Early medieval Europe (500–1000)Politics and state

First Althing at Þingvellir

The chieftains of the Norse settlers of Iceland established a general assembly at Þingvellir, which gave the island common laws without a king — the origin of the Althing, often called the oldest parliament in the world.

Date: 930year known
Place: Þingvellirtoday: Þingvellir National Park, Iceland · Western and Central Europe
Participants: Icelandic Commonwealth
Threads: Early medieval Europe (500–1000)
Also known as: Althing; Альтинг; Alþingi; Law Rock; Скала закона

Iceland was settled from about 870, mostly by Norwegians. According to Ari Þorgilsson’s Book of the Icelanders (c. 1122–1133), a man named Úlfljótr spent three years in Norway studying the law of the Gulathing and brought back a code, and the general assembly first met around 930 on the plain of Þingvellir. Every summer the chieftains (goðar) and their followers gathered there for two weeks; the lawspeaker recited the laws from the Law Rock, the legislative council (Lögrétta) made law, and courts settled disputes.

The Althing had no executive power, and enforcement was left to the parties and their allies — a system that the sagas show in all its violence. The Icelandic Commonwealth lasted until 1262–1264, when Iceland submitted to the King of Norway; the Althing survived as a court and, restored in 1845, is Iceland’s parliament today.

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