Reformasjonen på Færøyene - en nordtysk kulturarv?

Abstract

The chapter examines the proposition, first advanced by Faroese historian Louis Zachariasen, that the Reformation was introduced to the Faroe Islands by German merchants from Hamburg who held trading privileges and governing authority in the Faroes between ca. 1520 and 1553. Hamburg and the Faroes represented two dramatically different cultural spaces. In addition to obvious differences in language and living conditions, the two settings had distinct religious cultures, as the burghers of Hamburg had embraced Lutheranism in 1529. Two burghers who obtained trading rights and governing authority in the Faroes were active participants in Hamburg’s Reformation, thus it is reasonable to speculate that they continued their efforts in the Faroes, the seat of a Catholic bishopric. Closer examination, however, reveals little to suggest that German merchants, who spent limited time on the isles and had no immediate economic incentive for proselytizing, were involved in the initial spread of Lutheran ideas or the initial institution of ecclesiastic reform. The article proposes, therefore, that the Reformation was coordinated from Bergen, which, despite the Faroes’ increased commercial contact with the Continent, remained the most proximate and natural source of cultural inspiration.