Information about the event
Fræðakaffi | Baskavígin 1615
Sigrún Antonsdóttir, a descendant of Ari in Ögur and half Basque, discusses the Slaying of the Basques in 1615.
In the autumn of 1615, three ships were wrecked in a severe storm in Reykjarfjörður in the Strandir region.
These were whaling ships from the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country.
83 shipwreck survivors made it ashore.
The district magistrate, Ari Magnússon of Ögur, declared the Basques outlaws, and in the following days and weeks, over 30 of the shipwrecked men were murdered by Icelanders.
Jón Guðmundsson the Learned was highly critical of this matter and condemned Ari's decision. Jón was subsequently sentenced to exile.
What caused this hostility from the Icelanders?
Why did these Basque whalers have to meet their fate in Iceland?
Further information:
Katrín Guðmundsdóttir
Borgarbókasafnið Spönginni
katrin.gudmundsdottir@reykjavik.is
Halldór Óli Gunnarsson
Borgarbókasafnið Spönginni
halldor.oli.gunnarsson@reykjavik.i