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William the Conqueror and Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

Benjamin Hudson
Benjamin Hudson*
Affiliation:
Department of History, Pennsylvania State University
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Extract

The eulogy on King William I of England in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle includes the interesting assertion that William would have conquered Ireland without weapons had he lived another year or two. Some commentators, such as Sir Frank Stenton, considered it to be merely a testimony to the victorious reputation of the Conqueror. Others have suggested that the chronicler had erred with regard to direction, and Denis Bethell speculated that there was slightly more reason to believe William was contemplating an expedition to Galicia during the last years of his life. Marjorie Chibnall pointed out, however, that there must have been some reason for such a statement. A possible explanation does appear when examining the relations between England and Ireland during the reign of William, and a suggestion can be made that political affairs in Ireland influenced, to some extent, the planning of the Conqueror. There are reasons for believing that, in order to diminish the peril from the west, William deliberately promoted good relations with one particular Irish prince — Toirrdelbach ua Briain, king of Munster and claimant to the high-kingship of Ireland.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 29 , Issue 114 , November 1994 , pp. 145 - 158
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1994

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References

1 Two of the Saxon chronicles parallel, ed. Plummer, Charles and Earle, John (2 vols, Oxford, 1892-9), i, 220 Google Scholar.

2 SirStenton, Frank, Anglo-Saxon England (2nd ed., Oxford, 1947), p. 613 Google Scholar.

3 Bethell, Denis, ‘English monks and Irish reform in the eleventh and twelfth centuries’ in Williams, T.D. (ed.), Historical Studies VIII (Dublin, 1971), p. 121 Google Scholar.

4 Chibnall, Marjorie, Anglo-Norman England (New York, 1986), p. 47 Google Scholar.

5 Hudson, B.T., ‘The destruction of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn’ in Welsh History Review, xv (1991), p. 332 Google Scholar.

6 Chronicle of the Kings of Man and the Isles, ed. Broderick, George (Edinburgh, 1975), p. 61 Google Scholar, s.a. 1047=1066. For Guôrøôr’s career see Broderick, George, ‘Irish and Welsh strands in the genealogy of Godred Crovan’ in Journal of the Manx Museum, lxxxix 1980), pp 32-3Google Scholar.

7 The ties between Diarmait’s family and the Norwegian royal dynasty are discussed in Hudson, B.T., ‘The Viking and the Irishman’ in Medium Ævum, lx (1991), p. 263 Google Scholar.

8 Hudson, B.T., ‘The family of Harold Godwinsson and the Irish Sea province’ in R.S.A.I. Jn., cix (1981), p. 94 Google Scholar.

9 Ibid. The banner of Edward the Confessor was included among the gifts from Diarmait to his protégé Toirrdelbach ua Briain in 1068: see The Annals of Inisfallen, ed. Airt, Seán Mac (Dublin, 1951)Google Scholar, s.a. 1068: ‘Tairdelbach Hua Briain do dul i lLaignib co tuc seotu imda as,. i. claideb Briain 7 mergge ríg Saxan, 7 seotu imda archena ó Diarmait, o ríg Laigen’ (Toirrdelbach ua Briain went into Leinster and brought away many treasures, that is, Brian’s sword, the standard of the king of the Saxons and many other treasures from Diarmait, king of Leinster). In a note, p. 224 n. 4, Mac Airt identifies the standard as that of Edward the Confessor.

There is some confusion about the number of Harold’s sons in Ireland. While there is general agreement that Godwin and Edwin fled to Diarmait, a question remains as to whether the third individual was their brother Magnus or their cousin Tostig, son of Harold’s brother Sveinn. For a discussion see Hudson, ‘Family of Harold Godwinsson’, pp 93–1.

10 William of Malmesbury, De gestis regum Anglorum, ed. Stubbs, William (2 vols, London, 1887-9), ii, 312Google Scholar; Saxo Grammaticus, Saxonis gesta Danorum, ed. Olrik, Jørgen and Raeder, Hans (2 vols, Copenhagen, 1931-57), i, 308Google Scholar.

