lyþbiskuper (OSw) ljóðbyskup (ON) noun

A suffragan bishop beneath the archbishop; the term has been used to translate Medieval Lat. suffraganeus (‘subordinate’). A ljóðbyskup still refers to a subordinate bishop in Modern Icelandic. Thought to be derived from OE leoð-byscop (‘people-bishop’). As such it can also refer to a bishop of an entire area or people, including an archbishop. In Iceland the Archbishop of Níðarós confirmed the election of a ljóðbiskup and performed his consecration.

The term lyþbiskuper was also used to designate missionary bishops who preached the gospel among the ‘gentiles’, including the Nordic peoples. A lyþbiskuper has also been identified as a type of rural bishop (korbiskop) who was responsible for a district of countryside until at least the sixth century and possibly as late as the ninth. These were bishops without a fixed see and who assisted with consecrations and acted on the behalf of the ordinary bishops when the latter were unavailable.


archbishop OSw KrL Kgb
OSw MEL Kgb

bishop ONorw FrL Intr 1
OSw KrL Kgb
OSw MEL Kgb

people’s bishop OSw SdmL Kgb
suffragan bishop OIce Js Kdb 3 Mah 7
ONorw MLL Llb 20
Refs:

Brink 2010a; CV s.v. ljóðbiskup; Fritzner s.v. ljóðbiskup; Hertzberg s.v. ljóðbiskup; Keyser 1856, 142; KLNM s.v. ærkebiskop; Magnús Már Lárusson 1956; NF s.v. korbiskopar; ODS s.v. lydbiskop; Rietz 1962 s.v. löid; SAOB s.v. lyd; von See 1964, 60

Citation
  • ‘lyþbiskuper’. A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law.

  • http://www.dhi.ac.uk/lmnl/nordicheadword/displayPage/3428
    (02/10/2025)