Guðrøðr Magnússon

Guðrøðr Magnússon (

The Scots made landfall on the southern shores of Mann.[23] According to the Chronicle of Lanercost, the invaders first attempted to resolve the uprising peaceably, demanding that the rebels stand down and submit to Alexander III.^[24] The account preserved by the continuation of Historia rerum Anglicarum suggests that lightly armed and poorly trained rebels were soundly crushed by well-armed Scottish warriors,^[25] with the Annals of Lanerost declaring that "the wretched Manxmen turned their backs, and perished miserably".^[26] Although the Chronicle of Mann specifies that 537 people were slaughtered by the Scots,^[27] there is reason to suspect that this tally may owe itself to contemporary poetic convention,^[28] as the source further quotes the following rhyming lament: "ten times fifty, three times ten and five and two did fall; O Manx race, beware lest future catastrophe you befall".^[29] It is unknown if the passage was composed directly for the chronicle or else already in circulation. In any case, the prophetic nature of the piece appears to be indicative of a Manx provenance.^[30]

It is uncertain if Guðrøðr died in the defeat^[31] or escaped with his life.^[32] The continuation of Historia rerum Anglicarum reports that he and his wife managed to escape the carnage on Mann, and fled to Wales.^[33] If correct, this source is one of several that demonstrate strong connections between the Crovan dynasty and Wales spanning the eleventh- and thirteenth centuries.^[34] In fact, it is possible that Guðrøðr initiated his rebellion having arrived from Wales.^[14]

Aftermath

Upon the successful subjugation of the Manx, Alexander III installed his son,

Guðrøðr was not the last claimant to the island, as two women are known to have put forth claims of their own in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries: a certain Aufrica de Connoght, and Maria, daughter of Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles.^[39]

Ancestry

Notes