Manx revolt of 1275

Manx revolt of 1275
Date 1275 Location Mann Result Revolt put down by Scots
Belligerents
Crovan dynasty	Scottish Crown
Commanders and leaders
Godred Magnusson	Alexander III

The Manx revolt of 1275 was an uprising on the Isle of Man in 1275, led by Guðrøðr Magnússon. The uprising initially expelled the Scots, who had received the Isle of Man in 1266 by the Treaty of Perth from the Kingdom of Norway. King Alexander III of Scotland responded by sending a large fleet and troops to crush the rebellion.

Background

Alexander III of Scotland, undertook a campaign to renew his kingdom's struggle to wrest the Hebridean region and Isle of Man from Norwegian overlordship. In so doing, Alexander III provoked a retaliatory military response from Haakon IV of Norway, resulting in the Battle of Largs and Haakon's wintering at Orkney. The campaign ultimately ended in failure with the latter's weakening health and death in 1263.

With Haakon's death Alexander III seized the initiative, and oversaw a series of invasions into the Isles and northern Scotland. Recognising this dramatic shift in royal authority, Magnús Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles, submitted to Alexander III within the year, and in so doing, symbolised the complete collapse of Norwegian sovereignty in the Isles. The following year, Magnús died without a legitimate heir to succeed him. In 1266, Alexander III pacifically secured the Hebrides and Mann from Hákon's son and successor, Magnús Hákonarson, King of Norway (died 1280), by way of the Treaty of Perth.

Following the conclusion of the treaty, Alexander III entrusted control of Mann into the hands of royal officials. Four such bailiffs or justiciars are known to have been appointed to govern the island: a certain "Godredus Mac Mares"; Alan, illegitimate son of Thomas fitz Roland, Earl of Atholl (died 1231); a certain "Mauricius Okarefair" / "Mauricio Acarsan"; and Reginald, the king's chaplain. Scottish exchequer records also reveal that the Scottish Crown held several Manx hostages as a means to ensure order on the island.

Revolt

Guðrøðr Magnússon led a revolt on the island against the Scottish Crown, taking possession of the island's strongholds and ejecting the Scottish representatives in the process.

Scottish response

Alexander III, King of Scotland quickly responded by sending a great fleet, drawn from the Hebrides and Galloway, to invade the island and restore Scottish royal authority. The commanders of this enterprise were: John de Vesci (died 1289), John I Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died c. 1277), Alan, an illegitimate son of Thomas fitz Roland, Earl of Atholl, Alasdair Mac Dubhghaill, Lord of Argyll (died 1310), and Ailéan mac Ruaidhrí (died ×1296). The identities of these men suggest that the Scottish force was composed of a small component of heavily armed knights, a contingent of infantry troops levied from the common army of Galloway, and a fleet of galleys gathered from the Hebrides.

The Scots made landfall on the southern shores of Mann. According to the Chronicle of Lanercost and the Chronicle of Mann, the invaders first attempted to resolve the uprising peaceably, demanding that the rebels stand down and submit to Alexander III.

Battle of Ronaldsway

Main article: Battle of Ronaldsway

The account preserved in the Chronicle of Lanercost and the Chronicle of Mann suggest that lightly armed and poorly-trained rebels were soundly crushed by well-armed Scottish warriors, with the Annals of Lanerost declaring that "the wretched Manxmen turned their backs, and perished miserably". Although the Chronicle of Mann specifies that five hundred and thirty seven people were slaughtered by the Scots, it is possible that this tally owes itself to contemporary poetic convention, 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". Although Guðrøðr may have died in the defeat, the continuation of Historia rerum Anglicarum reports that he and his wife managed to escape the carnage on Mann, and fled to Wales. If correct, this source is one of several that demonstrate strong connections between the Crovan dynasty and Wales spanning the eleventh and thirteenth centuries.

Aftermath

Scotland's rule over the Isle of Man was confirmed after putting down the revolt, however Scottish rule was not long-lasting, and in 1290 the Manx was under the possession of Edward I of England after an expedition by Walter de Huntercombe. The Isle of Man remained in English hands until 1313, when Robert I of Scotland took it after besieging Castle Rushen for five weeks. A confused period followed when Man was sometimes under English rule and sometimes Scottish, until 1346, when the Battle of Neville's Cross decided the long struggle between England and Scotland in England's favour.

