Skálholt

Iceland's first official school, Skálholtsskóli [ˈskaulˌhɔl̥(t)sˌskouːlɪ] (now Reykjavík Gymnasium, MR), was founded at Skálholt in 1056 to educate clergy.

Throughout the Middle Ages there was significant activity in Skálholt; alongside the bishop's office, the cathedral, and the school, there was extensive farming, a smithy, and, while Catholicism lasted, a monastery.

Continuing as the episcopal see after the Reformation to Lutheranism, the end of Catholicism in Iceland was marked in 1550 when the last Catholic bishop, Jón Arason of Hólar, was executed in Skálholt along with his two sons.

After studying at the University of Copenhagen, Sigurd became a teacher at the former monastery of Skálholt, which remained the religious and educational centre in Iceland even after Protestantism was introduced in 1551.

[3] The 1570 original of Sigurd's Map no longer survives, but a copy was made in 1690 by Þórður Þorláksson (also known by his Latinized name, Thorlacius), the Bishop of Skálholt, and is now in the collection of the Danish Royal Library.