11 Vitalis, Orderic, Historia ecclesiastica, ed. Chibnall, Majorie (6 vols, Oxford, 1969-80), iv, 42Google Scholar. Orderic’s account, although confused at points, is generally accepted to contain a truthful representation of the main arguments.

12 Liber Eliensis, ed. Blake, E.O. (Camden Society, 3rd ser., vol. 92, London, 1962), p. 176 Google Scholar. This siege is not to be confused with the more famous and successful siege of Ely by William two years later. The editor suggests that the reference to the Irish refers to the raids on the south-western English coast by an Irish fleet led by the sons of Harold Godwinsson (p. xxxvi). The account, written at roughly the same time as that of Orderic, is a reliable record incorporating a number of important details: see pp xxxv-xxxvi, where the various sources used by the compiler are identified and the tangled narrative is set in chronological order.

13 The raid of 1068 had been up the Bristol Channel (Hudson, ‘Family of Harold Godwinsson’, pp 95-6)Google Scholar. By choosing a more southerly location for the raid of 1069, the sons of Harold were imitating their father, who had led a fleet from Ireland to the region round Portland in 1052.

14 Hudson, ‘Family of Harold Godwinsson’, p. 97; the accounts of the manors are in Domesday Book, gen. ed. Morris, John (Leicester, 1975-86): Devonshire, f. 109bGoogle Scholar.

15 The devastation was not equally distributed. While the value of Ilton declined from 20 to 5 shillings and Portlemouth declined from 40 to 10 shillings, Thurlestone actually increased in value from 5 to 10 shillings, Galmpton increased from 40 to 50 shillings, and the values of both Bagton and South Huish remained the same. Plotting the location of the manors on a map suggests that the raiders had approached Bolt Head from the west.

16 Fitz Osbern had accompanied the Conqueror at Hastings ( Douglas, D.C., ‘The companions of the Conqueror’ in History, n.s., xxviii (1943), p. 143)Google Scholar. The validity of the ship list for establishing precedent at the court of the Conqueror has been defended by Houts, Elizabeth M.C.van, ‘The ship list of William the Conqueror’ in Anglo-Norman Studies, x 1987), pp 159-83Google Scholar. For brief surveys of William’s career see, for Hereford, , Carlyle, E.I., ‘The political history of Herefordshire’ in The Victoria History of the counties of England: Herefordshire (London, 1908), i, 353–7Google Scholar; and for Gloucester see Domesday Book. Gloucestershire, note W. 4.

17 The charter, to La Trinité-du-Mont, Rouen, is listed by Round, J.H. in Calendar of documents preserved in France illustrative of the history of Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1899), p. 21 n. 77Google Scholar.

18 The date of Hugh’s introduction into Cheshire is uncertain. Stenton, following Tait, dates it to c. 1071 (Anglo-Saxon England, p. 607 and note); for a somewhat later date see Harris, B.C., ‘The earldom of Chester, 1070–1301’ in Victoria History of the counties of England: Cheshire (Oxford, 1979), ii, 1Google Scholar. For a survey of Hugh’s career see Walker, David, The Norman conquerors (Swansea, 1977), pp 20–33 Google Scholar.

19 Vitalis, Orderic, Historia ecclesiastica, ii, 260-62Google Scholar. Hugh supplied ships for the Conqueror in 1066 (ibid., ii, 144 n. 1).

20 Domesday Book: Cheshire, ff 268d-269b lists the northern Welsh lands held by the Normans in 1086. The History of Gruffydd ap Cynan, ed. Jones, Arthur (Manchester, 1910), pp 122 Google Scholar, 136 gives an indication of Norman activity from the Welsh point of view.

21 Vitalis, Orderic, Historia ecclesiastica, ii, 262Google Scholar; Douglas, ‘Companions of the Conqueror’, p. 144.

22 Diarmait’s difficulties are noted in the Annals of Inisfallen, s.a. 1071:‘Cath eter Laigniu . i. eter mc. Murchada hui Maíl na mBó7 mc. Domnaill Remair, co torchair and Tadg Hua Riain, rí Hua nDróna 7 alii multi. Sluaged la Tairdelbach Hua mBriain hi Laignib 7 hi mMide co tuc giallu Laigen 7 Mide 7 conos tuc i Ilaim Diarmata m. Maíl na mBó’ (A battle among the Leinstermen, i.e. between the son of Murchad, grandson of Máel na mBó, and the son of Domnall Remair, there fell Tadc Ua Riain, king of Uí Dróna, and many others. A hosting by Toirrdelbach ua Briain into Leinster and into Meath, and he took the hostages of Leinster and Meath and gave them to Diarmait mac Máel na mBó). Domnall Remair (‘the fat’) was the brother of Diarmait, and in the previous year Toirrdelbach had taken hostages from him.

