THORLÁK THÓRHALLSSON, ST.

Bishop; b. Fljótshlíeth, Iceland, 1133; d. Skálholt, Iceland, Dec. 23, 1193. He was a canon regular of st. augustine, educated in Iceland, France, and England. He was superior of the Augustinian house in Thornykkvibær from its foundation in 1168 until he became bishop elect in 1174. He was consecrated bishop of Skálholt, July 1, 1178. As bishop, he, like Archbishop Eysteinn, pursued a firm, but not always successful, policy of asserting the claims of the Church against the State. His sanctity was recognized very soon after his death, and in 1198 he was formally canonized by the local bishops (no papal confirmation was sought). His cult never spread far beyond iceland. Besides SS. Thorlák and jon Ögmundsson, medieval Iceland venerated Guðmund the Good (1161–1237, feast: March 16) as a saint. Though he was the most popular of all Icelandic saints, he was never formally canonized though he was possibly beatified ca.1376. The process for Guðmund's canonization was reopened in 1522 but was suspended at the Reformation.

Feast: December 23; July 20 (translation).

Bibliography: h. bekker-nielsen, "A Note on Two Icelandic Saints," The Germanic Review 36 (New York 1961) 108–109. o. widding et al., "The Lives of the Saints in Old Norse Prose: A Handlist," Mediaeval Studies 25 (Toronto-London 1963) 294–337. s. sigurdarson, Thorlákur helgi og samtíd hans (Reykjavík1993), with biblio.

[h. bekker-nielsen]