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kind involved in the union of Iceland-Norway with Denmark (in 1380) 
under a common crown. On the other hand, the act of union, and 
more especially the two codes of law (J4rnsida and Jénsbok) intro- 
duced in 1271—73 and 1281 respectively, wrought a fundamental 
change in the constitution of Iceland: The executive power was vested 
in the king; the godords were abolished and the godar were replaced 
by royal officials; Althingi was retained in a changed form, now 
acting mainly as a judicial tribunal with judges appointed by the 
king's officials, but continuing to exercise its legislative functions as 
well, both conjointly with the king and even without his cooperation. 
This constitution remained unchanged during the next following cen- 
turies; and it may, on the whole, be said that the royal authority was 
not much to the fore in Iceland down to the Reformation (1550); 
but from that time it greatly increases, and this for several reasons. 
At the time of the Reformation the king assumed the highest authority 
in ecclesiastical affairs, as was the rule in other Lutheran countries; 
he also took possession of the great landed property belonging to the 
monasteries. After the Reformation the king also began to lay greater 
stress on getting revenue from Iceland, which led to the establishment 
of a trade monopoly in 1602 to the great defriment of the Icelandic 
people. This monopoly lasted till 1787, during which period all trade 
was either leased to Danish commercial companies or carried on by 
the kings themselves. After the Reformation, too, the highest officials 
in the country were for a long time mostly Danes, whereas up to 
that time they had often been native Icelanders. In 1662 the Icelandic 
people vielded formal homage to Frederick Ill as.a hereditary and 
absolute monarch, in the same manner as had already been done in 
Norway and Denmark. This brought about no change in the status of 
Iceland in relation to Denmark, but the new régime naturally neces- 
sitated modifications in the constitution of the country. About 1700 
the legislative power of Althingi had completely disappeared, and 
its importance gradually dwindled up to the year 1800, when it was 
finally abolished. Fundamental changes were also made in the adminis- 
tration of the country both in 1683 og 1688. The highest official, 
the Stiftsbefalingsmadur (governor-general), resided in Denmark with- 
out ever having to visit Iceland; the management of Icelandic affairs 
was entrusted to the Danish government departments in Copenhagen; 
the Danish supreme court became the court of final appeal in Ice- 
landic affairs as well, and even such laws as were intended to have 
force in Iceland were issued in the Danish language.