National Archives of Iceland
Mediation Committee Books in a Web-based database
25th June 2024
On Saturday 29 June, from 14-17, the University of Iceland Research Center in Northwest Iceland will host the opening ceremony of the database of mediation committee books and a symposium on the work of mediation committees in Iceland in the research center’s building on Einbúastígur 2, Skagaströnd.
The National Archives of Iceland and other public archives preserve so-called settlement books. They contain documents that were created by mediation committees in many parts of the Danish Empire at the end of the 18th century and were intended to settle disputes between parties before the courts. The data covers the period from the establishment of the first committees in 1797 until 1936.
The database of mediation committee books is a 5-year research project of the University of Iceland Research Center in Northwest Iceland that has been developed in collaboration with the National Archives of Iceland and the regional archives of the Skagfirðingar with the aim of increasing access to these little researched sources by opening a web-based database.
The database will be accessible to all on the National Archives of Iceland’s public relations website and will be officially opened on this occasion. Interesting talks will also be held about the history and work of the settlement committees in Iceland in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The agenda for the seminar:
14:00-14:10 Director of the University of Iceland’s Research Center in Northwest Iceland, Vilhelm Vilhelmsson, welcomes visitors
14:10-14:20 Hrefna Róbertsdóttir, National Archives
14:20-14:30 President of the University of Iceland Jón Atli Benediktsson
14:30-14:50 Vilhelm Vilhelmsson, “The Mediation Committees and their work in Iceland, 1798-1936”
15:00-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-15:50 Harpa Rún Ásmundsdóttir, project manager at the University of Iceland’s Research Center in Northwest Iceland, “Of misguided men. Individuals who appeared repeatedly before Mediation Committees."
15:50-16:10 Ása Ester Sigurðarsdóttir at the University of Iceland’s Research Center in Northwest Iceland, "Iceland's sacred people cry tears of blood: Coffin fragments in Elliða river"
16:10-16:30 Stefanía Halldórsdóttir, Chair of the Association for Mediation, and Vilborg Bergman, Vice Chair of the Association, “Mediation in the 21st century”
16:30-17:00 Debates