Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson (fl. 1164)

Not to be confused with Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson (died 1249).

Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson
King of the Isles
Rǫgnvaldr's name as it appears on folio 39r of British Library Cotton Julius A VII (the Chronicle of Mann): "Reginaldum".[1]
House	Crovan dynasty
Father	Óláfr Guðrøðarson

Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson (fl. 1164) was a twelfth-century King of the Isles, succeeding the warrior Somerled. He was a son of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles and a member of the Crovan dynasty. In the 1153, Óláfr was assassinated by three nephews, before his son, Guðrøðr, was able to overcome them and succeed his father as king. By 1158, Guðrøðr was forced from power by his brother-in-law, Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, who was married to Óláfr's daughter Ragnhildr. In 1164, when Somairle was killed in an invasion of Scotland, and while Guðrøðr was away in exile overseas, Rǫgnvaldr briefly seized the kingship for himself, before being overcome by Guðrøðr, who had him blinded and mutilated.

Background

Rǫgnvaldr was a son of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles.^[2] The men were members of the Crovan dynasty.^[3] According to the thirteenth- to fourteenth-century Chronicle of Mann, Óláfr was married to Affraic, daughter of Fergus, Lord of Galloway.^[4] According to this source, Óláfr and Affraic had a son, Guðrøðr.^[5] Óláfr is further stated to have had many concubines by whom he had several daughters and three sons: Rǫgnvaldr himself, Lǫgmaðr, and Haraldr.^[6] One of Óláfr's daughters is stated by the chronicle to have married Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, Lord of Argyll.^[7] Although this daughter is not named by the chronicle, she is identified as Ragnhildr by the thirteenth-century Orkneyinga saga.^[8]

In 1153, the thirteenth- to fourteenth-century Chronicle of Mann reports that Óláfr was assassinated by three nephews whilst Guðrøðr was absent in Norway.^[9] Within months of his father's assassination, Guðrøðr executed his vengeance. According to the chronicle, he journeyed from Norway to Orkney, enstrengthened by Norwegian military support, and was unanimously acclaimed as king by the leading Islesmen. He is then stated to have continued on to Mann, where he overcame his father's three killers, putting one to death whilst blinding the other two, and successfully secured the kingship for himself.^[10]

In 1155 or 1156, the chronicle reveals that Somairle conducted a coup against Guðrøðr, specifying that Somairle's son, Dubgall, was produced as a replacement to Guðrøðr's rule.^[11] Late in 1156, Somairle and Guðrøðr finally clashed in a bloody but inconclusive sea-battle. According to the chronicle, when the clash finally concluded the feuding brothers-in-law divided the Kingdom of the Isles between themselves.^[12] Two years later, the chronicle reveals that Somairle invaded Mann and drove Guðrøðr from the kingship into exile.^[13] With Guðrøðr gone, it appears that either Dubgall or Somairle became King of the Isles.^[14] Although the young Dubgall may well have been the nominal monarch, the chronicle makes it clear that it was Somairle who possessed the real power.^[15] Certainly, Irish sources regard Somairle as a king by the end of his career.^[16]

Reign

Somairle lost his life in a failed invasion of Scotland in 1164.^[17] Although it is possible that Dubgall was able to secure power following his father's demise,^[18] it is evident that the kingship was seized by Rǫgnvaldr within the year. According to the chronicle, his reign began after he defeated a force of Manxmen at Ramsey.^[19] Almost immediately afterwards, Guðrøðr made his return, with the chronicle reporting that Guðrøðr arrived on Mann with a large body of men, overpowered Rǫgnvaldr, having him mutilated and blinded.^[20] Guðrøðr thereafter regained the kingship,^[21] and the realm was divided between him and Somairle' descendants,^[22] in a partitioning that stemmed from Somairle's coup in 1156.^[23]

