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19th-century rendering of the Law Rock in Þingvellir.. The Althing claims to be the longest-running parliament in the world. [1] [2] Its establishment as an outdoor assembly or thing held on the plains of Þingvellir ('Thing Fields' or 'Assembly Fields') from about 930, laid the foundation for an independent national existence in Iceland.
The site takes its name from Alþing (Althing), the national parliament of Iceland, which was founded at Þingvellir in 930 and held its sessions there until 1798. A thing was a form of governing assembly found in Germanic societies, and a tradition that endures to this day in one form or another across Northern Europe .
The University of Iceland used the first floor of the house from 1911 to 1940, and the President of Iceland had his offices in the building until 1973. Today, only the debating chamber, a few small meeting rooms and the offices of some of the senior parliamentary staff are actually located in Alþingishúsið. Committee meeting rooms ...
The oldest recorded parliament still in existence is the Althing, the ruling legislative body of Iceland. It was founded in 930 and originally consisted of 39 local chieftains. Abolished in 1800, it was restored by Denmark in 1843. The oldest continuous parliament is the Tynwald of the Isle of Man.
From around 930 AD to 1798, Þingvellir served as a venue for the Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, where people gathered for two weeks each year to set laws and settle disputes. The Althing is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. [4]
The Icelandic Commonwealth, [a] also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing (Icelandic: Alþingi) in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262.
The Icelandic Althing is considered to be the oldest surviving parliament in the world, the Norwegian Gulating also dating back to 900-1300. [13] While the things were not democratic assemblies in the modern sense of an elected body, they were built around ideas of neutrality and representation, [ 13 ] effectively representing the interests of ...
By 930, the chieftains had established a form of governance, the Althing, making it one of the world's oldest parliaments. Towards the end of the tenth century, Christianity came to Iceland through the influence of the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason .