Gissur Ísleifsson [SEP] position held
Gissur Ísleifsson
Gissur Ísleifsson (1042–1118) was an Icelandic clergyman, who, in 1082, became the second Catholic bishop of Iceland in the aftermath of the adoption of Christianity by the island's inhabitants 82 years earlier in the year 1000.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Ísleifur Gissurarson, Iceland's first bishop, who established the initial episcopal see at the family homestead in Skálholt and served from 1056 until his death in 1080, Gissur Ísleifsson continued his mission at Skálholt for the next 36 years, with his
. Unlike his uncle, Sturla worked actively for bringing Iceland under the Norwegian Crown, warring on chieftains who refused to accept the King's demands. However, Sturla and his father Sighvatr Sturluson were defeated by Gissur Þorvaldsson, the chief of the Haukdælir, and Kolbeinn the young, chief of the Ásbirnings, in the Battle of Örlygsstaðir, losing their position as the mightiest chieftains in Iceland.
In 1262, following the Old Covenant, the independent republic became an earldom under the Kingdom of Norway. Gissur Þorvaldsson of the Haukdælir