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Óláfr Guðrøðarson (died 1153) was a mid twelfth-century King of the Isles. As a younger son of Gofraid Crobán, King of Dublin and the Isles, Óláfr witnessed a vicious power struggle between his two elder brothers in the aftermath of their father's death. At some point, the young Óláfr was entrusted to the care of Henry I, King of England; and like contemporaneous Scottish rulers, Óláfr appears to have been a protégé of the English king. As King of the Isles, Óláfr contracted marital alliances with neighbouring maritime rulers; he appears to have conducted successful military operations to reclaim the northern-most territories once controlled by his father, but may have witnessed the loss of lands in Galloway as well. Óláfr was a reformer and moderniser of his realm, but his four-decade reign ended in abrupt disaster when he was assassinated by three nephews in 1153. Following the ensuing power struggle, Óláfr's son Guðrøðr overcame the kin-slayers, and assumed the kingship of the Kingdom of the Isles. The Isles—an archipelagic region roughly incorporating the Hebrides and Mann—was ruled by Gofraid Crobán for over two decades until his death in 1095, whereupon his eldest son Lögmaðr assumed control. Warring soon broke out between factions supporting Lögmaðr's younger brother Haraldr, which led to the intervention and encroachment of Irish power into the region. After a short period of Irish domination, the region lapsed into further conflict which was capitalised on by Magnús Óláfsson, King of Norway, who led two military campaigns throughout the Isles and surrounding Irish Sea region at about the turn of the twelfth-century. Magnús dominated these regions until his death in 1103, whereupon control of the Isles appears to have fragmented into chaos once again. Rather than allow ambitious Irish powers fill the power vacuum, Henry I appears to have installed Óláfr on the throne in about 1112 or 1113. In fact, Óláfr is recorded to have spent his youth at Henry I's court, and Óláfr's later religious foundations reveal that he was greatly influenced by his English upbringing. In the second quarter of the eleventh-century, Óláfr founded Rushen Abbey, a reformed religious house on Mann. He further oversaw the formation of the Diocese of the Isles, the territorial extent of which appears to reveal the boundaries of his realm. Óláfr is recorded to have had at least two wives: Ingibjörg, daughter of Hákon Pálsson, Earl of Orkney; and Affraic, daughter of Fergus, Lord of Galloway. His marriage to the latter appears to have taken place in about the 1130s; not long afterwards, one of Óláfr's daughters married Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, Lord of Argyll. In 1152, Óláfr's son Guðrøðr travelled to Norway and rendered homage to Ingi Haraldsson, King of Norway. At about this time, the Diocese of the Isles was incorporated within the recently elevated ecclesiastical province of Nidaros, in a move which strengthened Norwegian links with the Isles. Meanwhile, during Guðrøðr's absence from the Isles, three sons of Haraldr confronted Óláfr, and demanded a share of the kingdom before slaying him. Although the three men appear to have taken significant steps to counter military intervention from Galloway, they were soon after crushed by Guðrøðr, who returned to the region enstrengthened by Norwegian military might. ==Background== A member of the Crovan dynasty, Óláfr was a younger son of the family's eponymous founder Gofraid Crobán, King of Dublin and the Isles (d. 1095), a man whose origins are uncertain.〔Duffy 2004.〕 Óláfr's father may have been either a son,〔Hudson 2005 pp. 83 ''fig 3'', 171. See also: Duffy 2004. See also: Duffy 1992 p. 106.〕 nephew,〔Duffy 2004. See also: Duffy 1992 p. 106.〕 or brother of Ívarr Haraldsson, King of Dublin (d. 1054);〔Woolf 2004 p. 100.〕 as such, Gofraid Crobán was likely a descendant of Óláfr kváran, King of Northumbria and Dublin (d. 981), and a member of the Uí Ímair.〔Hudson 2005 pp. 83 ''fig 3'', 170–171. See also: Woolf 2004 p. 100. See also: Duffy 1992 p. 106.〕 Following the disastrous Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, Gofraid Crobán appears to have arrived on Mann, at the court of Gofraid mac Sitriuc, King of the Isles. The latter, likely a distant Uí Ímair kinsman, died in about 1070, and was succeeded by his son, Fingal. In about 1079, Gofraid Crobán appears to have succeeded Fingal, possibly after the latter's death.〔Hudson 2005 pp. 171–172.〕 In 1091, Gofraid Crobán successfully gained the kingship of Dublin.〔Duffy 1992 p. 107.〕 Three years later, he was forced from Ireland altogether by Muirchertach Ua Briain, King of Munster (d. 1119). In fact, Ua Briain appears to have driven Gofraid Crobán from Mann as well, since the latter died on Islay the following year, in 1095.〔Oram 2011 pp. 47–48. See also: Duffy 1992 p. 108.