Of the monasteries permanently established, the earliest was
Thingeyraklaustr.
Shortly after the installation of Jón Ögmundsson (1106) as bishop of Hólar, the season was so severe that no growth appeared when the people were assembled at the spring meeting (Vár-Thing, about the end of May) in Thingeyrar. The bishop made a vow to erect a monastery at the place, for monks of the Order of St Benedict. Soon after this there was a favourable change in the weather. It was not, however, until 1133 that the Benedictine monks fixed their abode there. The monks of Thingeyrar were celebrated for their learning, and several illustrious names are to be found among its abbots, e.g., Karl (ob. 1212), Oddr (ob. circa 1200), Gunnlaugr (ob. 1218), and many others. The twenty-third and last of the series died 1561.
MUNKATHVERÁRKLAUSTUR.
This monastery, famous for its old documents, was founded by Bishop Björn Gilsson of Hólar in A.D. 1155. Its monks also were Benedictines. The twenty-fifth of its abbots embraced Lutheranism in A.D. 1551.
THYKKVABÆARKLAUSTUR.
This monastery is also called the monastery in Ver or Álftaver. It was founded by one Thorkéll Geirason, by the authority of Bishop Klœngur Thorsteinsson of Skálholt, in A.D. 1168. Its tenants were under the rule of St Augustine. The nineteenth and last abbot of this monastery went to Copenhagen in 1550, and was there converted to the Lutheran persuasion. This house had a famous library.
FLATEYAR—HELGAFELLSKLAUSTUR.
Bishop Klœngur Thorsteinsson of Skálholt instituted a monastery in the island Flatey, in Breiðifjörð, in 1172. His successor, St Thorlákr, removed it to Helgafell, and dedicated it to St John. Its tenants followed the rule of St Augustine. The twenty-fifth and last abbot died shortly before 1550.
VIÐEYARKLAUSTUR.