History of Medieval Greenland
And associated places, like Iceland and Vinland.

Sources should be listed with each entry.  A complete listing of sources is a the end.  It should be mentioned that, although I did not note it in each case, much of the preliminary work was strongly influenced by Kristen Seaver's history of Greenland, The Frozen Echo (in fact, although it has expanded beyond that, I developed this originally as an exercise in backtracking her work, which for the record, has held up quite well).  If something is listed without a notation, you may assume it can be found in Seaver's work.

I placed this online really as a quick reference source, which is why it's so informal.  Since it has begun to receive more serious attention, I figure I should clean it up a bit.  If this page somehow manages to offend anyone, please let me know, and we can see what can be done about it.

Marc Carlson
31 July 2001 

This page was created by Marc Carlson
It was last edited 30 July 2006

• Page 1.  Before 1350
• Page 2   After 1350
• Page 3   Sources and Links of Interest

Between 1350-60

• Approximate average terminal dates for Western Settlement farms.
  The end appears to some scholars to have been sudden, and involved abandoning wood, and butchering of dogs.  Other scholars point out the lack of much in the way of material remains, suggesting an orderly withdrawal back to the Eastern Settlement.  It is entirely plausible that both perspectives are correct, with some people withdrawing to the Eastern Settlement, and others trying to stick out the declining weather, and depopulation of the settlements.
• Numerous shoe lasts, and a few of what may be shoemaking tools are left behind at Sandnes about this time [Carlson. Shoes in Greenland]
• The calibrated carbon dates for the Sandnes site -appear- to be about 1355 +/- 60 years [based on a chart in Arenborg, et.al. "C-14 dating and the disappearance of Norsemen from Greenland" Europhysics News 33:3 (2002)]

1354

• King Magnus of Norway authorizes Powell Knutsson permission to outfit a ship and to sail to Greenland to "protect" the Christians there

1355

• NO ships from Norway reach Iceland.
• King Magnus of Norway authorizes Poul Knudson permission to outfit the Greenland Knarr and to sail to Greenland to "protect" the Christians there [Norlund, Viking Settlers in Greenland].

1357

• 1 Norwegian ship visited Iceland.

1360

• An English Minorite friar (author of Inventio fortunatae) is supposed to have visited Greenland at this time, and substantiated the abandoned Western Settlement. He exchanges an astrolabe with a priest for a Testament. The friar continues on his journey to the North Pole.

1362

• 1 Norwegian ship visited Iceland.
• [Date on the Kensington Rune Stone = 24 April 1362, or possibly just 1362.  It is presumed by some that this was carved by an exploration or acquisition expedition south from Hudson's Bay.  Further evidence is given by some triangular stones with holes that look like Norse anchors along a route such an expedition might have taken, in Canada.  Presumably these were from the  Powell Knutsson  (or Paul Knutson) expedition to Greenland authorized in 1354 by King Magnus Erikson of Sweden. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Runestone)]  
• In Iceland, Oraefajokul erupts in "biggest explosive eruption in Europe since Pompeii was destroyed."

1363

• Ivar Bardarsson leaves Greenland, returning to Norway King
• Hakon marries Princess Margarethe of Denmark.

1364

• Jacobus Cnoyen, a traveler from the Low Countries reports that 8 people from Greenland, including 2 priests (one may have been Ivar Bardarsson) were visiting with the King of Norway. And this Belgian describes the book Inventio fortunatae.

1365

• Bishop Alf is consecrated in Norway [Norlund, Norse Ruins at Gardar].

1367-79

• Icelandic annals record "very cold years".

1367

• 1 Norwegian ship visited Iceland.
• Last recorded Royal Ship to Greenland [Magnusson. The Vinland Sagas]

1368

• Bishop Alf arrives in Greenland [Norlund, Norse Ruins at Gardar]. (Probably ON the last Royal Ship to Greenland.)

1369

• The Royal Greenland Knarr is lost at sea, off the Norwegian coast from Bergen. She appears not to have been replaced [Norlund, Viking Settlers in Greenland].

1374

• The King of Norway's Ombudsman is reported as going to Greenland.
• NO ships from Norway reach Iceland.

About 1378

• Bishop Alf dies, the last Bishop in Greenland [Norlund, Norse Ruins at Gardar].

1379

• Gottskalks Annals, an Icelandic chronicle, reports that Skraelings attacked the Greenlanders (at the East settlement?), killed 18 and captured 2 boys and a bondswoman. (It may have been an attack on a large hunting expedition).

About 1380

• Niccolo Zeno may have visited Greenland ("Engroneland")

1380s

• Icelandic annals only mention 4-5 sailings to Greenland.

1380

• King Hakon dies and is succeeded by his son Olaf.

1381

• The Olafssudinn, and a party of Icelanders, drift off to Greenland, and are forced to trade there.