Citations

1. Munch; Goss (1874) p. 74; Cotton MS Julius A VII (n.d.).
2. McDonald, RA (2019) p. ix tab. 1; Oram (2011) p. xvi tab. 5; McDonald, RA (2007b) p. 27 tab. 1.
3. McDonald, RA (2007b) p. 27 tab. 1.
4. McDonald, RA (2016) pp. 339, 342; Wadden (2014) pp. 31–32; McDonald, RA (2012) p. 157; McDonald, RA (2007b) pp. 66, 75, 154; Russell; McClure; Rollason (2007) p. 35; Williams, G (2007) p. 130 n. 7; McDonald, RA (2000) p. 175; Sellar (2000) pp. 197–198; Oram (1988) pp. 34, 79; Anderson (1922) p. 137; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 60–61.
5. McDonald, RA (2016) p. 342; Wadden (2014) pp. 31–32; McDonald, RA (2012) p. 157; McDonald, RA (2007b) pp. 66, 154; McDonald, RA (2000) p. 175; Anderson (1922) p. 137; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 60–61.
6. McDonald, RA (2016) p. 342; Wadden (2014) pp. 31–32; McDonald, RA (2007b) pp. 66, 75; Williams, G (2007) pp. 130 n. 7, 147; Beuermann (2002) p. 423; McDonald, RA (2000) p. 175, 175 n. 55; Sellar (2000) pp. 197–198; McDonald, RA (1997) p. 45; Anderson (1922) p. 137; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 60–61.
7. McDonald, RA (2007b) p. 66; Woolf (2007b) p. 165; McDonald, RA (2000) p. 175 n. 55; McDonald, A (1995) p. 206; Anderson (1922) p. 137; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 60–61.
8. McDonald, RA (2000) p. 175 n. 55; McDonald, A (1995) p. 206; Anderson (1922) p. 255 n. 1; Vigfusson (1887) p. 210 ch. 110; Flateyjarbok (1862) p. 508 ch. 439; Anderson; Hjaltalin; Goudie (1873) p. 181 ch. 104.
9. Beuermann (2014) p. 85; Downham (2013) p. 171, 171 n. 94; McDonald, RA (2007b) pp. 67, 85, 92; Duffy (2006) p. 65; Beuermann (2002) p. 421; Duffy (2002) p. 48; Sellar (2000) p. 191; Williams, DGE (1997) p. 259; Duffy (1993) pp. 41–42, 42 n. 59; Oram (1988) pp. 80–81; Anderson (1922) p. 225; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 62–65.
10. Crawford (2014) p. 74; Downham (2013) p. 171; McDonald, RA (2012) p. 162; Abrams (2007) p. 182; McDonald, RA (2007a) p. 66; McDonald, RA (2007b) pp. 67, 85; Duffy (2006) p. 65; Oram (2000) pp. 69–70; Williams, DGE (1997) p. 259; Gade (1994) p. 199; Oram (1988) p. 81; Anderson (1922) p. 226; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 64–67.
11. Holton (2017) p. 125; Wadden (2014) p. 32; Downham (2013) p. 172; Woolf (2013) pp. 3–4; Oram (2011) p. 120; Williams, G (2007) pp. 143, 145–146; Woolf (2007a) p. 80; Barrow (2006) pp. 143–144; Forte; Oram; Pedersen (2005) pp. 243–244; Woolf (2004) p. 104; Rixson (2001) p. 85; Oram (2000) pp. 74, 76; McDonald, RA (1997) pp. 52, 54–58; Williams, DGE (1997) pp. 259–260, 260 n. 114; Duffy (1993) pp. 40–41; Duffy (1992) p. 121; McDonald; McLean (1992) pp. 8–9, 12; Scott (1988) p. 40; Duncan; Brown (1956–1957) p. 196; Anderson (1922) p. 231; Lawrie (1910) p. 20 § 13; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 68–69.
12. Wadden (2014) p. 32; McDonald, RA (2012) pp. 153, 161; Oram (2011) p. 120; McDonald, RA (2007a) pp. 57, 64; McDonald, RA (2007b) p. 92; Forte; Oram; Pedersen (2005) p. 244; Woolf (2004) p. 104; Oram (2000) pp. 74, 76; McDonald, RA (1997) pp. 52, 56; Williams, DGE (1997) p. 260; Duffy (1993) p. 43; McDonald; McLean (1992) p. 9; Scott (1988) p. 40; Rixson (1982) pp. 86–87; Duncan; Brown (1956–1957) p. 196; Anderson (1922) pp. 231–232; Lawrie (1910) p. 20 § 13; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 68–69.
13. McDonald, RA (2012) pp. 153, 161; Oram (2011) p. 121; McDonald, RA (2007a) pp. 57, 64; McDonald, RA (2007b) pp. 92, 113, 121 n. 86; Forte; Oram; Pedersen (2005) p. 244; Woolf (2004) p. 104; Oram (2000) pp. 74, 76; McDonald, RA (1997) p. 56; Duffy (1993) p. 43; McDonald; McLean (1992) p. 9; Rixson (1982) pp. 86–87, 151; Duncan; Brown (1956–1957) p. 196; Anderson (1922) p. 239; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 68–69.
14. McDonald, RA (1997) p. 57.
15. Oram (2011) p. 121.
16. Holton (2017) p. 124, 124 n. 14; The Annals of Tigernach (2016) § 1164.6; Annals of the Four Masters (2013a) 1083.10; Annals of the Four Masters (2013b) 1083.10; Woolf (2013) p. 3; McDonald, RA (2007b) p. 164; Annals of Tigernach (2005) § 1164.6; Sellar (2004); McLeod (2002) p. 31, 31 n. 22; McDonald, RA (2000) p. 179; Sellar (2000) p. 189; McDonald, RA (1997) pp. 57–58; Anderson (1922) p. 254.
17. Oram (2011) p. 128; McDonald, RA (2007a) p. 57; McDonald, RA (2007b) pp. 54, 67–68, 76, 85, 111–113; Sellar (2004); Sellar (2000) p. 189; McDonald, RA (1997) pp. 61–67; Duffy (1993) pp. 31, 45; Williams, DGE (1997) p. 150; Duncan; Brown (1956–1957) p. 197.
18. Oram (2011) p. 128.
19. McDonald, RA (2019) pp. 46, 48; Oram (2011) pp. 128–129; McDonald, RA (2007b) pp. 67–68, 85; Anderson (1922) pp. 258–259; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 74–75.
20. Oram (2011) pp. 128–129; McDonald, RA (2007a) p. 57; McDonald, RA (2007b) pp. 67–68, 85; Williams, DGE (1997) p. 150; Anderson (1922) pp. 258–259; Munch; Goss (1874) pp. 74–75.
21. McDonald, RA (2007b) p. 85; Duffy (2004).
22. Sellar (2004); Williams, DGE (1997) pp. 70–71; Williams, DGE (1997) p. 150.
23. Williams, DGE (1997) pp. 70–71; Williams, DGE (1997) pp. 150, 260.

