The Condition of the Greenlaitders. 201 



thirteenth century, and show that a part of- America helped to 

 furnish money for the crusade. 



" The archbishop has informed the pope (letters 2, 6) that it 

 would take him five years, including the voyage to and from, to 

 visit the diocese of Greenland, and has asked permission to send 

 some proj^er person in his place. Other letters (letters 3, 4) say 

 that the archbishop would have to spend six years in order to 

 collect personally the tithes in his arch-diocese, and that in doing 

 so he would be obliged to live, sometimes five or more consecu- 

 tive days, in a tent while traveling through desert regions. 

 Therefore he thinks it needful that a larger number of collectors 

 should be appointed. 



" In other letters (letters 5, 8) the archbishop notes the poverty 

 of the country. The people had no money of any kind, and no 

 grain or fruit could be grown. The inhabitants lived on milk, 

 or food produced from it (latimiia), and fish. In Greenland 

 particularly the people could offer nothing for the expenses of 

 the crusade but skins, probably of the elk or of the musk-ox 

 and of seals {coria bovina et phocarum) and the teeth and soper 

 of Avhales {funes halenarwii). The non-production of grain and 

 grapes made it necessary for the faithful (letter 7) to provide for a 

 supply of bread and wine to be used in celebrating the eucharist. 



" From a letter of Pope Nicolas V, dated September 22, 1148 

 (letter 9), it appears that the Greenlanders attributed their con- 

 version to Saint Olaf, King of Norway (died 1030) ; that they 

 had built, beside a goodly number of parish churches, a respect- 

 able cathedral at Gardar; that about the year 1418 heathen 

 foreigners, with a fleet, invaded their country, killed or carried 

 into slavery the inhabitants and burned their habitations and 

 buildings, leaving only nine churches, which were in the least 

 accessible regions. Some of the captives, having escaped and 

 returned to their own country, unable to go to the distant 

 churches, have begged the pope to provide them with ]3riests and a 

 bishop. Nicolas therefore empowers the two neighboring bishops 

 of Iceland to satisfy the j)ious desires of the Greenlanders. 



"The information contained in this letter of Nicolas V is in 

 some measure completed and confirmed by one from Pope 

 Alexander VI, written 1492-'93, just when Columbus had made 

 his great discovery. It seems that the letter of Nicolas did not 

 reach its destination, or failed to effect its purpose. At any rate, 

 the Greenlanders had addressed a petition to Innocent VIII, 



27— Nat. Grog. Mag., vor,. V, 1893. 



