Module HTH-2229:
The Kingdom of Man and the Isles, 1000–1300

Module Facts

Run by School of History, Law and Social Sciences

20.000 Credits or 10.000 ECTS Credits

Semester 2

Organiser: Dr Nia Jones

Overall aims and purpose

The module focusses closely on the history of a kingdom of medieval Britain, a political and cultural crossroads. Founded by Viking invaders, the Kingdom of Man and the Isles, though small, was pulled between the Norse world to the north, the Gaelic world around it and the two powerful kingdoms to its east, England and Scotland. Beginning in the Viking Age, the kingdom became an influential force in the Irish Sea and beyond, and was in turn under the authority of the King of Norway, divided in a civil war, and eventually absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland.

The wars of kings and rebel are central to these events: Godred Crovan, the raider-turned king; Magnus Barefoot, king of Norway, the ‘last of the Vikings’; and Somerled, the Hebridean revel who founded many of the Highland clans. The activities of these figures influenced Norway, Gwynedd, Scotland, Ireland, and the Anglo-Norman kingdom, and the module therefore considers the links between these areas and Man and the Isles, a kingdom which stretched from the Outer Hebrides to Dublin.

We will also consider archaeological evidence, as well as cultural and economic factors. The module therefore offers an opportunity to closely consider the history of a particular area, but also to place its history in the wider context of medieval Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia, linking places usually seen through the prism of separate national histories

Course content

Lectures:

  1. INTRODUCTION: Themes and the early kingdom

  2. GODRED CROVAN: The foundation of the Crovan dynasty; Olaf son of Godred.

  3. SOMERLED: king or rebel, Viking or Gael?

  4. REGINALD GODREDSON: civil war and the descendants of Somerled.

  5. HAKON, KING OF NORWAY: the ned of the kingdom?

  6. THE CHURCH

  7. ECONOMY, SOCIETY, CULTURE

  8. ENGLAND AND NORWAY: the Angevin world, the Viking world.

  9. IRELAND AND WALES: kings of Ireland, Dublin, and Gwynedd.

  10. SCOTLAND AND THE END OF THE KINGDOM: later history.

Representative list of seminar topics:

Introduction Godred Crovan and the Chronicle of the Kings of Man and the Isles

Source: Chronicle of the Kings of Man and the Isles

Somerled and Argyll

Source: Song of the Death of Somerled (Carmen de morte Somerledi)  

Reginald Godredson, king of Man and the Isles

Source: a range of sources including English documents, Orkneyinga saga, the Manx Chronicle, and the Gaelic poem in praise of Reginald  

Norway and the end of the kingdom

Source: two Norse sagas, Magnús saga berfœttr/Magnus Barefoot’s Saga by Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241), and Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar/Hakon Hakonson's Saga, by Sturla Þórðarson (1214–1284).  

The church and the descendants of Somerled

Source: ecclesiastical archaeology/architecture, focussing on Iona

Castles and community

Source: archeological evidence of castles: Peel; Castle Rushen; Dun Chonaill; Dunstaffnage; Aros; Cairnburgh

Ireland, Dublin, Wales

Source: Vita Griffini filii Conani, the biography of King Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd

Norway and England

Source: a range of English administrative documents invlolving the Manx kings, taken from Monumenta de Insula Manniae, ed. J. R. Oliver (2 vols, Douglas, 1860–1862).

The end of the kingdom?

Learning outcomes

Assessment Methods

Type Name Description Weight
Essay 50.00
Exam 50.00

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Hours