ARASON, Jón. — Last Catholic bishop of Iceland, b. 1484, d. Nov. 7, 1550. He was consecrated bishop of Hólar in 1524. In 1538, when Christian III, king of Denmark, sought to introduce Protestantism into Iceland, he strove in every way to combat the Lutheran heresy, supported in this by Pope Paul III, from whom he also received a letter of encouragement. But after long and bloody struggles, A. was thrown into prison and then condemned to death by the Lutheran bishop Matthæus Einarsson without a regular trial, together with two of his sons. Though little observant of celibacy, the people venerated him as a martyr as long as Catholicism could survive in Iceland.
BIBL.: C. A. Munch, *Det Norske Folks Historie*, Kristiana 1859–63; E. A. Wang, s. V. in *The Catholic Encyclopedia*, I, New York 1907, p. 678.