Editing Iceland (section)

===Iceland as a possession===
====The Middle Ages====
{{see also|Age of the Sturlungs}}
The [[Icelandic Commonwealth]], established in the 10th century, faced internal strife during the [[Age of the Sturlungs]] (c. 1220–1264). This period was marked by violent conflicts among chieftains, notably the Sturlung family, leading to the weakening of the Commonwealth's political structure.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dannyreviews.com/h/Iceland.html |title=The History of Iceland (Gunnar Karlsson)&nbsp;– book review |publisher=Dannyreviews.com |access-date=10 February 2010 |archive-date=28 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728002528/http://dannyreviews.com/h/Iceland.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The culmination of these struggles resulted in the signing of the Old Covenant ([[Old Covenant (Iceland)|Gamli sáttmáli]]) in 1262–1264, bringing [[History of Iceland|Iceland under Norwegian rule]].<ref>Coroban, Costel (2018). ''Ideology and Power in Norway and Iceland, 1150-1250''. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 2. {{ISBN|9781527506268}}</ref>

Environmental challenges further impacted [[History of Iceland|medieval Icelandic society]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Medievalists.net |date=2019-02-06 |title=What was farming like in medieval Iceland? |url=https://www.medievalists.net/2019/02/farming-medieval-iceland/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Medievalists.net |language=en-US}}</ref> Upon settlement, approximately 25-40% of Iceland was forested. However, extensive deforestation occurred as forests were cleared for timber, firewood, and to create grazing land for livestock. This led to significant soil erosion and a decline in arable land, exacerbating the difficulties of sustaining agriculture in Iceland's harsh climate.<ref>{{Cite web |last=developer |first=M. Özgür NevresI am a software |last2=University |first2=a science enthusiast I. was graduated from the Istanbul Technical |last3=past |first3=Computer Engineering In the |last4=Earth |first4=I. worked at the Istanbul Technical University Science Center as a science instructor I. write about the planet |last5=Website |first5=Science on This |last6=cats |first6=ourplnt com I. am also an animal lover! I. take care of stray |last7=Patreon |first7=dogs This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends Please consider supporting me on |last8=animals! |first8=so I. can help more |date=2018-04-03 |title=Iceland is growing new forests for the first time in 1,000 years - Our Planet |url=https://ourplnt.com/iceland-forests-1000-years/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=ourplnt.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

Agriculture during this period was predominantly pastoral, focusing on livestock such as sheep, cattle, and horses. While early settlers cultivated barley, the cooling climate from the 12th century onwards made grain cultivation increasingly difficult. The [[Little Ice Age]], beginning around 1300, brought colder and more unpredictable weather, further shortening growing seasons and making farming more challenging.<ref>Miller, Gifford H.; Geirsdóttir, Áslaug; Zhong, Yafang; Larsen, Darren J.; [[Bette Otto-Bliesner|Otto-Bliesner, Bette L.]]; [[Marika Holland|Holland, Marika M.]]; Bailey, David A.; Refsnider, Kurt A.; Lehman, Scott J.; Southon, John R.; Anderson, Chance; Björnsson, Helgi; Thordarson, Thorvaldur (30 January 2012). "Abrupt onset of the Little Ice Age triggered by volcanism and sustained by sea-ice/ocean feedbacks". ''[[Geophysical Research Letters]]''. '''39''' (2): n/a. [[Bibcode (identifier)|Bibcode]]:2012GeoRL..39.2708M. [[CiteSeerX (identifier)|CiteSeerX]] 10.1.1.639.9076. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:10.1029/2011GL050168. [[S2CID (identifier)|S2CID]] 15313398</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-13 |title=Farmsteads and Agriculture |url=https://fjorntheskald.com/2018/06/13/farmsteads-and-agriculture/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Fjorn the Skald |language=en}}</ref>

The Black Death reached Iceland in 1402–1404 and again in 1494–1495, with devastating effects.<ref>Pulsiano, Phillip and Wolf, Kirsten (1993) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=d-XiZO8V4qUC&pg=PA312 Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610032723/https://books.google.com/books?id=d-XiZO8V4qUC&pg=PA312#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=10 June 2024 }}''. [[Taylor & Francis]]. p. 312. {{ISBN|0-8240-4787-7}}</ref> he first outbreak is estimated to have killed 50-60% of the population, while the second resulted in a 30-50% mortality rate. These pandemics significantly reduced the population, leading to social and economic disruptions.<ref>{{cite news |last=Maddicott |first=J.R. |title=6th–10th century AD |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2279/is_n156/ai_20059971/pg_14 |publisher=Findarticles.com |date=2 June 2009 |page=14 |access-date=10 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091001083931/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2279/is_n156/ai_20059971/pg_14 |archive-date=1 October 2009}}</ref>

