Iceland’s External Affairs from 1400 to the Reformation: Anglo-German Economic and Societal Shelter in a Danish Political Vacuum

Abstract

The paper applies the assumption that small states/entities need economic and political shelter in order to prosper, to the case of Iceland in the period from 1400 to the Reformation in the mid-16 th century. Also, it applies the findings from the first paper in this 'hexalogy' (a six-paper series) on Iceland's external relations in a historical context, i.e. that Iceland enjoyed societal shelter in the Middle Ages, to this period. The aim is both to analyse whether or not Icelanders enjoyed economic, political and societal cover from their engagements with the Danes, English and Germans and to evaluate the validity of the 'shelter theory'. The paper argues that Iceland enjoyed considerable economic and societal shelter from its encounters with English and German merchants and fishermen in a period in which Danish political cover was formally in place but was not effective in practice. Moreover, the paper claims that the shelter theory, and small-state studies in general, need to take notice of the importance of social communication with the outside world for a small entity/state. Also, the Danish political vacuum in our late Medieval Period provided the islanders with economic opportunities and social engagements with the wider world. This was at the cost of continued domestic clashes between the islanders themselves, on the one hand, and between them and 'outsiders' on the other. Our findings indicate that in the case of Iceland there might be a trade-off between the

Iceland’s External Affairs from 1550-1815: Danish societal and political cover concurrent with a highly costly economic policy

“…It shows that Iceland paid a high cost for the economic policy that the Danish crown pursued in the period, which further supports the claim made in the previous paper that there can be a trade-off between economic and political shelter for the small state (Þórhallsson and Kristinsson 2013). A stronger political presence in Iceland resulted in a more regulated economic policy that blocked much of the trade Icelanders had conducted with merchants from the Continent.…”

“…The previous two papers have examined 'the Norwegian Period', from the Settlement up to 1400 and 'the English and German Periods', from about 1400 up to the Reformation in the mid-16 th century, respectively (see Þórhallsson 2012;Þórhallsson and Kristinsson 2013). This paper will cover the first half of the Danish period, i.e.…”

Iceland’s External Affairs from the Napoleonic Era to the occupation of Denmark: Danish and British Shelter

“…It will cover part of the 'Danish period' from 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic wars, until 1940 when Danish-Icelandic relations were severed by the German occupation of Denmark. The previous three papers have examined 'the Norwegian Period' (from the Settlement to 1400), 'the English and German Periods' (from c. 1400 to the Reformation in the mid-16 th century) and the first part of the 'Danish Period' until the end of the Napoleonic era (see Þórhallsson 2012;Þórhallsson & Kristinsson 2013;Þórhallsson & Joensen 2014).…”