List of Icelandic rulers
Encyclopedia
Rulers of Iceland
from 1262 to 1944, including the following:
Iceland was settled in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, principally by people of Norwegian
and other Scandinavia
n origin. In 930, the ruling chiefs established a republican constitution
and an assembly called the Althing
- the oldest parliament in the world. Iceland remained independent until 1262, when it entered into a treaty which established a union with the Norwegian monarchy. It passed to Denmark in the late 14th century when Norway and Denmark were united under the Danish crown.
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
from 1262 to 1944, including the following:
- The Icelandic CommonwealthIcelandic CommonwealthThe Icelandic Commonwealth, Icelandic Free State, or Republic of Iceland was the state existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king in 1262...
(930–1262) - The union with the Kingdom of NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
(1262–1814)- The personal unionMagnus IV of SwedenMagnus Eriksson as Magnus IV was king of Sweden , including Finland, as Magnus VII King of Norway , including Iceland and Greenland, and also ruled Scania . He has also vindictively been called Magnus Smek...
of Norway and SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
(1319–1343) - The personal union of Norway and DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
(1380–1396) - The Kalmar UnionKalmar UnionThe Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population...
(1397–1536) - The personal unionHouse of OldenburgThe House of Oldenburg is a North German dynasty and one of Europe's most influential Royal Houses with branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Russia, Greece, Norway, Schleswig, Holstein, Oldenburg and Sweden...
of Norway and Denmark (1536–1814)
- The personal union
- The union with the Kingdom of DenmarkKingdom of DenmarkThe Kingdom of Denmark or the Danish Realm , is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting of Denmark proper in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. Denmark is the hegemonial part, where the...
(1814–1918) - The personal union of Iceland and Denmark (IndependenceIndependenceIndependence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
from Denmark, 1918–1944) - The Republic of Iceland (SovereigntySovereigntySovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
from the Danish Monarch, 1944 to present)
Iceland was settled in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, principally by people of Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and other Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n origin. In 930, the ruling chiefs established a republican constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
and an assembly called the Althing
Althing
The Alþingi, anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament of Iceland. The Althingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in the world still extant...
- the oldest parliament in the world. Iceland remained independent until 1262, when it entered into a treaty which established a union with the Norwegian monarchy. It passed to Denmark in the late 14th century when Norway and Denmark were united under the Danish crown.
Rulers
Names shown with Icelandic spelling:- The union with the Kingdom of NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
(1262–1814)
- Hákon gamli IV HákonarsonHaakon IV of NorwayHaakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....
(1262–1263)- Gissur ÞorvaldssonGissur ÞorvaldssonGissur Thorvaldsson was a medieval Icelandic chieftain or goði of the Haukdælir family clan, and great-grandson of Jón Loftsson....
, Earl of Iceland (1258–1268)
- Gissur Þorvaldsson
- Magnús lagabætirMagnus VI of NorwayMagnus VI Lagabøte or Magnus Håkonsson , was king of Norway from 1263 until 1280.-Early life:...
(1263–1280)- Gissur ÞorvaldssonGissur ÞorvaldssonGissur Thorvaldsson was a medieval Icelandic chieftain or goði of the Haukdælir family clan, and great-grandson of Jón Loftsson....
, Earl of Iceland (1258–1268)
- Gissur Þorvaldsson
- Eiríkur Magnússon (1280–1299)
- Hákon V MagnússonHaakon V of NorwayHaakon V Magnusson was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319.-Biography:Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg of Denmark. Haakon was descended from king Saint Olav and is considered to have been the last Norwegian king in the Fairhair...
(1299–1319) - Magnús Eiríksson (1319–1343)
- Hákon VI MagnússonHaakon VI of NorwayHaakon VI of Norway was King of Norway from 1343 until his death and King of Sweden from 1362 until 1364, when he was deposed by Albert of Mecklenburg in Sweden.-Background:...
(1343–1380) - Ólafur IV HákonarsonOlav IV of NorwayOlaf II Haakonsson was king of Denmark as Olaf II and king of Norway as Olaf IV . Olaf was son of King Haakon VI of Norway and the grandson of King Magnus IV of Sweden. His mother was Queen Margaret I of Denmark which made him the grandson of King Valdemar IV of Denmark...
(1380–1387) - Margrét IMargaret I of DenmarkMargaret I was Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and founder of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian countries for over a century. Although she acted as queen regnant, the laws of contemporary Danish succession denied her formal queenship. Her title in Denmark was derived from her...
(1387–1412) - Eiríkur af Pommern (1412–1442)
- Kristófer af BavaríuChristopher of BavariaChristopher of Bavaria or Christopher the Bavarian; as king named Christopher ; Danish and Norwegian: Christoffer af/av Bayern; Swedish Kristofer av Bayern was union king of Denmark , Sweden and Norway .-Biography:He was probably born at Neumarkt in...
(1442–1448) - Karl I af NoregiCharles VIII of SwedenCharles VIII of Sweden , Charles I of Norway, also Carl, , was king of Sweden and king of Norway ....
(1449–1450) - Kristján IChristian I of DenmarkChristian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...
(1450–1481) - Hans I (1481–1513)
- Kristján IIChristian II of DenmarkChristian II was King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union.-Background:...
(1513–1523) - Friðrik IFrederick I of DenmarkFrederick I of Denmark and Norway was the King of Denmark and Norway. The name is also spelled Friedrich in German, Frederik in Danish, and Fredrik in Swedish and Norwegian...
