History of Ireland (800–1536)
This article covers the history of Ireland from 800 to 1536 .
Irish society before the Vikings
The early Middle Ages (in Ireland from 800 to 1166) were shaped by the raids of the Vikings , their settlement and the emergence of the first cities. Ireland was divided into many small kingdoms, the so-called tuaithe (singular: tuath ). At the head was the ri tuath , a king who was elected either by a ruling family or by sliocht (ie all free men of the tuath ). All men with land ownership, workers and craftsmen formed an assembly ( oenach ). The land of a tuath did not belong to the king, but to all the free families who lived on it, and who paid the king for it and stood by him in the event of war. There were 80-100 tuatha (clans) co-existing.
The more powerful provincial kings ( ri ruireach ) stood above the tuaithe , such as B. the Uí Néill clan in Tir Eoghan ( Uladh province ; today: Ulster). Still, Gaelic-Irish society was not egalitarian - the highest class, the kings, were considered nemed (holy). The kings did not do any physical labor as it was beneath their dignity ( enech ). Due to the electoral system for the successor, there were often fights between possible successors. In addition to the kings, the pagan clerics and poets were also considered "holy". Below these classes were the landowners. At the bottom of the social ladder were the " unfree " workers who had no political rights. Ireland was almost completely rural before the Vikings came to the island and changed a lot.
The Vikings
The first recorded Viking raids occurred in 795 when Vikings from Norway plundered Lambay Island (off Dublin's coast). These early raids were usually quick, local, and ended the age of early Christian Irish culture. This was followed by waves of Viking plundering that lasted over 200 years, particularly attacking the monasteries. Most of the early "predators" came from the fjords of western Norway and are believed to have come from the Shetland Islands and Orkney . From there it went to the Atlantic coast of Scotland and finally to Ireland. During these early raids, the Vikings also reached the west coast of Ireland with Inishmurray and the Skellig Islands .
Viking settlements in Ireland
Both Ireland and England and Scotland were hit by the Viking raids in the first half of the 9th century. Little by little, the Vikings began to establish bases on the Irish coast. At first they only spent the winter months there. Scandinavian settlements followed. The first were the present-day cities of Waterford , Wexford and of course Dublin - the finds from excavations near Kilmainham proved the presence of the Scandinavians at this time. Written evidence of this epoch shows that they advanced from their coastal settlements (often across the rivers) into the interior, carried out raids there and then withdrew to the coastal settlements.
Thorgest ( lat. Turgesius ) was the first Norman who tried to establish his own kingdom in Ireland. In 839 he crossed the Shannon and Bann rivers to Armagh , where he conquered an area that included parts of Ulster , Connacht and Meath . In 845 Thorgest was captured by Maelsechlainn I (King of Mide ) and probably drowned in Lough Owel . In 848 Maelsechlainn - now classified as the Hochkönig - defeated a Nordic army at Sciath Nechtain . By claiming that his fight was also being waged in the name of Christianity against the pagans, he asked for the support of the Frankish ruler Charles the Bald - albeit without success.
In the year 851 there were clashes between the "Fingall" (Norwegian) and "Dubhgall" (Danish) Vikings near Dundalk Bay . In 852 the Normans Ivar Ragnarsson and Olaf the White landed in Dublin and expanded the settlement, which had existed since 841, into a fortress in the area of today's city. Olaf the White was the son of a Norwegian king and was crowned King of Dublin. This is generally considered to be the founding of Dublin, even if Greek and Roman writings tell of a settlement in the same place called Eblana (or Deblana ) as early as the 1st century . Ivar succeeded Olaf, and after Olaf's death an insecurity arose in the Kingdom of Dublin, which led many Vikings to relocate to England or France. In addition to Dublin, the Vikings also founded four other coastal towns, and over time the Irish and Nordic populations mixed more and more and the so-called Gall-Gaels emerged ( Gall was the Irish word for foreigners). The Nordic influence can be found in many Irish royal names that go back to Nordic names, e.g. B. Magnus, Lochlann or Sitric. Even DNA -Untersuchungen in the coastal cities demonstrate this mixing today.