23 A final testimony to Diarmait’s prestige as a sea-lord is found among some lines of verse in a eulogy preserved in the Annals of the Four Masters: ‘Diarmaid dondghlan go ndreich ndaith/rí no chongbhadh cleth coccaidh/dar fucc hi saoth samh gann sith/dith laoch Ladhrann co loingsibh’ (Diarmait of the reddish complexion/king who maintained the standard of war/ whose death brought scarcity of peace / the loss of the heroes of Ladhrann [i.e. Uí Cheinnselaigh], with their ships) ( Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters from the earliest period to the year 1616, ed. and trans. O’Donovan, John (7 vols, Dublin, 1851), ii, 902-3, s.a. 1072Google Scholar).

24 The literature on the connexions between the Irish and English churches in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries is vast, and a list of the sources for this period is Kenney, J.F., Sources for early history of Ireland: ecclesiastical, ed. Bieler, Ludwig (repr., Dublin, 1979), pp 757-71Google Scholar. Aubrey Gwynn contributed numerous studies on Anglo-Irish church history, and these are catalogued in the bibliography appended to his festschrift ( Watt, John et al., (eds), Studies in medieval history presented to Aubrey Gwynn, S.J. (Dublin, 1966), pp 502-9Google Scholar). Three other important studies are Bethell, ‘English monks and Irish reform’, pp 111–35; Richter, Michael, ‘The first century of Anglo-Irish relations’ in History, lix 1974), pp 195–210 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Flanagan, M.T., Irish society, Anglo-Norman settlers and Angevin kingship (Oxford, 1989), pp 7–55 Google Scholar.

25 The letter was printed by Ussher, James (The whole works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, ed. Elrington, C.R. and Todd, J.H. (17 vols, Dublin, 1847-64), iv, 488–9 n. 25) and listed by Kenney, Sources, pp 758-9Google Scholar.

26 The letters have been printed several times: first by Ussher, , Whole works, iv, 490-91 n. 26 (Guôrøôr) and iv, 492–3 n. 27 (Toirrdelbach)Google Scholar; and more recently in The letters of Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, ed. Clover, Helen and Gibson, Margaret (Oxford, 1978), pp 66-9Google Scholar, no. 9 (Guôrøôr) and pp 70–73, no. 10 (Toirrdelbach). They are listed by Kenney, Sources, p. 759.

27 Letters of Lanfranc, ed. Clover & Gibson, p. 70.

28 This raises the question of prior contact between Toirrdelbach and Pope Gregory VII; for a discussion see Gwynn, Aubrey, ‘Pope Gregory VII and the Irish church’ in I.E.R., 5th ser., lviii (1941), pp 98–100 Google Scholar, who argues that the famous letter from the pontiff to Toirrdelbach was sent after the consecration of Patricius; and Flanagan, Irish society, pp 17–18, who argues that the letter was sent before the death of Dúnán.

29 The literature on these disputes is voluminous, and reference should be made to Graves, Edgar B., Bibliography of English history to 1485 (Oxford, 1975)Google Scholar for publications before 1974, and to The international medieval bibliography (Leeds, 1977- ) for publications after 1976.

30 Hudson, B.T., ‘Gaelic princes and Gregorian reform’ in Hudson, B.T. and Ziegler, Vickie (eds), Crossed paths (Lanham, 1991), p. 65 Google Scholar.

31 The correspondence between Lanfranc and Domnall is mentioned in the Acta Lanfranci and dated to the eleventh year of Lanfranc’s episcopate (see Two of the Saxon chronicles, i, 290; there the consecration of Gilla Pátraic is noted also, p. 289). The letter has been printed by Ussher, , Whole works iv, 495-7 n. 29Google Scholar, and in Letters of Lanfranc, ed. Clover & Gibson pp 154–61 n. 40, where it has been dated to the period between 29 August 1080 and 28 August 1081. The identification of Domnall is discussed by Kenney, Sources, pp 759–60.