====Reformation and the Early Modern period====
{{see also|Icelandic Reformation|Danish trade monopoly in Iceland|Móðuharðindin}}
[[File:Bolungarvik 02.jpg|thumb|left|''Ósvör'', a replica of an old fishing outpost outside [[Bolungarvík]]]]
Around the middle of the 16th century, as part of the [[Protestant Reformation]], King [[Christian III of Denmark]] began to impose [[Lutheranism]] on all his subjects. [[Jón Arason]], the last Catholic bishop of [[Hólar]], was beheaded in 1550 along with two of his sons. The country subsequently became officially Lutheran, and Lutheranism has since remained the dominant religion.
[[File:Gerardi Mercatoris Atlas, sive, Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura (24696368309).jpg|thumb|A map of Iceland published in the early 17th century by [[Gerardus Mercator]]]]
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Denmark imposed [[Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly|harsh trade restrictions]] on Iceland. Natural disasters, including volcanic eruptions and disease, contributed to a decreasing population. In the summer of 1627, [[Barbary Pirates]] committed the events known locally as the [[Turkish Abductions]], in which hundreds of residents were taken into slavery in North Africa and dozens killed; this was the only invasion in Icelandic history to have casualties.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Þorsteinn |first1=Helgason |title=Hvaða heimildir eru til um Tyrkjaránið? |trans-title=What are the sources of the Turkish Abductions? |url=https://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=5738 |access-date=9 March 2021 |publisher=University of Iceland |date=28 March 2006 |language=Icelandic |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417185140/https://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=5738 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Davis |first=Robert C. |title=Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500–1800 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5q9zcB3JS40C&pg=PA7 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2003 |pages=7ff |isbn=978-0-333-71966-4 |access-date=27 June 2015 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610032722/https://books.google.com/books?id=5q9zcB3JS40C&pg=PA7 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[1707–08 Iceland smallpox epidemic]] is estimated to have killed a quarter to a third of the population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://iceland.vefur.is/iceland_history/history.htm |title=Iceland: Milestones in Icelandic History |publisher=Iceland.vefur.is |access-date=10 February 2010 |archive-date=29 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929074613/http://iceland.vefur.is/iceland_history/history.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Crosby |first=Alfred W. |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Phtqa_3tNykC&pg=PA52 |title=Ecological imperialism: the biological expansion of Europe, 900–1900 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=52 |isbn=0-521-54618-4 |access-date=27 June 2015 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610032722/https://books.google.com/books?id=Phtqa_3tNykC&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1783 the [[Laki]] volcano erupted, with devastating effects.<ref>"{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6276291.stm |title=When a killer cloud hit Britain |work=BBC News |date=January 2007 |access-date=18 April 2010 |archive-date=7 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107034754/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6276291.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In the years following the eruption, known as the [[Mist Hardships]] ({{langx|is|Móðuharðindin}}), over half of all livestock in the country died. Around a quarter of the population starved to death in the ensuing [[famine]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/04/16/darrigo.volcano.impact/index.html |title=How volcanoes can change the world |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=27 October 2014 |archive-date=30 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110130140142/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/04/16/darrigo.volcano.impact/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====1814–1918: independence movement====
{{see also|Icelandic independence movement|Fjölnir (journal)}}
In 1814, following the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Denmark-Norway was broken up into two separate kingdoms via the [[Treaty of Kiel]], but Iceland remained a Danish dependency. Throughout the 19th century, the country's climate continued to grow colder, resulting in mass emigration to the [[New World]], particularly to the region of [[Gimli, Manitoba|Gimli]], [[Manitoba]] in Canada, which was sometimes referred to as [[New Iceland]]. About 15,000 people emigrated, out of a total population of 70,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/05/business/iceland.php |title=For Iceland, an exodus of workers |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 December 2008 |access-date=10 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211074725/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/05/business/iceland.php |archive-date=11 December 2008}}</ref>

A national consciousness arose in the first half of the 19th century, inspired by [[Romanticism|romantic]] and [[Nationalism|nationalist]] ideas from mainland Europe. An Icelandic independence movement took shape in the 1850s under the leadership of [[Jón Sigurðsson]], based on the burgeoning Icelandic nationalism inspired by the ''[[Fjölnismenn]]'' and other Danish-educated Icelandic intellectuals. In 1874, Denmark granted Iceland a constitution and limited home rule. This was expanded in 1904, and [[Hannes Hafstein]] served as the first [[Minister for Iceland]] in the Danish cabinet.