Icelandic culture already has a confirmed unique government reform. From TT40:
View attachment 1298789
I also wrote this post on earthquakes and volcanoes in Iceland in the North Atlantic map thread:
Iceland doesn't have much else that's confirmed, but it definitely COULD get a ton more flavor.
The Vínland thing aside, I'd like to see Iceland get some unique bonuses for its saga tradition, probably mainly to cultural tradition and literacy. These sagas were preserved in medieval manuscripts that were mostly written in the 14th and 15th centuries, so I'm also hoping Iceland gets a medieval manuscript as an artwork (
Möðruvallabók would be my pick).
Icelandic historiography conveniently divides Iceland's trade-situation into "ages", based on where most visiting merchants were coming from.
Iceland begins in the Norwegian age, which lasted until the Black Death swept Iceland in 1402-1404 (yes that date is real).
The 15th century was the English age. The royal authorities ruling Iceland really didn't like what they saw as English encroachment, so they repeatedly tried (and failed) to put a stop to this trade. The king gave up in 1490 and gave the English some trading rights. This sudden shift in policy shocked Icelandic landowners, who had always seen the English merchants as competition for Icelandic labor. So they responded by inventing new a version of serfdom called
Vistarband and pushing it through Alþingi, which compelled all landless Icelanders to be employed on a farm. This should be an AWFUL government reform a player can choose to avoid revolt.
The 16th century was the German age, where their main base was Hafnarfjörður, and they were active in setting up fishing operations in Iceland.
From 1602 onwards was the Danish age, as the king forced
a trade monopoly on Iceland.
Here are some possible events:
"Grundarbardagi" (
the battle of Grund) in 1362; where the Norwegian governor is essentially assassinated by a group of thugs who thought he was an asshole and too taxation-happy.
"Spánverjavígin" (
the Spanish killings) in 1615; representing the civil unrest after 83 Basques were shipwrecked and stranded in Iceland.
"Tyrkjaránið" (
the Turkish abductions) in 1627; when Barbary pirates raided mainly Vestmannaeyjar, and abducted ~400 people into slavery and killed ~50.
The reformation was also quite bloody in Iceland. Bishop Jón Arason famously resisted the imposition of Lutheranism in the 1540s, culminating in the 1550
Battle of Sauðafell, which he lost and was subsequently executed. Not sure if this would fit into an event, or be part of the larger reformation situation.
There's probably a lot more possibilities, but that's all I could think of right now.
