John Haraldson, Earl of Caithness

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John Haraldson, Earl of Caithness and Jarl of Orkney († 1231 in Thurso ) was a Norwegian-Scottish nobleman.

origin

John was a younger son of Harald Maddadsson, Earl of Caithness and Orkney and his wife Gormlath MacHeth . His father had his older brother Thorfinn hostage the Scottish king William I passed. After Earl Harald attacked Bishop John of Caithness in 1201 , Thorfinn was blinded and emasculated . Subsequently, after the death of Earl Harald in 1206, Caithness was divided between John and his brother David , until after the death of David in 1214 all of Caithness fell to John.

Earl of Caithness and Jarl of Orkney

As Earl of Caithness John was subject to the Scottish kings, as Earl or Jarl of Orkney to the Norwegian kings. However, due to the remoteness of these areas, he has so far been able to maintain greater autonomy from both rulers. In 1214 the MacWilliam clan revolted against the Scottish King William I in Moray . The family of John's mother, the MacHeths , had supported the MacWilliams in an earlier rebellion, but despite the fate of his brother Thorfinn, there is no evidence that John was involved in the revolt. Nevertheless, he had to hand one of his daughters over to the king as a hostage. The king was allowed to marry the daughter to one of his vassals, and for that John had to make an alliance with the king. With whom the daughter was married is unknown. She may have been married to a member of the Earl of Angus's family, who later received the titles from John. As late as 1214, the old King William is said to have met with John in Moray to consolidate royal authority in northern Scotland. John's father's old argument with Bishop John, which escalated in 1201, may have contributed to John having a bitter argument with Adam , Bishop John's successor. The bishop tried to take over the privileges of the church in the Nordic region of Caithness. He increased the levy on butter and cheese, which the residents were supposed to pay as tithing , which was rejected by the residents and the earl. The conflict escalated in 1222, with the bishop murdered by Earl John's tenants. According to one account, Earl John is said to have killed the chaplain in the presence of the bishop and used the bishop's nephew. Then he had the bishop handcuffed, locked him in the kitchen, and set the house on fire. King Alexander II punished the crime severely. He led a campaign to Caithness in 1223 and had the tenants involved in the murder punished. The king appointed Gilbert de Moravia , a member of the noble Murray family , as the new bishop . Bishop Gilbert moved the seat of the diocese of Caithness from Halkirk to Dornoch in Sutherland , for this he was supported by his relatives, the Lord of Sutherland, who was loyal to the king . Earl John tried unsuccessfully to prevent the bishop's policies in order to maintain control of the diocese.

Death and succession

In 1231, John was murdered by rivals, and since he had no surviving sons, his successor was unclear. His murderers were brought to Bergen by numerous nobles in the summer of 1232 for a trial before the King of Norway, the overlord of Orkney. They drowned in the autumn of 1232 when their ship, the Gödingaskip , sank on the way back from Norway to the Orkneys. John's titles eventually fell to Magnus , a relative of the Earl of Angus .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b 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. 194.
  2. ↑ a b Barbara E. Crawford: The Earldom of Caithness and the kingdom of Scotland, 1150-1266 . In: KJ Stringer (Ed.): Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland , John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-85976-113-4 , p. 34.
  3. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 18.
  4. ↑ Barbara E. Crawford: The Earldom of Caithness and the kingdom of Scotland, 1150-1266 . In: KJ Stringer (Ed.): Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland , John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-85976-113-4 , p. 33.
  5. ↑ Barbara E. Crawford: The Earldom of Caithness and the kingdom of Scotland, 1150-1266 . In: KJ Stringer (Ed.): Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland , John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-85976-113-4 , p. 28.
  6. ^ A b Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 29.
  7. ↑ Barbara E. Crawford: The Earldom of Caithness and the kingdom of Scotland, 1150-1266 . In: KJ Stringer (Ed.): Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland , John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-85976-113-4 , p. 29.
  8. ↑ Barbara E. Crawford: The Earldom of Caithness and the kingdom of Scotland, 1150-1266 . In: KJ Stringer (Ed.): Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland , John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-85976-113-4 , p. 30.
predecessor Office successor
Harald Maddadsson Jarl of Orkney
Earl of Caithness
1206–1231
(1206–1214 with David ) 		vacant
(from 1235/6 Magnus of Angus )
personal data
SURNAME John Haraldson, Earl of Caithness
ALTERNATIVE NAMES John, Earl of Caithness and Jarl of Orkney; John Haralson, Earl of Caithness and Jarl of Orkney; John Haraldson, Earl of Caithness and Earl of Orkney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian-Scottish nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH 1231
Place of death Thurso