Editing Althing (section)

=== Foundation: c. 930–1262 ===
[[File:Law speaker.jpg|upright=1.45|left|thumb|19th-century rendering of the [[Lögberg|Law Rock]] in Þingvellir.]]

The Althing claims to be the longest-running parliament in the world.<ref name="eu-oldest"/><ref name="cnbc-oldest"/> Its establishment as an outdoor assembly or ''[[thing (assembly)|thing]]'' held on the plains of {{lang|is|[[Þingvellir]]|italic=no}} ('Thing Fields' or 'Assembly Fields') from about 930, laid the foundation for an independent national existence in Iceland. To begin with, the Althing was a general assembly of the [[Icelandic Commonwealth]], where the country's most powerful leaders ({{lang|is|[[goði|goðar]]}}) met to decide on legislation and dispense [[justice]]. All free men could attend the assemblies, which were usually the main social event of the year and drew large crowds of farmers and their families, parties involved in legal disputes, traders, craftsmen, storytellers, and travellers. Those attending the assembly lived in temporary camps ({{lang|is|búðir}}) during the session. The centre of the gathering was the {{lang|is|[[Lögberg]]|italic=no}}, or Law Rock, a rocky outcrop on which the [[Lawspeaker]] ({{lang|is|lögsögumaður}}) took his seat as the presiding official of the assembly.<ref name="ath">{{cite web |title=Alþingi |url=http://www.althingi.is/pdf/enska.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031005063806/http://www.althingi.is/pdf/enska.pdf |archive-date=2003-10-05 |url-status=live |publisher=Althing |access-date=7 April 2017 }}</ref> His responsibilities included reciting aloud the laws in effect at the time. It was his duty to proclaim the procedural law of the Althing to those attending the assembly each year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lögberg – the law rock|url=http://www.thingvellir.is/history/the-law-rock.aspx |publisher=Þjóðgarðurinn á Þingvöllum |access-date=7 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320202306/http://www.thingvellir.is/history/the-law-rock.aspx |archive-date=20 March 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The ''Gulathing Law'' was adopted in 930 at the first Althing, introduced by {{lang|is|[[Úlfljótr]]|italic=no}}, who had spent three years in Norway studying their laws. The Icelandic laws conferred a privileged status on the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians.<ref name=orfield>{{cite book |last1=Orfield |first1=Lester B. |title=The Growth of Scandinavian Law |date=1953 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=133bkwvienYC |isbn=9781584771807 }}</ref>

According to {{lang|is|[[Njáls saga]]}}, the Althing declared Christianity as the official religion in 1000.<ref name=orfield /> By the summer of 1000, the leaders of Iceland had agreed that prosecuting close relatives for blaspheming the old gods was obligatory. Iceland was in the midst of unrest from the [[Christianization of Iceland|spread of Christianity]] that was introduced by travelers and missionaries sent by the Norwegian king [[Olaf Tryggvason]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jochens |first1=Jenny |title=Women in Old Norse Society |url=https://archive.org/details/womenoldnorsesoc00joch_495 |url-access=limited |date=1998 |publisher=Cornell University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/womenoldnorsesoc00joch_495/page/n34 18]|isbn=9780801485206 }}</ref> The outbreak of warfare in Denmark and Norway prompted {{lang|is|[[Thorgeir Ljosvetningagodi]]|italic=no}}, a pagan and chieftain of the Althing, to propose "one law and one religion" to rule over the whole of Iceland, making [[baptism]] and conversion to Christianity required by law.<ref name=orfield />

==== {{lang|is|Lögrétta|italic=no}} ====
{{Main article|Court of Legislature (Iceland)}}
Public addresses on matters of importance were delivered at the Law Rock and there the assembly was called to order and [[dissolution of parliament|dissolved]]. The {{lang|is|Lögrétta|italic=no}}, the legislative section of the assembly, was its most powerful institution. It comprised the 39 district Chieftains ([[Plural|pl.]] {{lang|is|[[goðar]]}}) plus nine additional members and the Lawspeaker. As the legislative section of the Althing, the {{lang|is|Lögrétta|italic=no}} took a stand on legal conflicts, adopted new laws and granted exemptions to existing laws. The Althing of old also performed a [[judicial]] function and heard legal disputes in addition to the spring assemblies held in each district. After the country had been divided into four-quarters around 965, a court of 36 judges ({{lang|is|fjórðungsdómur}}) was established for each of them at the Althing. Another court ({{lang|is|fimmtardómur}}) was established early in the 11th century. It served as a [[supreme court]] of sorts, and assumed the function of hearing cases left unsettled by the other courts. It comprised 48 judges appointed by the {{lang|is|goðar}} of {{lang|is|Lögrétta|italic=no}}.<ref name="ath"/>