Ragnall Guthfrithson
Ragnall Guthfrithson | |
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King of Northumbria | |
Reign | 943–944 |
Predecessor | Olaf Cuaran |
Successor | Edmund I (as King of the English) |
Co-monarch | Olaf Cuaran |
Dynasty | Uí Ímair |
Father | Gofraid ua Ímair |
Ragnall Guthfrithson (
Biography
Ragnall first appears in the historical record in 943. The
Symeon of Durham's Historia Regum records that in 943 Olaf Cuaran was driven out of Northumbria by the Northumbrians. However, all texts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle state that both Olaf and Ragnall were driven out in 944 by King Edmund. A possible explanation for this discrepancy is that Olaf was only driven out of York in 943, and continued to contest Ragnall for Northumbria until the following year. An account by the chronicler Æthelweard relates that it was Wulfstan, Archbishop of York and an unnamed ealdorman of Mercia who drove out Ragnall and Olaf and forced them to submit to Edmund. Ragnall's life after 944 is not known with any certainty, although the Annals of Clonmacnoise report in 944 or 945 that "the king of the Danes was killed by the Saxons at York". This individual might be Ragnall but the account gives no name.[6]
Family
Ragnall's father is identifiable as
An individual identified as Mac Ragnaill (son of Ragnall) by the annals may have been Ragnall's son, though no name is given.[9] In 942 Mac Ragnaill led a raid on Downpatrick, but within a week he was killed by Matudán, Overking of Ulster. The Annals of the Four Masters call Mac Ragnaill a jarl, but the Annals of Ulster call him a king.[10] The Annals of the Four Masters also suggests he and his fellow plunderers came from an island.[11]
Family tree
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Notes:
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Notes
References
Citations
- ^ Downham, p. xvi
- ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 943, text D
- ^ a b Downham, pp. 111–112
- ^ Spink, pp. 118–119
- ^ Costambeys
- ^ Annals of Clonmacnoise, s.aa. 944–945
- ^ Downham, p. 34
- ^ Downham, pp. 111–112, 238, 248, 253
- ^ Downham, p. 64
- ^ Annals of the Four Masters, s.a. 942; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 942
- ^ Downham, p. 64; Annals of the Four Masters, s.a. 942
Primary sources
- "Annals of the Four Masters". Corpus of Electronic Texts (16 December 2013 ed.). University College Cork. 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- "The Annals of Ulster". Corpus of Electronic Texts (15 August 2012 ed.). University College Cork. 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- Thorpe, B, ed. (1861). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores. Vol. 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts. Accessed via Internet Archive.
- Murphy, D, ed. (1896). The Annals of Clonmacnoise. Dublin: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Accessed via Internet Archive.
Secondary sources
- Downham, Clare (2007). Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014. Edinburgh: ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0.
- Costambeys, Marios (2004). "Ragnall Guthfrithson (fl. 943–944)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23314. Retrieved 23 May 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.
- Skingley, Philip, ed. (2014). Coins of England & the United Kingdom: Standard Catalogue of British Coins 2015. Spink & Sons Ltd. ISBN 978-1-907427-43-5.
External links
- CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork. The Corpus of Electronic Texts includes the Annals of Ulster and the Four Masters, the Chronicon Scotorum and the Book of Leinster as well as Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress.
- Ragnald 2 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England