Olaf I. (Isle of Man)

Man and the British Isles at the time of Olaf I.

Olaf I. (also Óláf , Óláfr Bitlingr or Óláfr Guðrøðarson ) († June 29, 1153 ) was a king of Man and the islands .

Origin and heritage

Olaf was the third son of Godred Crovan , who is believed to have conquered the Isle of Man in 1079 . After the death of his father in 1095, his eldest brother Lagman first became King of Man, who, however, had to hand over the rule to the Norwegian King Magnus Barefoot a short time later . After the death of Magnus Barfuß in 1103, his young son and heir Sigurd returned to Norway, so that Olaf could take over the rule of the Isle of Man and the Kingdom of the Islands . The beginning of his rule is considered uncertain, the information ranges from 1102 to about ten years later.

King of Man and the Isles

Olaf is said to have succeeded as a king not only having a good relationship with the English kings, but also all Irish and Scottish kings are said to have been his allies. Nobody is said to have dared to disturb the peace in the Kingdom of the Isles during their long reign. But there is no evidence that before 1152 he swore allegiance to the Norwegian kings, who were nominally overlords of the Kingdom of the Isles. Only when he saw his empire threatened by the Scottish King David I in 1152 did he send his son Godred to the Norwegian King Sigurd II. Olaf had founded the Cistercian monastery of Rushen Abbey on Man in 1134 as a daughter monastery of Furness Abbey in Lancashire . He gave the monks of Furness the right to elect the bishop of the islands . In 1153, his brother Harald's three sons, who had grown up in Dublin , landed on Man with an army. They murdered Olaf, then tried unsuccessfully to conquer Galloway . After their failure, Olaf's son Godred succeeded his father.

Marriages and offspring

Olaf had married Ingebjorg , a daughter of Jarl Hákon Paulsson of Orkney († 1123) , in his first marriage . In his second marriage he married Affreca , a daughter of Fergus of Galloway . Affreca was believed to be the mother of his son Godred. Presumably he had numerous other children with various concubines. One of his daughters married Somerled , the Lord of Argyll.

Web links

Commons : Óláfr Guðrøðarson (died 1153)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Seán Duffy: Óláf [Óláfr Bitlingr, Óláfr Guðrøðarson] (d. 1153), king of Man and the Isles. In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

1. ^ AW Moore: A History of the Isle of Man . Vol. 1., Fisher Unwin, London 1900, p. 108.
2. ^ AW Moore: A History of the Isle of Man . Vol. 1., Fisher Unwin, London 1900, p. 109.

predecessor	Office	successor
Magnus	King of Mann before 1113–1153	Godred