1382

• The Thorlakssudinn, and a party of Icelanders, drift off to Greenland, are shipwrecked there, and are forced to trade.

1383

• The Olafssudinn, with the crew of the Thorlakssudinn, reaches Norway laden with trade goods, and reports the death of Bishop Alf.

1385

• Bjorn Einarsson Jerusalemfarer is driven off course, and winds up in Greenland with four ships where he is forced to trade. He rescues two "trolls", or Skraeling children from a rock in the sea. They become his faithful servants.

1386

• Nicolas of Lynn writes his Kalender.

1387

• Bjorn Einarsson, and his wife Solveig, leave Greenland for Iceland, and his two faithful Skraeling servants throw themselves into the sea.
• King Olaf died, and was succeeded by his Mother, Queen Margarethe of Denmark. The Swedes also chose her to rule them.

About 1390

• Flateyjarbok compiled.

1390

• NO ships from Norway reach Iceland.

1392

• 1 Norwegian ship visited Iceland.

1393

• 18 German warships attack, burn and sack Bergen, in Norway.

1396

• The Duke of Burgundy ransoms his son from the Saracens for 12 Greenland falcons.
• "Foreign Merchants" (English?) visit the Westman Islands off Iceland.

1397

• The Kalmar Treaty formalized the union of Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

About 1400-50

• Approximate date of iron blooms found by Frobisher and resmelted on Baffin Island.  [The 1993 dating of these blooms is published in Harbottle, Cresswell, Stoenner. "Carbon-14 Dating of Iron Blooms from Kodlunarn Island (Email from Jacqueline Olin 14 August 2004)"   The Cal. C-14 dates ranging from 640 to the 1440s (p. 176, fig. 10).  Later research suggest the dates should be in the "first half of the 15th century" (Fitzhugh pers. com. to Seaver, mentioned in Seaver, p. 29). 
• Possible dates of some of the Herjolfsnes garments [Norlund. Buried Norsemen at Hjerolfsnes]

1402-4

• The Black Plague reaches Iceland.

1405

• A large number of Icelander wealthy travel back to Norway, possibly to attend the wedding of King Eirik to Princess Phillipa of England. Bjorn Einarsson visits Norway on his way to Jerusalem. While in Bergen he marries his daughter Kristin to Thorleif Arnason. Thorstein Olafsson, Bjorn's nephew, is with them.

1406

• Thorstein Olafsson and his party set out back to Iceland, but his ship is caught in "a dense fog" and winds up in Greenland.
• Last recorded sailing from Greenland in the Icelandic Annals.

1407

• According to the Icelandic Annals, Kollgrim is burned at the stake in the Eastern Settlement for seducing another man's wife through the Black Arts. (Steinunn, wife of Thorgrim Solvason, both Icelanders from Thorstein Olafsson's ship).

1408

• (16 Sep) The visiting Icelanders witness a marriage at Hvalsey (Eastern Settlement). Thorstein Olafsson married Sigrid Bjornsdaughter (an Icelander residing in Hvalsey?), by the priest Sir Paul Halvardsson.
• The first English fishermen visit the Iceland banks about this time, in search of cod (and competing against the Hanse), possibly as a result of the plague in Iceland

1409

• (19 April) The Marriage certificate is issued for Thorstein Olafsson's wedding at Hvalsey ("Whale Island". Eastern Settlement) by the priest Sir Paul Halvardsson and the Bishop in officialis Sir Eindridi Andresson [Norlund, Norse Ruins a Gardar; Viking Settlers in Greenland].

1410

• Olaf Thorstein, and his friends, all sail from Greenland to Norway.

1411

• Bjorn Einarsson returns from Jerusalem.

1412

• English fishermen (30 doggers) arrive in Iceland
• Queen Margarethe died, and was succeeded by her nephew Eirik of Pomerania for the Triple Crown.

1413

• An English merchantman arrives in Iceland.
• A merchant named Richard stays with Gisli Andresson and his wife, Gudrun Styrsdaughter (supposed widow of Snorri Torfason, who's been off in Greenland with Olaf Thorstein) and is staying with them when Olaf Thorstein and his comrades return to Iceland.
• There is a major fire in the Hanseatic quarter of Bergen

1415-61

• Bristol Corporate archives are missing.

About 1418

• The English by this time are getting involved with Icelandic politics, as well as with the Greenland-farers and their friends and relations.
• (A small cross of English pewter is lost at Hvalsey; and a table knife similar to Knives and Scabbards (p.89, fig.87) is lost at Gardar.)
• According to papal letter of 1448, "barbarous pagans invaded Greenland and took many slaves" [N.B. authenticity of letter is suspect].

1419

• English violence breaks out in Iceland, as they continue to push for political power.

About 1420

• Possible alternate date of writing of Skalholtsbok by Olaf Lotpsson, cousin of Sigrid Bjornsdaughter and related to Bjorn Einarsson.