32 Both letters were printed by Ussher, , Whole works, iv, 515-17 (Anselm’s announcement) and pp 518–19 (Malchus)Google Scholar.

33 The writings of Bishop Patrick, 1074–1084, ed. Gwynn, Aubrey J. (Scriptores Latini Hiberniae, vol. 1, Dublin, 1955), p. 4 Google Scholar.

34 Lanfanci, Acta in Two of the Saxon chronicles, i, 290Google Scholar; also printed in Letters of Lanfranc, ed. Clover, & Gibson, , p. 187, and Richter, Michael, Canterbury professions (Canterbury and York Society, no. 67, London, 1973), p. 31 n. 42Google Scholar.

35 Chartularies of St Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, ed. Gilbert, J.T. (2 vols, Dublin, 1884-6), ii, 250Google Scholar.

36 Chibnall, Anglo-Norman England, p. 47; Flanagan, Irish society, pp 7–55.

37 Magister Adam Bremensis gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, ed. Schmeidler, Bernhard (Hanover, 1917), p. 198 Google Scholar.

38 For a brief synopsis of the rebellion, with a discussion of some problems, see Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, pp 602–1.

39 William of Malmesbury has a somewhat confused account in that he claims Knútr was sent by his father King Sveinn with two hundred ships (De gestis regum Anglorum, ii, 319). The appearance of Sveinn is incorrect, because he died on 28 April 1074 and his son Haraldr was reigning in 1075.

40 Ex Ælnothi vita Kanuti regis, ed. Waitz, Georg in Monumenta Germaniae historica, scriptores, xxix, 6Google Scholar: ‘Fama virtutum et constantiae, prudentia nobilissimi principis latius diffunditur, et tam apud Scotos et Orcadas Irosque . ..’ (The report of [Knútr’s] valour and firmness, the sagacity of the most noble prince was more widely spread abroad, and as far as among the Scots, the Orcadians and the Irish . . .). This material precedes an account of Knútr’s last effort to invade England, in 1085.

41 Annals of Inisfallen, s.a. 1075, p. 230: ‘Goffraid hua Regnaill, rí Átha Cliath, do innarba dar muir do Thairdelbach Hua Briain,7 a éc re muir annal ar tinól mórloingse dochum nErend’ (Guôrøôr, grandson of Rögnvaldr, king of Ath Cliath, was banished across the sea by Toirrdelbach ua Briain, and he died beyond the sea, having gathered a great fleet [to return] to Ireland).

42 The pioneering work on this trade was presented by Round, J.H. in Feudal England (London, 1895), pp 465-7Google Scholar; further discussion is provided by Gwynn, Aubrey, ‘Medieval Bristol and Dublin’ in I.H.S., v, no. 20 (Sept. 1947), pp 275-86Google Scholar.

43 William of Malmesbury, De gestis regum Anglorum, ii, 484-5Google Scholar: ‘Hibernensium regem Murcardum, et successores ejus, quorum nomina fama non extulit, ita devotos habuit noster Henricus, ut nihil nisi quod eum palparet scriberent, nihil nisi quod juberet agerent: quamvis feratur Murcardus, nescio qua de causa, paucis diebus inflatius in Anglos egisse; sed mox, pro interdicto navigio et mercimonio navigantium, tumorem pectoris sedasse’ (Muirchertach, king of the Irish, and his successors, whose names have not reached our notice, had such devotion to our Henry that they wrote nothing to him unless it soothed, nothing he commanded but what they did; although Muirchertach was said (I do not know by what reason) for a short while to have acted haughtily towards the English, but presently, through the suspension of shipping and maritime trade, his insolence was extinguished).

44 Dolley, R.M.H., The Hiberno-Norse coins in the British Museum (Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, London, 1966), pp 130-34Google Scholar.

