 - Abt 1095
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| Name |
Godred III Crovan Of Man |
| Prefix |
King |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
Abt 1095 |
| Person ID |
I61338 |
Cecilie Family |
| Last Modified |
2 Mar 2009 |
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| Notes |
- Notes for Godred Crovan:
The ancestry of Godred Crovan is discussed at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~medieval/man.htm
Godred Croavan, "White Hands", Ruled Man 1079-95; Dublin, 1091-4.
We know little about the background of Godred. He was Norse, and apparently raised on the Isle of Man (though not necessarily born there). His nickname, which he earned because of his habit of wearing white gauntlets into battle, is of Gaelic origin (Crobhan), suggesting links to the Irish-Norse colonies around Dublin. His family may have emanated from there and settled on Man during the conquests of Thorfinn the Mighty of Orkney, who established control over most of the western seaboard of Scotland and into the Irish sea. This suggests he may have been born around 1040. He may even have spent his youth on the Orkneys, as part of Thorfinn's summer army. It is probable that he was descended from Godred Haraldsson, who ruled Man a hundred years earlier. It is just possible that he was the grandson of Ivar Haraldson, king of Dublin from 1038-46, who died in 1054. Godred fought alongside the Norse king Harald Hardraada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in September 1066. He survived and made his way to Man where he sought refuge. Man was nominally under the control of the king of Dublin, Godred Sitricson. His son Fingal administered the islands and it was he that Crovan sought to defeat in three expeditions that he led against Man until his success in 1079. The islanders eventually welcomed him as their own. Just as Einar (I) had in Orkney, Godred denied the islanders any udal rights, meaning that they owned the land as tenants to the king and not as an inheritance to their families. Godred thus claimed absolute authority over all of his domain. This extended throughout the Western Isles, including the northern Hebrides which he evidently conquered from the earls of Orkney (Paul and Erlend), who may not in practice have administered the islands. In order to govern this widespread diversity of islands, Godred established a parliament, the Tynwald, which consisted of thirty-two representatives. Sixteen of these came from Man itself, with the other sixteen from the four quadrants of the Hebrides with their bases at Lewis, Skye, Mull and Islay. The Hebrides were known to the Norse as the Sudreys or Southern Isles (with the Orkneys as the Nordreys). The name survives today in the bishopric of the islands, known as Sudor and Man. Man was nominally Christian when Godred conquered it, but Godred firmly established a local church under Bishop Roolwer or Rolf. Because of the extent of the kingdom Godred spent little time on Man, though he was it as the centre of his government. His home was apparently on Islay, but he also spent much time in Dublin, which he succeeded in regaining from the Irish and which he governed from 1091-94. Godred died in 1095, probably in his mid-fifties. His efforts had established a strong government across Man and the Isles where he became known as King Gorry or King Orry (the first G remaining as part of King). He was succeeded by his son Lagman.
Mike Ashley, 'British Monarchs'
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| Sources |
- [S1283] Skuncke, Herje., Skuncke (1979)., (Norrkoping: Private Edition, 1979.).
- [S1326] Young, G. V. C., Young (1981), (Peel, Isle of Man: The Mansk-Svenska Publishing Co., 1981.), p. 196 (Reliability: 3).
- [S1484] Ashley, Mike, Ashley (1998), (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1998.), p.420 (Reliability: 3).
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