References

Primary sources

• Anderson, AO, ed. (1908). Scottish Annals From English Chroniclers, A.D. 500 to 1286. London: David Nutt – via Internet Archive.
• Anderson, AO, ed. (1922). Early Sources of Scottish History, A.D. 500 to 1286. Vol. 2. London: Oliver and Boyd – via Internet Archive.
• Goodall, W, ed. (1759). Joannis de Fordun Scotichronicon cum Supplementis ac Continuatione Walteri Boweri. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: Roberti Flaminii. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005759371.
• Howlett, R, ed. (1885). Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richard I. Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores. Vol. 2. London: Longman & Co. – via Internet Archive.
• Maxwell, H, ed. (1913). The Chronicle of Lanercost, 1272–1346. Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons – via Internet Archive.
• Moore, DW (2005). The Other British Isles: A History of Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, Isle of Man, Anglesey, Scilly, Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-6434-0.
• Munch, PA; Goss, A, eds. (1874). Chronica Regvm Manniæ et Insvlarvm: The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys. Vol. 1. Douglas, IM: Manx Society – via Internet Archive.
• Neville, CJ; Simpson, GG, eds. (2012). The Acts of Alexander III King of Scots 1249–1286. Regesta Regum Scottorum (series vol. 4, part 1). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2732-5.
• Skene, WF, ed. (1872). John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas – via Internet Archive.
• Stevenson, J, ed. (1839). Chronicon de Lanercost, M.CC.I.–M.CCC.XLVI. Edinburgh: The Bannatyne Club – via Internet Archive.
• Wilson, J, ed. (1915). The Register of the Priory of St. Bees. Publications of the Surtees Society (series vol. 126). Durham: Andrews & Co. – via Internet Archive.

Secondary sources

• Barrow, GWS (2003) [1973]. The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society From the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-1802-3.
• Barrow, GWS (1981). Kingship and Unity: Scotland 1000–1306. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-6448-5.
• Brown, M (2004). The Wars of Scotland, 1214–1371. The New Edinburgh History of Scotland (series vol. 4). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0748612386.
• Carpenter, D (2003). The Struggle For Mastery: Britain 1066–1284 (EPUB). The Penguin History of Britain (series vol. 3). London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-14-193514-0.
• Duncan, AAM (1996) [1975]. Scotland: The Making of the Kingdom. The Edinburgh History of Scotland (series vol. 1). Edinburgh: Mercat Press. ISBN 0-901824-83-6.
• Duncan, AAM; Brown, AL (1957). "Argyll and the Isles in the Earlier Middle Ages" (PDF). Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 90. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland: 192–220.
• Forte, A; Oram, RD; Pedersen, F (2005). Viking Empires. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82992-2.
• McDonald, RA (1997). The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland's Western Seaboard, c. 1100–c. 1336. Scottish Historical Monographs (series vol. 4). East Linton: Tuckwell Press. ISBN 978-1-898410-85-0.
• McDonald, RA (2004). "Coming in From the Margins: The Descendants of Somerled and Cultural Accommodation in the Hebrides, 1164–1317". In Smith, B (ed.). Britain and Ireland, 900–1300: Insular Responses to Medieval European Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 179–198. ISBN 0-511-03855-0.
• McDonald, RA (2007). Manx Kingship in its Irish Sea Setting, 1187–1229: King Rǫgnvaldr and the Crovan Dynasty. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-84682-047-2.
• Moore, D (1996). "Gruffudd ap Cynan and the Medieval Welsh Polity". In Maund, KL (ed.). Gruffudd ap Cynan: A Collaborative Biography. Studies in Celtic History (series vol. 16). Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. pp. 1–60. ISBN 0-85115-389-5. ISSN 0261-9865.
• Moore, D (2013) [2005]. The Welsh Wars of Independence. Brimscombe Port: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-9648-1.
• Neville, CJ (2012). "Royal Mercy in Later Medieval Scotland". Florilegium. 29: 1–31. doi:10.3138/flor.29.1.
• Neville, CJ (2015). "Preparing for Kingship: Prince Alexander of Scotland, 1264–84". In Nugent, J; Ewan, E (eds.). Children and Youth in Premodern Scotland. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. pp. 155–172. ISBN 978-1-78327-043-9.
• Oram, RD (2000). The Lordship of Galloway. Edinburgh: John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-541-5.
• Raven, JA (2005). Medieval Landscapes and Lordship in South Uist (PhD thesis). Vol. 1. University of Glasgow – via Glasgow Theses Service.
• Sellar, WDH (1998). "The Ancestry of the MacLeods Reconsidered". Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness. 60. Gaelic Society of Inverness: 233–258 – via Google Books.
• Sellar, WDH (2000). "Hebridean Sea Kings: The Successors of Somerled, 1164–1316". In Cowan, EJ; McDonald, RA (eds.). Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages. East Linton: Tuckwell Press. pp. 187–218. ISBN 1-86232-151-5.
• Sellar, WDH (2004). "MacDougall, Alexander, lord of Argyll (d. 1310)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49385. Retrieved 5 July 2011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Stringer, K (1995). "Thirteenth-Century Perspectives". In Grant, A; Stringer, KJ (eds.). Uniting the Kingdom?: The Making of British History. London: Routledge. pp. 85–96. ISBN 0-203-74306-7.
• Tout, TF; Ridgeway, HW (2005). "Vescy, John de (1244–1289)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (October 2005 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28254. Retrieved 17 January 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Wærdahl, RB (2011). Crozier, A (ed.). The Incorporation and Integration of the King's Tributary Lands into the Norwegian Realm, c. 1195–1397. The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400–1700 AD. Peoples, Economics and Cultures (series vol. 53). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-20613-7. ISSN 1569-1462.
• Young, A (2008). "Comyn, John [called Red Comyn], lord of Badenoch (d. c. 1277)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (January 2008 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6044. Retrieved 25 September 2011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)