References

Primary sources

• Anderson, AO, ed. (1922). Early Sources of Scottish History, A.D. 500 to 1286. Vol. 2. London: Oliver and Boyd.
• Anderson, J; Hjaltalin, JA; Goudie, G, eds. (1873). The Orkneyinga Saga. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas.
• "Annals of the Four Masters". Corpus of Electronic Texts (3 December 2013 ed.). University College Cork. 2013a. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
• "Annals of the Four Masters". Corpus of Electronic Texts (16 December 2013 ed.). University College Cork. 2013b. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
• "Annals of Tigernach". Corpus of Electronic Texts (13 April 2005 ed.). University College Cork. 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
• "Cotton MS Julius A VII". British Library. n.d. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
• Flateyjarbok: En Samling af Norske Konge-Sagaer med Indskudte Mindre Fortællinger om Begivenheder i og Udenfor Norse Same Annaler. Vol. 2. Oslo: P.T. Mallings Forlagsboghandel. 1862.
• Lawrie, AC, ed. (1910). Annals of the Reigns of Malcolm and William, Kings of Scotland, A.D. 1153–1214. James MacLehose and Sons. OL 7217114M.
• Munch, PA; Goss, A, eds. (1874). Chronica Regvm Manniæ et Insvlarvm: The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys. Vol. 1. Douglas, IM: Manx Society.
• "The Annals of Tigernach". Corpus of Electronic Texts (8 February 2016 ed.). University College Cork. 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
• Vigfusson, G, ed. (1887). Icelandic Sagas and Other Historical Documents Relating to the Settlements and Descents of the Northmen on the British Isles. Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores. Vol. 1. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. OL 16401290M.