In 914 a new wave of attacks by the Normans (also known as the Northmen) began - this time from the south coast, where they established a new settlement in Waterford . From there, raids were carried out all over southern Ireland. The descendants of Ivar Beinlaus also carried out raids from Dublin and conquered a large part of the island. Their supremacy was only ended by the allied forces of Maelsechlainn II (King of Meath) and Brian Boru in the years up to 1014. In the late 10th century, Brian Boru, a descendant of a Munster clan , achieved enough influence that he was given the title of ard righ (high king). Boru and his allies defeated a joint army of Vikings and natives at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Although Boru did not survive this battle, it broke Norman supremacy in Ireland. Little by little they were absorbed by the local population. Boru's descendants failed in their attempt to establish an all-Irish state, and the subsequent territorial disputes indirectly led to the invasion of the Normans under Strongbow in 1169.
The church reform
At the beginning of the first millennium, the monasteries of Ireland, which had been largely secularized since the seventh century, performed spiritual tasks. They were guardians of traditional learning and performed useful functions. The rapidly growing Viking city of Dublin set reforms in motion in Ireland. Founded by King Sigtrygg in 1038 , the church became a cathedral and needed a bishop . However, the city did not want any ties to the Irish monastic system and decided to have its bishop ordained by the Archbishop of Canterbury . Dublin became a suffragan of Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury Lanfrank von Bec (1070-1089) wrote a letter to King Turlough O'Brien , in which he exhorted him to suspend the common practice of divorce and to end the simony , so no ecclesiastical offices for money forgive. When Turlough's son appeared before the Cashel Synod in 1101 , he avoided the subject of divorce. The assembled synods were based on the model of the Franks before the Hildebrand reform - also from the laity. In the face of this blow by the reformers against the deeply rooted Irish legal system, he wanted to prevent overreaction.
The most spectacular event was the presentation of the Rock of Cashel as a gift to the church. The Synod tried to bring the Irish Church into harmony with Rome through prohibitions
- the simony ,
- marriage between blood relatives,
- the existence of two lines of one church,
- the church leadership by lay people.
These bans were a disaster for the ancient Irish culture. The Synod of Rathbreasail divided Ireland, following the example of the Archbishopric of Canterbury and York in England, into the dioceses of Armagh for the north and Cashel for the south. For the first time, the Irish church structure corresponded to the European model.
With the death of Muircheartach O'Brien in 1119, Armagh spearheaded reform. In 1134 Malachias took over the archbishopric. In Bangor he had built one of the last wooden chapels. At the same time, it is clear that the first stone church on the island of Illaunloughan was built between 640 and 790. He strove for the approval of Rome to the reforms introduced in Rathbreasail 1111. In 1139 he set off for Rome, where he asked the Pope for the pallium , the symbol of the metropolitan dignity conferred by the Pope , for the Archbishops of Armagh and Cashel. Ultimately, however, of more decisive importance for Ireland was his visit to two monasteries in France: Arrouaise , where he learned the Augustinian rules of the order, and Clairvaux , where a deep friendship with Bernhard von Clairvaux arose. Convinced that Malachias could serve the Church well, the Pope dismissed him without the requested pallia, but appointed Malachias papal legate and made him his deputy in Ireland.
With the help of Bernhard von Clairvaux and the French stonemasons he sent, Malachias built the first Cistercian abbey in Mellifont Abbey in County Louth . This first founding of a continental European monastery in Ireland, which was consecrated in 1157, was followed by others that played a paramount role in the ecclesiastical life of the country. Malachias himself died in Clairvaux in 1148 and was later canonized.
In 1152, a synod that paved the way for the Irish reform movement met in Kells . The papal legate, Cardinal Giovanni Paparoni († around 1153/54), not only brought pallies for Armagh and Cashel, but also one each for Dublin and Tuam . The synod made corrections to the organizational structure and the jurisdiction boundaries of the dioceses, endeavored to abolish the widespread cohabitation and paid baptism, and issued a ban on accepting payments for church property as well as the request to pay tithes on time. The Kells decisions had a lasting impact on the reform movement. The work was continued by the later canonized Lorcan O'Toole (called Laurentius), who was Abbot of Glendalough from 1153 and Archbishop of Dublin from 1161 and convened the Synod of Clonfert in 1179 . Ireland had been occupied by Anglo-Norman troops since 1169 and the English king prevented the archbishop, who was in England, from returning to Ireland. Laurentius died in Normandy in 1180.