〕 Gofraid Crobán's eldest son, Lögmaðr, succeeded to the kingship of the Isles. He was, however, opposed by his younger brother, Haraldr, before the latter was captured, blinded, and castrated.〔Oram 2011 p. 48. See also: Duffy 2004.〕 By 1096, Lögmaðr appears to have faced further opposition, this time in the form of a faction supporting Óláfr, his youngest brother. The dissidents turned to Ua Briain, whose recent conquest of Dublin gave him control of that kingdom's dominating naval forces.〔Oram 2011 p. 48. See also: Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 pp. 235–236.〕 If the ''Chronicle of Mann'' is to be believed, Óláfr's supporters petitioned Ua Briain to provide a regent from his own kin to govern the Isles, until Óláfr was old enough to assume control himself.〔Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 pp. 235–236. See also: Anderson 1922 pp. 100–101.〕 In fact, such an appeal may well have been a condition of Ua Briain's involvement, rather than a request.〔Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 pp. 235–236.〕 Whatever the case, the chronicle indicates that Ua Briain installed his nephew, Domnall mac Taidc, on Mann.〔 Although Domnall had previously opposed Ua Briain over the kingship of Munster, he had strong familial connections to the Isles, as a maternal-grandson of Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin and the Isles (d. 1064 or 1065).〔 Regardless, the death of Domnall's brother, Amlaíb, recorded in the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' in 1096, suggests that the meic Taidc faced opposition in the Isles, possibly from the supporters of Lögmaðr.〔Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 pp. 235–236. See also: Anderson 1922 p. 99.〕 Domnall's reign appears to have been brief. The chronicle's account of warfare on the island, in about 1097–1098, fails to mention him at all, which could be evidence that he had lost control by then.〔Oram 2011 p. 48. See also: Anderson 1922 pp. 101–102.〕 Probably late in 1097, Magnús Óláfsson, King of Norway (d. 1103) turned his attention towards the Isles, and sent a certain Ingimundr into the region to take control. Unfortunately for Magnús, Ingimundr was soon after slain on Lewis by leading Islesmen.〔Oram 2011 p. 48. See also: Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 pp. 236–237.〕 The following year Magnús took matters into his own hands, and led an invasion-fleet of his into the area.〔Oram 2011 pp. 48–49. See also: Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 p. 237.〕 As the invaders successfully carved their way through the Isles towards Mann, several saga accounts record that Lögmaðr was captured by the Norwegian king.〔Oram 2011 p. 49. See also: Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 p. 237. See also: Power 2005 p. 12.〕 From Mann, the Norwegians campaigned against the English in Anglesey. Although ''Heimskringla'' places this particular episode in the context of Norwegian conquest, it is likely that Magnús had merely assumed the same protector role that Gofraid Crobán had once filled with Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd (d. 1137).〔Oram 2011 p. 50. See also: Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 p. 237. See also: Duffy 1992 p. 110, 110 ''fn 82''.〕 Magnús gained the submission of Galloway,〔Oram 2011 p. 49. See also: Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 p. 237. See also: Duffy 1992 p. 110, 110 ''fn 81''.〕 and may have consolidated his campaign through a treaty with Edgar, King of Scotland (d. 1107).〔Oram 2011 p. 49. See also: Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 pp. 237–238.〕 Magnús overwintered in the Isles, and left for Norway in the summer; he made his return to the region, nearly four years later, in 1102 or 1103.〔Oram 2011 p. 51. See also: Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 p. 239.〕 After establishing himself on Mann, Magnús entered into an marital alliance with Ua Briain, formalised through a marriage between Magnús's young son, Sigurðr (d. 1130), and a daughter of Ua Briain. The fact that Magnús intended to return to Norway reveals that Ua Briain benefited to most from the arraignment, although the alliance appears to have bound the kings against a common enemy in the region, Domnall Mac Lochlainn, King of Cenél nEógain (d. 1121).〔Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 p. 239–240.〕 Unfortunately for Ua Briain, and his long-term ambitions in the Isles, Magnús was slain in Ulster in 1103, and Sigurðr immediately repudiated his bride and returned to Norway.〔Oram 2011 p. 51. See also: Forte; Oram; Pedersen 2005 pp. 239–240.〕 Although Ua Briain was able to regain control of Dublin and still had held considerable influence in the Isles, Magnús' death left a vacuum which neither Ua Briain nor Mac Lochlainn could fill.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Olafr Godredsson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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