Vikings
Between about A.D. 800 and 815 the Vikings came to Man chiefly for plunder; between about 850 and 990, when they settled in it, the island fell under the rule of the Scandinavian kings of Dublin; and between 990 and 1079, it became subject to the powerful earls of Orkney. It was probably not before the beginning of the eleventh century that the Celto-Scandinavian population of Man received Christianity; and even, then, perhaps, their reception of it was, like that of the Icelanders with whom they were closely connected, with the proviso that they might also continue their old worship.
The Norse settlement of Shetland from c.800 represents a clean break with the past, in more than linguistic matters. That the settlement was on a vast scale in a short time is borne out by the almost total absence of pre-Norse language; indeed examination of Norn, as the language was known, has shown these Scandinavians came largely from south-west Norway. The early Scandinavians spoke what is now known as Old Norse, and in time the language in all the areas settled by them developed into distinct forms. This gave rise to Norwegian, Faroese, Swedish, etc.; all to some extent mutually equivalent. In Shetland, the original tongue developed into an identifiable language called Norn. Norn, now extinct, was the speech of Shetlanders throughout the Medieval period, although it was never contemporaneously written down. The few surviving legal documents from this period tend to be written in Norwegian than in Norn proper.
2 main epochs
During the period of Scandinavian domination there are two main epochs -- one before the conquest of Man by Gødred Crovan in 1079, and the other after it. Before this date, probably, and before 1098, almost certainly, the bishoprics of the Sudreys and Man were distinct, and Man seems to have been a dependent of Dublin and, through Dublin, of Canterbury.
The kingdom was formed by Gødred Crovan to reinforce Norse control on the only remaining Viking possesions in the British Isles in 1079. Previously, the islands had been taken between c.700-900 AD, during the Viking invasions of the British Isles. They had been admistred by the Norse Kingdoms of Dublin and Orkney. The kingdom of Dublin was established by the Norse invaders of Ireland in the ninth century. By the early tenth century, it had become a hereditary kingdom ruled by the descendants of the ninth century ruler Ivar (d. 873). The kings of Dublin were also often kings of York during the early period, and cadet branches of this dynasty appear to have also ruled in Limerick, Waterford, the Isles, and Man, although it is not always possible to determine the exact relationship to the "main line" ruling in Dublin. The principle Dublin branch descends from Sitric (d. 927), who is consistently referred to in the Irish annals as a grandson of Ivar. Harald ("Aralt") is referred to as the grandson of Ivar in AI. Gødred Crovan consolidated a kingdom there in 1079, and to have have formally ceased in 1266 when it was ceded to the King of Scotland following the Battle of Largs in 1263. Mull, Islay and Kintyre had already been lost to Scotland by 1156. The Abbots of Bangor, Sabal, Whithorn and Furness were barons of the Island. The Abbots of Bangor, Sabal, Whitehorn and Furness were barons of the Island.
Warfare and unsettled rule characterise the earlier epoch; the later saw comparatively more peace. But with the accession of Olaf I, in 1103, a more stable condition of affairs, ecclesiastical as well as secular, was probably initiated. For Olaf had been educated at the English court, and had doubtless acquired a knowledge of the English form of government. And, as we know that he continued his friendly relations with England during the whole of the reign of Henry I, it is probable that, during his long and peaceful reign (1103-1154), he introduced much of the English system both in Church and State. Nor does this connexion with England seem to have been altogether a new departure, as Gødred Crovan, when the King of Dublin as well as Man, gave canonical obedience to Canterbury, while Olaf seems to have been more especially connected with York.
But from 1154 till, at least, the early, part of the fifteenth century, they appear to have continued united, though the political connexion of both Sodor and Man with Norway was severed in 1266, and the connexion of Man with Scotland in 1334. The title of Sodor seems to have been perpetuated in connexion with Man by the fact, which the recent discovery of a modern transcript of a bull of Pope Gregory IX., dated 1231, places beyond a doubt, that Peel Island was also called Sodor in the words of the bull, Holme, Sodor vel Pile vocatum, "Holme (Island), called Sodor or Pile."
The Monks of Rushen-Abbey were of the Cistercian Order; and were not inferior to their brethren in hospitality and beneficence; for, according to an ancient writer, "they were accounted the Almoners of the "Poor." The election of their Abbot was generally sanctioned by the approbation of the Abbot of Furness; to whom not only this Monastery, but perhaps even the Bishoprick of the Island was in some degree subject. With the exception of the fact that he permitted the Cistercian monks of Furness to found an abbey at Rushen in Man, nothing is known of what he actually did in these respects. This foundation of the abbey of Rushen, which took place in 1134, was one of the most important events in the history of the medieval Manx Church. The new abbey was founded by Eudo, or Ivo, Abbot of Furness, who received lands for that purpose at Rushen and elsewhere in Man from Olaf I, who, at the same time, conferred lands and privileges on the "Churches of the Isles" and in 1142, a grant in frankalmoign (free-alms) of lands in Lancashire was received from ARTHUR, son of Gødred.
