Ragnvald I. (Isle of Man)

Ragnvald's name on a medieval document

Ragnvald Godfreyson (also Rögnvaldr , Reginald , Ragnall , Ranald or Ragnald ) (* around 1160; † April 14, 1229 near Tynwald ) was a king of the Isle of Man .

Origin and accession to the throne

Ragnvald came from the originally Scandinavian family of the Godfreysons . He was the eldest, but illegitimate, son of King Gottfried V. According to a poem later written in his honor, his mother's name was Sadb and probably came from Ireland. As King of the Isle of Man , his father was under the sovereignty of the Norwegian kings. In addition to Man, his empire included the islands of the Outer Hebrides . Ragnvald's father wanted to bequeath his throne to his legitimate but younger son Olaf . When he died in 1187, Ragnvald was not on Man. The inhabitants of Man offered him the crown because he seemed to them as a respected warrior as the better ruler than the young Olaf. Ragnvald finally left the island of Lewis in northern Scotland to Olaf , which, however, remained under his suzerainty.

Alliance with Rhodri from Owain

Ragnvald married one of his daughters, whose name has not been recorded, to Rhodri ab Owain , the prince of the Welsh principality of Gwynedd . With military support from Ragnvald, Rhodri was able to conquer the island of Anglesey during the power struggles in Gwynedd in 1193 . However, he was defeated a little later and died in 1195. After his death Ragnvald tried in vain to marry off his daughter to Rhodri's nephew Llywelyn from Iorwerth .

Relationship to the Scottish King Wilhelm I.

The Scottish King William the Lion appointed Ragnvald Earl of Caithness, probably in 1198 , in conflict with the North Scottish magnate Harald Maddadsson , Earl of Caithness . Ragnvald promised to pay an annual tribute for it. He gathered an army on the West Scottish Isles, Kintyre and Ireland with which he conquered Caithness . Harald Maddadsson withdrew to the Orkneys , which were also under his rule . Ragnvald left three stewards in Caithness, but they could not hold their own against Harald Maddadsson on his return to Man. In 1202 Harald Madadssson submitted to the Scottish King and thus officially got Caithness back. Around 1208 Ragnvald took his brother Olaf prisoner after he had rebelled against him. Ragnvald handed Olaf over to the Scottish king, who kept him captive until his death in 1214.

Man and the surrounding empires at the time of Ragnald I.

Involvement in power struggles in Ireland, Ireland and relationship with Norway

In 1204 the Anglo-Irish Baron John de Courcy was expelled from Ulster , Northern Ireland by Hugh de Lacy . Courcy sought refuge with his brother-in-law Ragnvald on Man. The following year Ragnvald and Courcy tried unsuccessfully to retake Ulster. Their force was defeated by Walter de Lacy. In February 1205 Ragnvald received safe conduct from the English King John Ohneland for a trip to England. For the English king Man was of great strategic importance because of its location between England and Ireland, and he therefore tried to expand his influence in the region. Ragnvald traveled to England, where he the king in gratitude for his homage and for his services possessions in Lancashire as a fief was. After a Norwegian fleet attacked and sacked the West Scottish islands from 1209 to 1210, Ragnvald was forced to submit to the Norwegian King Inge . In 1210 he traveled with his son Godred Don to Norway, where he swore allegiance to the king as his overlord and paid tribute to him. While Ragnvald was in Norway, the English King John undertook a campaign to Ireland against the rebelling barons Hugh de Lacy and William Braose . Braose's family fled Ireland briefly to Man. Thereupon Johann sent a fleet to Man, which plundered the island. In 1212 Ragnvald paid homage again to King John, who then gave him land from a Knight's Fee at Carlingford in Louth, Ireland as a fief. To do this, the king asked his officials to support Ragnvald in the fight against his opponents. In 1214 the King forbade Irish sailors to land on the Ragnvald estates. After the war of the barons against the king in England , Ragnvald was assured of safe conduct so that he could come to the English royal court. There he was supposed to answer for the excesses of his warriors during the war in Ireland and England. Before September 1219, Ragnvald actually came to England and paid homage to the new King Henry III. At the same time, however, he offered his kingdom to the Pope as a fief and declared that he was not subject to anyone else. Pope Honorius III accepted this offer . 1223 and placed Ragnvald's kingdom under his protection. In return, Ragnvald paid him an annual tribute of twelve marks . In November 1220, Ragnvald reported to Henry III. That the Norwegian King Håkon IV was threatening his kingdom, whereupon the king ordered the Justiciar of Ireland to protect Ragnvald's kingdom against attacks by the Norwegians.

Man and the Kingdom of the Islands around 1200. The islands belonging to the Kingdom of Man in purple, the areas ruled by the descendants of Somerled in yellow .

Conflict with his brother Olaf the Black

Ragnvald had left the island of Lewis to his brother Olaf after his release in 1214 and arranged for Olaf's marriage to a daughter of a nobleman from Kintyre . She was a sister of Ragnvald's own wife. In 1223 Ragnvald's brother Olaf disowned his wife and instead married a daughter of the north Scottish magnate Ferchar von Ross . Ragnvald's son Godred Don then tried to take Olaf prisoner. But Olaf took him prisoner himself and had him blinded and mutilated. In the summer of 1224, Olaf landed on Man at Ronaldsway with Ferchar's assistance . Given the overwhelming power, Ragnvald was forced to share his empire with his brother. He was allowed to keep a few other smaller islands and the title of king in addition to Man, while Olaf took control of Lewis and the other northern Scottish islands. Now Ragnvald allied himself with the Scottish magnate Alan, Lord of Galloway and tried with his help to recapture his empire. This alliance with the previous rival from Galloway estranged Ragnvald with the inhabitants of the Isle of Man. In 1225 he had to break off his campaign against Olaf because the inhabitants of Man refused to fight against him. Shortly thereafter, Ragnvald married one of his daughters to Thomas , the only but illegitimate son of Alan of Galloway. As a result, the people of Man feared that the island would fall to Galloway. They rebelled against Ragnvald in 1226 and offered the crown to Olaf, who then occupied Man. Ragnvald fled to England. In April 1228 the English king promised Olaf safe conduct so that he could come to England to be reconciled with Ragnvald. But the same year Olaf was away from Man, Ragnvald sacked the island with the help of a Galloway fleet. Thereupon Olaf returned to Man and was able to put Ragnvald and his supporters from Galloway to flight. The following winter, Ragnvald returned to Man unexpectedly and with support from Galloway. He was able to secure control of the southern part of Man, while Olaf withdrew to the northern part of the island. On April 14, 1229 there was a battle between the armies of the two brothers at Tynwald , the Thingstätte of Man, in which Ragnvald was killed.

Succession

Ragnvald's body was brought to Cumbria by the monks of the Rushen Priory , where Ragnvald chose Furness Abbey as his burial place while he was still alive . He is also said to have founded the Cistercian priory of St Mary's in Douglas on Man. He left at least one legitimate son, Godred Don. Although he was mutilated by Olaf in 1223, he briefly succeeded his father as ruler of Man before Olaf took over rule in 1230. However, since Alan of Galloway also claimed control of the island for his son Thomas, war broke out again .

Web links

Commons : Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Seán Duffy: Ragnvald [Rögnvaldr, Reginald, Ragnall] (d. 1229). 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. ↑ 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. 31.
2. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 74.
3. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 76.
4. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 78.

predecessor	Office	successor
Gottfried V.	King of Mann 1187-1229	Olaf II.