1420

• Thorleif Arnason, sailing to complain to the King about the English, is attacked by an English ship, before making it to Norway. The Englishman from Hull loot and pillage in Iceland.

1422

• The Englishmen from Hull attack and rob the Royal farm at Bessastaðir.

1423

• The Englishmen from Hull attack and rob the Royal farm at Bessastaðir.

1424

• The Englishmen from Hull attack and rob the Royal farm at Bessastaðir.
• Bristol holds its foreign merchants for ransom.

1425

• Englishmen from Hull capture the governor of Iceland and his deputy.
• The Danish Cartographer, Claudius Clavus, claims to have been to Greenland sometime after this time. His maps make no note of Nordic settlers, athough he does discuss the "Karols", or Inuit [Norlund, Viking Settlers in Greenland].

1426

• John Williamson Craxton is named Bishop of Holar.

1428

• Hanse pirates raid and sack Bergen.
• The last Icelandic ship to Bergen returns home. Henceforth, they trade with Copenhagen.

1429

• Five Icelandic boys and three girls are found to have been sold into slavery in Bristol.
• Eleven Icelandic children arrive in Lynn and are being sold into slavery when they are discovered by Bishop Jon Gereksson of Skalholt, who happens to be in Lynn. He removes the children from Lynn sends them home.
• King Henry VI decrees that all English Cod merchants had to go to Bergen to trade for northern fish.
• Bishop John arrives in Iceland.

1430

• Last Icelandic medieval annals end.

1430 +/-15

• Most current dating for some of the Herjofsnes finds [Arenborg, et.al. "C-14 dating and the disappearance of Norsemen from Greenland" Europhysics News 33:3 (2002)]

1431

• Thorstein Olafsson passes a resolution against the English to be sent to the King. A Smallpox epidemic ravages Iceland. Thorstein Olafsson dies about this time.

1432

• King Eirik orders the English to free and return any people taken from northern countries. Bishop Jon Gereksson is dragged from his own cathedral in Iceland and drowned by irate Icelanders.

c.1440

• There are numerous hypotheses about what happened to the Greenlanders.  One suggests that the survivors walked across the ice and became the ancestors of the Algonquin Indians (http://hometown.aol.com/frozntrl)

1448

• Papal letter of Nicholas V refers to an attack on Greenlanders "30 years before" that took many of them captive. Now they are free and returning home, and are asking for a Priest. The Pope refers to the "fervent piety" of the Greenlanders. [N.B. authenticity of letter is suspect]

1453

• A cataclysmic volcanic eruption in the South Pacific alters worldwide weather patterns for three years.

1461

• Oldest surviving Bristol customs documents regarding Iceland.

Sometime in the 1470s

• Portuguese expedition to North may have reached Greenland?

1472-3

• A Danish-Norwegian expedition sailed for Greenlands waters led by Didrik Pining and Hans Pothorst at the insistence of the Portuguese to look for new lands to the west. They spy Eskimos east of Cape Farewell [Norlund, Viking Settlers in Greenland] [This may have taken place as late as 1476 [email from Alfredo Pinheiro Marques to MapHist and Discovery 28 March 2000]]

1475

• Date of Inuit mummies in Qibakitsoq (in Nordresetr) [National Geographic, 1985]

About 1475-80

• The Danish "Pirates" Didrik Pining and Pothorst are operating in the North Atlantic, chasing down the English (allegedly in ships outfitted by the Hanse).

1477

• Columbus allegedly sailed north to Iceland. Columbus may have claimed that the English were in Greenland.

1478

• Pining becomes royal Governor of Iceland

1480

• Thomas Croft leads an expedition searching for the "Island of Brasil" in the North Atlantic, near Greenland.

1481

• Thomas Croft leads an expedition searching for the "Island of Brasil" in the North Atlantic, near Greenland. They may have found Newfoundland.

1484

• Nearly fifty Icelanders are in service in Bristol households.
• An old manuscript (of debatable ancestry) claims that in Bergen, some 40 sailors claimed they regularly sailed to and came away with valuables from Greenland. Hanse merchants killed them (They may have been English cod merchants).

1486

• A Bristol ship sold a crew of Hanse slaves in Galway.

1492

• Papal letter of Alexander IV suggests that the people of Greenland have been abandoned by the church for so long that they've reverted to "heathen practices" [Seaver, the Frozen Echo. This may have been in a letter to the Benedictine monk Matthias Knudson offering him the See of Gardar, if he would be willing to GO there and lead the people back to Christianity [Norlund, ].

About 1495

• The Portuguese expedition of Pedro Pinheiro y Joao Fernandes sailed around the Newfoundland, Laborador, Davis Straights area, and may have visited Greenland [this may be the same as the 1496 Joao Fernandes Lavrador and Pedro de Barcelos expedition ][email from Alfredo Pinheiro Marques to MapHist and Discovery 28 March 2000]