Gottfried V (Isle of Man)

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The Kingdom of the Islands around 1200. Red the islands that remained under Gottfried's rule, yellow the islands that fell to Somerled.

Gottfried V (also Godred ; Guthfrith ; Gofraid or Guðrøðr Óláfsson ) († November 10, 1187 on St. Patrick's Isle ) was a king of Man and the islands and temporarily also king of Dublin .

origin

Gottfried came from the originally Scandinavian family of the Godfreysons . He was a son of King Olaf the Red , his mother was probably Affreca , his father's second wife.

Assumption of power in the Kingdom of the Isles

When his father saw his kingdom threatened by the Scottish King David I in 1152 , he sent Gottfried to Norway. There he should swear allegiance to the Norwegian King Sigurd and thus place the kingdom of the islands under his protection. During his absence, his father was murdered in 1153 by three of his nephews, who subsequently attempted an invasion of Galloway and failed. Then Gottfried was able to return to Man in the autumn of 1153 . He captured his father's murderers and had them executed. Then he could take control of Man and the Kingdom of the Isles.

Conflict with Somerled

Gottfried's rule was threatened by his brother-in-law Somerled . Somerled defeated Gottfried in open battle in 1156, but without being able to beat him decisively. Gottfried then left him rule over a large part of the West Scottish islands, especially the islands around Mull and Islay . He himself only retained the royal dignity, rule over Man and the northern islands of the Hebrides . Perhaps because of the conflict with Somerled, Gottfried had sought an alliance with the English King Henry II , who supported him several times from 1156 with small sums of money. Nevertheless, he continued to recognize the supremacy of the Norwegian kings. This recognition of Norwegian sovereignty led Pope Anastasius IV to subordinate the diocese of Sodor and Man to the Norwegian Archbishop of Trondheim as a metropolitan in 1154 . In 1158 Gottfried lost another battle against Somerled. He fled to Scotland, visited the Scottish King Malcolm IV in Roxburgh and traveled from there to Norway. He apparently did not return to Man from Norway until 1164, presumably after Somerled had died.

Gottfried's name in a medieval manuscript

Later rule

During Gottfried's absence, his half-brother Ragnvald had taken control of Man. When Gottfried returned with troops from Norway, he took Ragnvald prisoner and had him blinded and emasculated . After his return, Gottfried married Fingola (also Phingola ), a granddaughter of the Irish king Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn . The marriage was officially concluded by the papal legate Cardinal Vivian in the winter of 1166/77 . By marriage, Gottfried came into possession of Dublin , which was conquered by the Anglo-Norman in 1170 . Gottfried supported the Irish in their fight against the Anglo-Norman conquerors, before he finally switched sides and allied himself with the Anglo-Norman Baron John de Courcy , who had conquered Ulster . To strengthen the alliance, Courcy married Affreca , a daughter of Gottfried.

In his last years Gottfried no longer lived mainly on Man, but on another of his islands, possibly Iona or Arran . He granted the monks of Holme Cultram Abbey in Cumberland free access to man and exemption from duties and fees. He donated land near Douglas to the Priory of St Bees in Copeland . He was not buried in Iona Abbey until the summer after his death .

progeny

Gottfried had at least one legitimate son with his wife Fingola:

He also had several illegitimate children. Gottfried had tried to appoint his son Olaf as his successor because he was married. But since he was still too young, his illegitimate son Ragnvald became his heir after Gottfried's death .

Web links

Commons : Guðrøðr Óláfsson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ AW Moore: A History of the Isle of Man . Vol. 1., Fisher Unwin, London 1900, p. 110.
  2. ^ AW Moore: A History of the Isle of Man . Vol. 1., Fisher Unwin, London 1900, p. 111.
  3. ^ Archibald AM Duncan: Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (The Edinburgh History of Scotland; Vol. I ). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1975. ISBN 0-05-00203-7-4 , p. 167.
  4. ^ AW Moore: A History of the Isle of Man . Vol. 1., Fisher Unwin, London 1900, p. 115.
predecessor Office successor
Olaf I. King of Mann
1154-1185 		Ragnvald I.
personal data
SURNAME Gottfried V.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Godred; Guthfrith; Gofraid Óláfsson; Guðrøðr Óláfsson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Man and the Isles
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH November 10, 1187
Place of death St. Patrick's Isle