Gardar, the 'capital' of the Norse settlements…
1406 CE
Gardar, the 'capital' of the Norse settlements in Greenland, had been the seat of the bishop of Greenland.After the death of bishop Árni in 1347 it had taken a long time for the next bishop to arrive, mainly due to the worsening communications.
Bishop Álfur, ordained in 1368, had served as last bishop of Garðar until 1378, when there are to be no more bishops here.
Trade ships from Iceland and Norway had for centuries traveled to Greenland every year and would sometimes overwinter in Greenland.
(From the late thirteenth century, all ships were forced by law to sail directly to Norway.)
The last reported ship to reach Greenland is a private ship that had been "blown off course", reaching Greenland in 1406.
(After 1408, when a marriage will be recorded in Hvalsey, no written records mention the settlers.
It is probable that the Eastern Settlement was defunct by the late fifteenth century although no exact date has been established.)