The arrival of the Normans (1167–1185)
At the beginning of the 12th century, Ireland still consisted politically of a multitude of small kingdoms and overkingdoms . Power was in the hands of regional dynasties who fought for supremacy in the country. The northern Uí Néill ruled roughly the area of today's Ulster, the southern Uí Néill were the kings of Brega (Meath). The kingdom of Leinster was ruled by the Uí Cheinnselaigh, the relatively new kingdom of Osraige between Leinster and Munster by the Mac Giolla Phádraig family, Munster largely by the Mac Cartaig, the successors Brian Borus and Connaigh largely by the Uught Chonchubhair.
After the loss of protection from Hochkönig Muirchertach MacLochlainn (by his death in 1166), the King of Leinster Dermot MacMurrough (or Diarmuid MacMorrough ) was forcibly banished by an allied force under the new High King Ruaidhrí Ua Conchobair (or Rory O'Connor ). Diarmait fled first to Bristol , then to Aquitaine and finally received permission from Henry II to recapture his kingdom with his subjects. In 1167 Dermot was able to win the support of Maurice FitzGerald and later persuade the Prince of Deheubarth (Kingdom in southern Wales ) to pardon Maurice's half-brother Robert FitzStephen , so that he could take part in his journey. But most important of all was the support of Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , better known as Strongbow .
The first Norman fighter to set foot in Ireland was Richard Fitz Godbert de Roche in 1167, but it was not until 1169 that the main forces of the joint army of Normans, Welsh and Flemings landed in County Wexford . Within a very short time Leinster was retaken and Dublin and Waterford were under the control of Diarmait. Strongbow became the heir to the throne of his new kingdom. However, this development upset Henry II, who feared a rival Norman state in Ireland. Then he traveled to Leinster to demonstrate his authority.
The papal bull and Henry's invasion
Pope Hadrian IV (the first English pope ) had already authorized Henry II in one of his first cops in 1155 to invade Ireland to fight church corruption and abuse . Henry landed at Waterford with a large fleet in 1171 and was the first English king to set foot on Irish soil. Both Waterford and Dublin were declared royal cities. Hadrian's successor (Pope Alexander III ) ratified Henry II's claim to Irish soil in 1172. Henry II gave his Irish lands to his youngest son John , who was given the title Dominus Hiberniae (Lord of Ireland). When John succeeded his father as King of England after the death of his older brothers, the title fell directly under the influence of the English crown.
Heinrich was recognized by most of the Irish kings, who saw in him a chance to stop the expansion of Leinster by the Hiberno-Normans. This led to the ratification of the Treaty of Windsor in 1175 between Henry and Ruaidhrí. But with the deaths of Strongbow (1176) and Diarmuid (1171), the return of Henry to England and the inability of Ruaidhrí to curb his vassals, the contract had become almost worthless within two years. In 1177 John de Courcy invaded Ireland and conquered much of eastern Ulster. Raymond le Gros had already taken Limerick by then and controlled northern Munster, while other Norman families such as B. Prendergast, fitz Stephen, fitz Gerald or fitz Heinrich already planned their own virtual kingdoms. The barons secured their possessions with castles that can still be seen from afar , and began to take possession of other parts of Ireland.
Lordship of Ireland
The small number of conquerors, also due to Anglo-Norman interests elsewhere (Scotland, France), made Norman-Irish cooperation necessary. The Anglo-Normans therefore limited themselves to the deposition of the Irish clan chiefs and tried to gain acceptance by the local population (ie Irish and Vikings) in the occupied territories. The following decades saw the consolidation of Anglo-Norman supremacy, with the administration of Ireland (especially under King John Ohneland ( John Lackland ), 1199-1216) and the founding of many cities. Many of Ireland's major cathedrals date from this period.