(1523–1533) - Kristján IIIChristian III of DenmarkChristian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...
(1534–1559) - Friðrik II (1559–1588)
- Kristján IVChristian IV of DenmarkChristian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...
(1588–1648) - Friðrik IIIFrederick III of DenmarkFrederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in western historiography. He was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV of Denmark and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg...
(1648–1670) - Kristján VChristian V of DenmarkChristian V , was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 to 1699, the son of Frederick III of Denmark and Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
(1670–1699) - Friðrik IVFrederick IV of DenmarkFrederick IV was the king of Denmark and Norway from 1699 until his death. Frederick was the son of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway and Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel .-Foreign affairs:...
(1699–1730) - Kristján VIChristian VI of DenmarkChristian VI was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746.He was the son of King Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. He married Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach and fathered Frederick V.-The reign and personality of Christian VI:To posterity Christian...
(1730–1746) - Friðrik VFrederick V of DenmarkFrederick V was king of Denmark and Norway from 1746, son of Christian VI of Denmark and Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.-Early life:...
(1746–1766) - Kristján VIIChristian VII of DenmarkChristian VII was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death. He was the son of Danish King Frederick V and his first consort Louisa, daughter of King George II of Great Britain....
(1766–1808)
- Hákon gamli IV Hákonarson
- The union with the Kingdom of DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
(1814–1918)
- Friðrik VIFrederick VI of DenmarkFrederick VI reigned as King of Denmark , and as king of Norway .-Regent of Denmark:Frederick's parents were King Christian VII and Caroline Matilda of Wales...
(1808–1839) - Kristján VIIIChristian VIII of DenmarkChristian VIII , was king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, king of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...
(1839–1848) - Friðrik VIIFrederick VII of DenmarkFrederick VII was a King of Denmark. He reigned from 1848 until his death. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg and also the last king of Denmark to rule as an absolute monarch...
(1848–1863) - Kristján IXChristian IX of DenmarkChristian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...
(1863–1906) - Friðrik VIIIFrederick VIII of DenmarkFrederick VIII was King of Denmark from 1906 to 1912.-Early life:Frederick was born on 3 June 1843 in the Yellow Palace in Copenhagen as Prince Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior male line of the House of Oldenburg descended from Christian III of Denmark and who had...
(1906–1912)
- Friðrik VI
- The Kingdom of IcelandIcelandIceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
(1918–1944)- Kristján XChristian X of DenmarkChristian X was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only King of Iceland between 1918 and 1944....
(1912–1944) - RegencyRegentA regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
(1940–1941) - Hermann Jónasson, Prime MinisterPrime Minister of IcelandThe Prime Minister of Iceland is Iceland's head of government. The prime minister is appointed formally by the President and exercises executive authority along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary support....
, Progressive Party (Iceland)Progressive Party (Iceland)The Progressive Party is an agrarian, liberal and centrist party in Iceland. The party is a member of the Liberal International. Current chairman of the party is Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson. He was elected on January 18, 2009. His predecessor was Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, who only served as... - Jakob Ragnar Valdimar Møller, Minister of Finance, Independence Party (Iceland)Independence Party (Iceland)The Independence Party is a centre-right political party in Iceland. Liberal conservative and Eurosceptic, it is the second-largest party in the Althing, with sixteen seats. The chairman of the party is Bjarni Benediktsson and vice chairman is Ólöf Nordal....
- Stefán Jóhann StefánssonStefán Jóhann StefánssonStefán Yaldi Jóhann Stefánsson was the first actual Minister of Foreign Affairs in Iceland from 18 November 1941 to 17 January 1942. He was Prime Minister of Iceland from 4 February 1947 to 6 December 1949. He was first elected to Althingi in 1934 but did not get reelected in 1937. From 1942 to...
, Minister of Social Affairs, Social Democratic Party (Iceland)Social Democratic Party (Iceland)The Social Democratic Party was an Icelandic Political Party based on social-democratic ideas. It was founded in 1916 as the political representation of the trade unions of Iceland.... - Sveinn BjörnssonSveinn BjörnssonSveinn Björnsson , son of Björn Jónsson and Elísabet Sveinsdóttir, was the first President of the Republic of Iceland.He became a member of Reykjavík town council in 1912 and was its president during 1918–1920....
, regent, Non-Party, (1941–1944)
- Kristján X
See also
- Jørgen JørgensenJørgen JørgensenJørgen Jørgensen was a Danish adventurer during the Age of Revolution. During the Action of 2 March 1808 his ship was captured by the British. In 1809 he sailed to Iceland, declared the country independent from Denmark and pronounced himself its ruler...
, Jörundur hundadagakonungur ("Jørgen the dog-daysDog Days"Dog Days" are the hottest, most sultry days of summer. In the Northern Hemisphere, the dog days of summer are most commonly experienced in the months of July and August, which typically observe the warmest summer temperatures. In the Southern Hemisphere, they typically occur in January and...
King" in Icelandic), a Danish adventurer that proclaimed himself temporary king during some months of 1809. - List of Presidents of Iceland
- List of Prime Ministers of Iceland
- List of Norwegian monarchs
- List of Danish monarchs
- List of Swedish monarchs
- List of Finnish monarchs
- List of Greenlandic monarchs
- Lists of incumbents