Secondary sources

• Abrams, L (2007). "Conversion and the Church in the Hebrides in the Viking Age". In Smith, BB; Taylor, S; Williams, G (eds.). West Over Sea: Studies in Scandinavian Sea-Borne Expansion and Settlement Before 1300. The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400–1700 AD. Peoples, Economics and Cultures. Leiden: Brill. pp. 169–193. ISBN 978-90-04-15893-1. ISSN 1569-1462.
• Barrow, GWS (2006). "Skye From Somerled to A.D. 1500" (PDF). In Kruse, A; Ross, A (eds.). Barra and Skye: Two Hebridean Perspectives. Edinburgh: The Scottish Society for Northern Studies. pp. 140–154. ISBN 0-9535226-3-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
• Beuermann, I (2002). "Metropolitan Ambitions and Politics: Kells-Mellifont and Man & the Isles". Peritia. 16: 419–434. doi:10.1484/J.Peri.3.497. eISSN 2034-6506. ISSN 0332-1592.
• Beuermann, I (2014). "No Soil for Saints: Why was There No Native Royal Martyr in Man and the Isles". In Sigurðsson, JV; Bolton, T (eds.). Celtic-Norse Relationships in the Irish Sea in the Middle Ages, 800–1200. The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400–1700 AD. Peoples, Economics and Cultures. Leiden: Brill. pp. 81–95. ISBN 978-90-04-25512-8. ISSN 1569-1462.
• Crawford, BE (2014). "The Kingdom of Man and the Earldom of Orkney—Some Comparisons". In Sigurðsson, JV; Bolton, T (eds.). Celtic-Norse Relationships in the Irish Sea in the Middle Ages, 800–1200. The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400–1700 AD. Peoples, Economics and Cultures. Leiden: Brill. pp. 65–80. ISBN 978-90-04-25512-8. ISSN 1569-1462.
• Downham, C (2013). "Living on the Edge: Scandinavian Dublin in the Twelfth Century". No Horns on Their Helmets? Essays on the Insular Viking-Age. Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Scandinavian Studies. Aberdeen: Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies and The Centre for Celtic Studies, University of Aberdeen. pp. 157–178. ISBN 978-0-9557720-1-6. ISSN 2051-6509.
• Duffy, S (1992). "Irishmen and Islesmen in the Kingdoms of Dublin and Man, 1052–1171". Ériu. 43: 93–133. eISSN 2009-0056. ISSN 0332-0758. JSTOR 30007421.
• Duffy, S (1993). Ireland and the Irish Sea Region, 1014–1318 (PhD thesis). Trinity College, Dublin. hdl:2262/77137.
• Duffy, S (2002). "The Bruce Brothers and the Irish Sea World, 1306–29". In Duffy, S (ed.). Robert the Bruce's Irish Wars: The Invasions of Ireland 1306–1329. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. pp. 45–70. ISBN 0-7524-1974-9.
• Duffy, S (2004). "Godred Crovan (d. 1095)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50613. Retrieved 5 July 2011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Duffy, S (2006). "The Royal Dynasties of Dublin and the Isles in the Eleventh Century". In Duffy, S (ed.). Medieval Dublin. Vol. 7. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 51–65. ISBN 1-85182-974-1.
• Duncan, AAM; Brown, AL (1959). "Argyll and the Isles in the Earlier Middle Ages" (PDF). Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 90: 192–220. doi:10.9750/PSAS.090.192.220. eISSN 2056-743X. ISSN 0081-1564. S2CID 189977430.
• Forte, A; Oram, RD; Pedersen, F (2005). Viking Empires. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82992-2.
• Gade, KE (1994). "1236: Órækja Meiddr ok Heill Gerr" (PDF). In Tómasson, S (ed.). Samtíðarsögur: The Contemporary Sagas. Forprent. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússona. pp. 194–207.
• Holton, CT (2017). Masculine Identity in Medieval Scotland: Gender, Ethnicity, and Regionality (PhD thesis). University of Guelph. hdl:10214/10473.
• McDonald, A (1995). "Scoto-Norse Kings and the Reformed Religious Orders: Patterns of Monastic Patronage in Twelfth-Century Galloway and Argyll". Albion. 27 (2): 187–219. doi:10.2307/4051525. ISSN 0095-1390. JSTOR 4051525.
• McDonald, RA (1997). The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland's Western Seaboard, c. 1100–c. 1336. Scottish Historical Monographs. East Linton: Tuckwell Press. ISBN 978-1-898410-85-0.
• McDonald, RA (2000). "Rebels Without a Cause? The Relations of Fergus of Galloway and Somerled of Argyll With the Scottish Kings, 1153–1164". In Cowan, E; McDonald, R (eds.). Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages. East Linton: Tuckwell Press. pp. 166–186. ISBN 1-86232-151-5.
• McDonald, RA (2007a). "Dealing Death From Man: Manx Sea Power in and around the Irish Sea, 1079–1265". In Duffy, S (ed.). The World of the Galloglass: Kings, Warlords and Warriors in Ireland and Scotland, 1200–1600. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 45–76. ISBN 978-1-85182-946-0.
• McDonald, RA (2007b). Manx Kingship in its Irish Sea Setting, 1187–1229: King Rǫgnvaldr and the Crovan Dynasty. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-84682-047-2.