45 Ibid., pp 135–6.

46 Brooke, C.N.L. and Keir, Gillian, London, 800–1216: the shaping of a city (Berkeley, 1975), pp 139-40Google Scholar.

47 Richardson, H.G., The English Jewry under Angevin kings (London, 1960), pp 1–2 Google Scholar.

48 The vita was edited and translated by Meyer, Kuno, Betha Colmáin maic Lúacháin (Todd Lecture Series, vol. 17, Dublin, 1911), pp 80–81 Google Scholar. For the date of composition see p. vii, where the editor notes that the narrative is valuable for contemporary information.

49 On the interesting question of pilgrimages at this time see Graboïis, A., ‘Anglo-Norman England and the Holy Land’ in Anglo-Norman Studies, viii (1984), pp 132—41Google Scholar.

50 The involvement of the Uí Briain with Gruffudd is obscure, and the debate about whether his patrons were from Munster or Leinster has not ended: see Evans, D.S., Historia Gruffud vab Kenan (Cardiff, 1977), p. 59 Google Scholar, who suggests that it was Leinster; and Flanagan, Irish society, pp 62–3, who argues that it was Munster.

51 For narratives of Welsh history and contacts in this period one should refer to Lloyd, J.E., The history of Wales from the earliest times to the Edwardian conquests (2 vols, London, 1911), ii, 400-10Google Scholar; and, more recently, Davies, R.R., Conquest, coexistence and change: Wales, 1063–1415 (Oxford, 1988), pp 27–34 Google Scholar.

52 Rowlands, I.W., ‘The making of the march: aspects of the Norman settlements in Dyfed’ in Proceedings of the Battle Conference of Anglo-Norman Studies, iii 1980), pp 142-3Google Scholar. For the Norman efforts in south Wales see also Walker, Norman conquerors, pp 34–49.

53 These invasions were largely the work of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (Hudson, ‘Destruction of Gruffudd’, p. 332)Google Scholar.

54 Otway-Ruthven, A.J., ‘The constitutional position of the great lordships of south Wales’ in R. Hist. Sot: Trans., 5th ser., viii (1958), p. 2 Google Scholar.

55 Domesday Book: Herefordshire, f. 179b.

56 Annals of Inisfallen, s.a. 1080: ‘Diarmait Hua Briain do brith loingsi hi mBretnaib co tuc étáil moir as’ (Diarmait Ua Briain brought a fleet to Wales and took great spoil therefrom); Annales Cambriae, ed. Ithel, John Ab (London, 1860), p. 27 Google Scholar, s.a. 1078=1080: ‘Menevia a gentilibus vastata est et Abraham a gentilibus occiditur’.

57 Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh; The war of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, ed. Todd, J.H. (Rolls Series, vol. 48, London, 1867), p. 160: ‘Frainc na Fotla’Google Scholar.

58 The Chester grant was brought to general notice in the Historical Manuscripts Commission’s Eighth report (London, 1881), p. 356 Google ScholarPubMed, and its correct interpretation was provided by Round, Feudal England, pp 465–7. Two confirmations of Henry’s charter were issued by his son John (ibid.): the first confirmation was issued while John was lord of Ireland, and the second after he became king, granted 3 May 1201. The grant to the men of Bristol is printed in Bristol charters, 1155–1373, ed. Harding, N.D. (Bristol Record Society Publications, no. 1, Bristol, 1930), pp 6–7 Google Scholar. The grant to Rouen was included by Round in Calendar of documents, pp 32–4, and is printed in Regesta regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066–1154 (4 vols, Oxford, 1913-69), iii, 268-9Google Scholar. A reconfirmation was issued by Henry in 1174 or 1175 (Round, Calendar of documents, pp 34–5).

59 The Vita Wulfstani of William of Malmesbury, ed. Darlington, R.R. (Camden Society, 3rd ser., vol. 40, London, 1928), p. 59 Google Scholar. Wulfstan was one of the patrons of sailors plying the routes between Bristol and Ireland; his protection of one storm-tossed crew is related in his vita, pp 42–3.

60 William of Malmesbury, Historia novella, ed. Potter, Kenneth (London, 1955), p. 47 Google Scholar.

61 For a discussion see Corráin, Donncha Ó, Ireland before the Normans (Dublin, 1971), pp 157-8Google Scholar.