lutheranism as the state church in Iceland and influenced its relationship with Denmark and its secular institutions for centuries.