• McDonald, RA (2012). "The Manx Sea Kings and the Western Oceans: The Late Norse Isle of Man in its North Atlantic Context, 1079–1265". In Hudson, B (ed.). Studies in the Medieval Atlantic. The New Middle Ages. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 143–184. doi:10.1057/9781137062390_6. ISBN 978-1-137-06239-0.
• McDonald, RA (2016). "Sea Kings, Maritime Kingdoms and the Tides of Change: Man and the Isles and Medieval European Change, AD c1100–1265". In Barrett, JH; Gibbon, SJ (eds.). Maritime Societies of the Viking and Medieval World. The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph. Milton Park, Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 333–349. doi:10.4324/9781315630755. ISBN 978-1-315-63075-5. ISSN 0583-9106.
• McDonald, RA (2019). Kings, Usurpers, and Concubines in the Chronicles of the Kings of Man and the Isles. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-22026-6. ISBN 978-3-030-22026-6. S2CID 204624404.
• McDonald, RA; McLean, SA (1992). "Somerled of Argyll: A New Look at Old Problems". Scottish Historical Review. 71 (1–2): 3–22. eISSN 1750-0222. ISSN 0036-9241. JSTOR 25530531.
• McLeod, W (2002). "Rí Innsi Gall, Rí Fionnghall, Ceannas nan Gàidheal: Sovereignty and Rhetoric in the Late Medieval Hebrides". Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies. 43: 25–48. ISSN 1353-0089.
• Oram, RD (1988). The Lordship of Galloway, c. 1000 to c. 1250 (PhD thesis). University of St Andrews. hdl:10023/2638.
• Oram, RD (2000). The Lordship of Galloway. Edinburgh: John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-541-5.
• Oram, RD (2011). Domination and Lordship: Scotland 1070–1230. The New Edinburgh History of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-1496-7. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
• Rixson, D (1982). The West Highland Galley. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 1-874744-86-6.
• Rixson, D (2001). The Small Isles: Canna, Rum, Eigg and Muck. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 1-84158-154-2. OL 3544460M.
• Russell, P; McClure, P; Rollason, D (2007). "Celtic Names". In Rollason, D; Rollason, L (eds.). The Durham Liber Vitae. Vol. 2. London: The British Library. pp. 35–42. ISBN 978-0-7123-4996-3.
• Scott, JG (1988). "The Origins of Dundrennan and Soulseat Abbeys" (PDF). Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society. 63: 35–44. ISSN 0141-1292.
• Sellar, WDH (2000). "Hebridean Sea Kings: The Successors of Somerled, 1164–1316". In Cowan, EJ; McDonald, RA (eds.). Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages. East Linton: Tuckwell Press. pp. 187–218. ISBN 1-86232-151-5.
• Sellar, WDH (2004). "Somerled (d. 1164)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26782. Retrieved 5 July 2011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Wadden, P (2014). "Cath Ruis na Ríg for Bóinn: History and Literature in Twelfth-Century Ireland". Aiste. 4: 11–44.
• Williams, DGE (1997). Land Assessment and Military Organisation in the Norse Settlements in Scotland, c.900–1266 AD (PhD thesis). University of St Andrews. hdl:10023/7088.
• Williams, G (2007). "'These People were High-Born and Thought Well of Themselves': The Family of Moddan of Dale". In Smith, BB; Taylor, S; Williams, G (eds.). West Over Sea: Studies in Scandinavian Sea-Borne Expansion and Settlement Before 1300. The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400–1700 AD. Peoples, Economics and Cultures. Leiden: Brill. pp. 129–152. ISBN 978-90-04-15893-1. ISSN 1569-1462.
• Woolf, A (2004). "The Age of Sea-Kings, 900–1300". In Omand, D (ed.). The Argyll Book. Edinburgh: Birlinn. pp. 94–109. ISBN 1-84158-253-0.
• Woolf, A (2007a). "A Dead Man at Ballyshannon". In Duffy, S (ed.). The World of the Galloglass: Kings, Warlords and Warriors in Ireland and Scotland, 1200–1600. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 77–85. ISBN 978-1-85182-946-0.
• Woolf, A (2007b). "The Wood Beyond the World: Jämtland and the Norwegian Kings". In Smith, BB; Taylor, S; Williams, G (eds.). West Over Sea: Studies in Scandinavian Sea-Borne Expansion and Settlement Before 1300. The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400–1700 AD. Peoples, Economics and Cultures. Leiden: Brill. pp. 153–166. ISBN 978-90-04-15893-1. ISSN 1569-1462.
• Woolf, A (2013). "The Song of the Death of Somerled and the Destruction of Glasgow in 1153". Journal of the Sydney Society for Scottish History. 14: 1–11.

Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson Crovan dynasty
Regnal titles
Preceded by Dubgall mac Somairle^1 Somairle mac Gilla Brigte^1	King of the Isles 1164	Succeeded by Guðrøðr Óláfsson
Notes and references
1. Either Somairle or Dubgall gained the kingship from Guðrøðr in 1156. Whilst it is possible that Dubgall was the nominal monarch, it is evident that the real power was possessed by Somairle, and Irish sources certainly regarded the latter as king later in his career. It is unknown if Dubgall held royal power after his father perished in 1164.