The most powerful force in the country were the great Anglo-Norman counts, like those of the Geraldines, the Butlers or the Burkes, who controlled large areas that were almost independent of the governments in Dublin or London . The Lord of Ireland (hence the name Lordship of Ireland ) was King John, who during his visits in 1185 and 1210 helped to secure the Norman territories militarily and administratively. He also managed to bring various Irish kings under his feudal oath, e.g. B. Cathal Crobderg et al . Conchobair . According to its name, the Lordship of Ireland (which lasted until 1541) was an island-wide Irish state - but in reality the area of rule was limited to the Pale , the area around present-day Dublin, in addition to some Norman strongholds .
The Anglo-Normans suffered a series of setbacks that limited their expansion, settlement policy and power. First, a series of rebellions were initiated by Gaelic chiefs who tied up resources and in some cases even conquered territories. Furthermore, the support of Heinrich III dried up . and his successor Edward I (who was more concerned with matters in England, Wales and Scotland), so that the Norman colonists received no (or little) supplies from England. And ultimately the Norman position was weakened by quarrels within their own ranks. The division of lands between several sons split the land into weaker units (the Leinster Marshalls even divided a county into five in one case).
Gaelic Resistance, Fall of the Normans (1254–1536)
At this time a unified Irish movement emerged for the first time, which was also able to record some military successes (1261 with Callan , 1270 with Carick-on-Shannon).
In the 14th century, Hiberno-Norman Ireland was rocked by three incidents:
- The incursion of the Scottish Edward Bruce into Ireland , through which many of the Irish lords allied against the English presence in 1315. Although Edward Bruce was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Faughart (near Dundalk ), his troops caused considerable damage, especially in the densely populated area around Dublin. In this chaotic situation, the Irish lords were able to recapture large parts of the land they had lost when they conquered the Normans.
- The assassination of William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster in June 1333 led to the division of his country into three parts by his relatives. The area in Connacht rebelled openly against the Crown and allied with the Irish - virtually the entire area west of the Shannon was lost to the Hiberno-Normans. It would be more than two hundred years before the Burkes (as they were then called) rejoined the Dublin administration.
- The third disaster for the medieval English presence in Ireland was the plague , which reached Ireland in 1348. Since the English and Norman residents mainly lived in small towns and villages, the plague hit them much harder than the native Irish, who lived in widely scattered rural settlements. A depiction of the monastery in Kilkenny described the plague as the beginning of the end of the world. After the plague raged on the Irish island, the Irish were again in the upper power and the Irish language and its customs dominated. The area dominated by England had shrunk to the so-called Pale - a fortified area around Dublin.
Outside the Pale , the Hiberno-Norman lords took gradually the Irish language and Irish customs - they were as the Old English ( Old English ) known and it is said they were more Irish than the Irish . In the following centuries the Lords allied themselves in various political and military confrontations with the Irish against the English and remained Catholic even after the Reformation . The rulers of the Pale were so afraid before Gälisierung that in 1366 it in the Parliament of Kilkenny some laws (the so-called Statutes of Kilkenny issued), which forbade it to the English-born Lords, Irish speaking to wear Irish clothes or to marry Irish descent. However, since the government in Dublin had little authority, the statutes outside the Pale had almost no consequences.
In the 15th century, this trend of Gaelicisation remained unbroken - it even picked up speed . The central English authority in Ireland disappeared, which was also due to the fact that the English crown was otherwise occupied with the War of the Roses .
The dwindling central power in the colony meant that a number of important Irish kingdoms and lordships emerged in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, between which various border shifts took place until the 1500s.
See also
literature
- Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (Ed.): A New History of Ireland . tape 1 . Oxford et al. 2005.
- Art Cosgrove (Ed.): A New History of Ireland . tape 2 . Oxford et al. 1987.
- Raimund Karl: Segmentary Societies or Feudal States? The Irish Early Middle Ages and the Interpretation of the Archaeological Findings . In: Stefan Burmeister, Nils Müller-Scheeßel (Hrsg.): Social groups - cultural borders: The interpretation of social identities in prehistoric archeology . Waxmann, Münster 2006, ISBN 3-8309-1651-5 , pp. 233-256 .
- Michael Richter: Ireland in the Middle Ages. Culture and history . Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-40481-2 .