Iceland Court Records

Court Records (Þingbækur, Dómsbækur)
These are records of civil proceedings which include marriage settlements, disputes between executors, property and land settlements, real estate transactions, and so forth; also include criminal offences against the crown whereby property could be confiscated. They can be used to locate persons to places of residence with relationships.These records are of greatest value before 1800 when many parish church books were not yet being kept or were incomplete. The earliest records date from 1597 to 1612; a few records date from the mid-1600s; The majority of preserved court records do not start until the early 1700s and continue to 1805. They contain transcriptions of civil and criminal action containing names of persons involved, relationships, if any, to other persons mentioned, places of residence, dates; personal, legal, and moral circumstances.

Diplomatarium Islandicum
This is a collection of transcripts of old documents published by the Íslenzkt Fornbréfasafn. These records identify names of individuals to places of residence; they also document events in the lives of early officials. They contain judgements and case reports from early courts, appointments of various governmental officials and correspondence between them. The records date from 834 to 1580.