Kingdom of Mann and the Isles

Who rules

Name

Rognvald son of Godred (Rognvaldr Gudrodarson, Ragnvald, called Reginald in English sources)

Title

King of Mann and the Isles (rex Manniae et Insularum)

Since

1187, chosen by the Manx on the death of his father Godred (10 November 1187) over his younger, legitimate half-brother Olaf, who was a child

Born

Not pinned; 'a hardy young man' in 1187, so probably born in the 1160s

Family

Son of Godred Olafsson, king of Mann (died 1187); his mother is uncertain (Olaf later called him a bastard). Half-brother: Olaf the Black (Oláfr Gudrodarson, born about 1177), to whom Rognvald gave Lewis. Wife: a daughter of a 'nobleman of Kintyre', probably of Clann Somairle; Olaf was married to her sister Lauon. Son: Godred Don (Gudrodr Dond), a child. A daughter was the widow of Rhodri ab Owain of Gwynedd (died 1195), and a match with Llywelyn ap Iorwerth was being sought (papal approval April 1203, revoked February 1205). Sister: Affrica, wife of John de Courcy, conqueror of Ulster.

Confidence

medium

The Orkneyinga saga calls him the greatest warrior in the western lands, who spent three years on his longships without sleeping under a sooty roof. About 1200 (exact year not pinned) William the Lion asked or sold him Caithness; Rognvald came with men of the Isles, Kintyre and Ireland, subdued Caithness and left three stewards there (see Caithness).

Overlord

The king of Norway in name (the Isles kings owed a gift on accession); Sverre, at war with the Baglers, asks nothing of him in 1200. No homage yet to John of England (that comes in 1205-1206 and 1212). An ally rather than a vassal of the king of Scots.

What the realm holds

• The Isle of Man, with the royal seat in the south (Castletown and Rushen) and St Patrick's Isle at Peel
• Skye and the Uists, Barra and the small northern isles under his authority
• Lewis and Harris, granted to his half-brother Olaf (date not pinned)
• The bishopric of the Isles (Sodor), under Nidaros: Bishop Michael (from the early 1190s, died 1203), backed by Rognvald
• Caithness, administered by his stewards for the king of Scots (about 1200; see Caithness)

How it was acquired

Hereditary in the line of Godred Crovan (who took Mann in 1079); Rognvald was chosen in 1187.

Allies and rivals

Allies: John de Courcy in Ulster (his sister's husband); William the Lion against Harald Maddadsson; the princes of Gwynedd by marriage. Rivals: his half-brother Olaf, who resents the poor share of Lewis; Somerled's heirs in the southern isles; Harald Maddadsson.

The realm that morning

Held by Rognvald, at the height of his power. His men may be holding Caithness for him this winter (see Caithness).

Wealth

Fish, cattle and sheep of Mann; the toll and tribute of the isles; the profits of war and hire in Ireland and the north; the Irish Sea trade with Dublin, Chester and Whitehaven. No figures.

Military

A galley-fleet: in 1205 the Chronicle of Mann says he brought a hundred ships to Ulster for de Courcy (a figure from that source). The fighting men of the isles and of Mann. No figure for 1200.

Threats

• Olaf's claim
• Harald Maddadsson's revenge for Caithness
• The fall of John de Courcy (which comes in 1204-1205)
• Norway's claim to tribute

Officers

Not pinned. The Tynwald (the assembly at Tynwald Hill) and the keys (the island's representatives) give law; the abbot of Rushen keeps the Chronicle of Mann.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1200-1201, not pinnedHarald Maddadsson kills or drives out Rognvald's stewards in Caithness.Depends on: Rognvald staying in the Isles and leaving the stewards unsupported Stopped by: Rognvald wintering in Caithness or a royal garrison at Thurso

Places of note

• Castletown and Rushen: The kings' seat in the south of Mann; Castle Rushen's first stone castle is usually dated about 1200 (not pinned)
• Rushen Abbey: Cistercian abbey (1134), where the Chronicle of Mann was kept
• Peel, St Patrick's Isle: Church and stronghold on the west coast
• Tynwald Hill: The assembly mound of Mann

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Chronicle of Mann, the Orkneyinga saga, Roger of Howden and the English records cover Rognvald well, but the chronology of 1195-1202 is not settled.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of the Kings of Mann and the Isles, Anonymous (monks of Rushen abbey, Mann) (about 1257, with continuations to 1316). The only native record of the kingdom of Mann and the Hebrides. Read online
• Saga of the Earls of Orkney, Anonymous (Icelandic) (about 1200 to 1230; surviving text mainly from Flateyjarbok, about 1390). The saga's last chapters are about Earl Harald Maddadsson, who in 1200 held Orkney under King Sverre of Norway and Caithness under William the Lion: his long rule, his quarrel with the Scottish king that cost him Caithness in 1196 to 1197, his recovery of it, and the maiming of Bishop John of Caithness and the king's revenge in 1201 to 1202. Read online
• The saga of King Sverre of Norway, Karl Jónsson and a continuator (begun about 1185 under Sverre's own supervision, completed about 1210 to 1220). The king's own authorised saga. Read online
• The Norwegian diplomatarium and the Norwegian regesta (documents of 1050 to 1590; Regesta vol. 1 covers 991 to 1263 and was published 1898). The Norwegian documents of the year are few and mostly papal: Innocent III's letters on Sverre's excommunication and the interdict, the correspondence of the exiled Archbishop Eirik and the bishops, and a handful of church grants. Read online
• Early Sources of Scottish History, Various; collected and translated by A. O. Anderson (sources of the 6th to 13th centuries; collection published 1922). The quickest way to every non-English witness to Scotland and the Isles in 1200, in translation and in date order: the Irish annals on the Isles and Galloway, Orkneyinga saga and the Norwegian sagas on Harald Maddadsson of Orkney and Caithness and his war with William the Lion, the Chronicle of Mann on Ragnall and the Hebrides, Melrose and Holyrood, and Scottish charters. Read online