ABSTRACT
An edict of King Christian VI of Denmark and Iceland, Anordning om Huus-Tugt paa Island (Edict on Household Discipline in Iceland), 1 made provisions regarding the upbringing and education of children, and religious practice, in Iceland. Under the edict, proclaimed at the Alþingi in 1747, parents were required to teach their children to read when they reached the age of five or six. 2 In 1766 the three eldest children at Teigur – the two Guðrúns and Helga – had reached this age. Parents were also required to teach their children prayers and to guide them through Fræðin minni, Luther's Minor Catechism, by listening to them recite what they had learned, both morning and evening. The Minor Catechism comprised the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer and a number of other prayers. The rules on “catechisation” required children to learn certain parts of the Catechism and then be examined on them in church in the presence of the congregation. They were not simply to memorise the text; they were expected to understand the meaning and to be able to answer the pastor's questions. 3 One of the duties of clergymen on home visits to their parishioners was to ascertain that the parents were performing this duty of Christian upbringing. If parents were suspected of failing in their duty to their children, the law empowered the pastor to punish them.