Olaf, Gødred's son, exercised considerable power, and according to the Chronicle, maintained such close alliance with the kings of Ireland and Scotland that no one ventured to disturb the Isles during his time (1113 - 1152). The diocese of Sodor and Man was founded in 1134. cathedral was founded about a century before parishes were Constituted. The first act of Gødred II on his accession, in 1154, was to confirm this charter. In 1176, the abbot of another English monastery, that of Rivaulx, acquired through Gødred's gift a piece of land at Mirescoge, where "he built a monastery."
The kings during the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, a dynasty briefly appears whose kings were called kings of the Isles (i.e., principally the Hebrides. Gødred, who is called king of Man in Njal's Saga, an Icelandic source appears to have ruled in Man. The rare name "Lagman" among the later kings of Man also suggests that they regarded themselves as the successors of these kings of "the Isles." First, the Annals of Tigernach [AT] for the yeare 1091 refer to him as the son of the son of Harald ["Goffraidh mac Maic Arailt, rí Atha Cliath."]. Then, there is the Chronicle of the Kings of Man [CRM], which states that Gødred was the son of Harald the Black of "Ysland" (Iceland), without further identifying Harald...ABT.6c: Rhanallt m. Gwythryg m. Afloyd m. Gwrthryt mearch m. Harallt ddu m. Ifor gamle m. Afloyd m. Swtrig.
Sodor and Man is a diocese of the Church of England. The diocese of Sodor and Man was founded in 1134. At that period the bishop had one-third of the tithe of the Island .Originally much larger, today it covers just the Isle of Man and its adjacent islets. The Norwegian diocese of Sodor was formed 1154, covering the Hebrides and the other islands along the west coast of Scotland. The history of Norway before the age of the Vikings is indistinct from that of the rest of Scandinavia. Harold I, of the Yngling or Scilfing dynasty conquered the Shetlands and the Orkneys. The name in the original Norse was Súšreyjar or Sudreys, or "southern isles", in contrast to the Noršreyjar, the "northern isles" of Orkney and Shetland. Harold's campaigns drove many nobles and their followers to settle in Iceland and France. In the next two centuries Norsemen raided widely in W Europe and established the Norse duchy of Normandy.
In the 1130s the Church sent a mission to establish the first bishopric on the Isle of Man, and appointed Wimund as the first Bishop. He soon after gave up his role as fisher of men, and became the hunter of men, embarking with a band of followers on a career of murder and looting throughout Scotland and the surrounding islands. His son, Gødred (reigned 1153 - 1158), who for a short period ruled over Dublin also, as a result of a quarrel with Somerled, the ruler of Argyll, in 1156, lost the sler islands off the coast of Argyll. An independent sovereignty thus appeared between the two divisions of his kingdom. The ancient Scandinavian diocese of the kingdom of Man and the western isles of Scotland was called Sodor only, not Sodor and Man. For it was in 1152 that, by bull of Pope Eugenius III, confirmed by Pope Anastasius IV in 1154, the Sudreys were placed under the archiepiscopate of Nidaros (Drontheim), which was created a metropolitan see.
Suzerainty from the middle of the 12th century till 1217 the suzerainty, owing to the fact that Norway had become a prey to civil dissensions, had remained of a very shadowy character. But after that date it became a reality and Norway consequently came into collision with the growing power of Scotland. Harold Haarfager did so first about 885, then came Magnus Barefoot about 1100: both of these conquered the isles. But the building seems to have been abandoned by these monks, as we learn from the chartulary of Furness, in 1238, that it was not made use of by Rivaulx, but was "afterwards given to the abbey of Furness to build it of the Cistercian order." All this tended to the aggrandizement of Furness, and of its offshoot at Rushen, so that the Cistercians seem to have been by far the most powerful religious body in the island.
Of the bishops of the diocese during this period very little is known. The first of them was Roolwer, already mentioned, who was buried in Maughold churchyard. His successor, William, is a name only, "but after William in the days of Gødred Crovan, Hamond, son of Iole, a Manxman," was bishop. If the Chronicle is right, Hamond must come in before 1095. A bishop of similar name, Wimund, but of English birth, is said by the York historians to have been consecrated between 1109 and 1114 by Thomas II, Archbishop of York. If we suppose that Thurstan (1119-1139) was the consecrator rather than Thomas, we can accept the story told about Wimund, by William of Newburgh, the chronicler, who knew him personally. He was the son of a peasant, and was educated as a chorister at Furness Abbey, which was founded in 1127. In due course he took holy orders, and displayed such intellect and eloquence that he was sent by the abbot with some monks to occupy the newly-established (in 1134) monastery in Man.
Of John, the next bishop, nothing is known, except that he was a Cistercian of Savigny, and that he was consecrated by Henry Murdac, who was Archbishop of York between 1151 and 1153. He was followed by the equally obscure Gamaliel or Gamelin, who was consecrated by Roger, Archbishop of York. Next in order comes Reginald, the first of the Sudreyan bishops mentioned in the Icelandic annals, which would indicate that he was consecrated by the Archbishop of Drontheim. In 1158, King Gødred was expelled by Somerled, to whom the introduction of a bishop called "Christian of Argyll" was probably due. And now began the marvellous part of his history. He laid claim to the earldom of Moray, assuming the name of Malcolm Mac Heth, and asserting that he was the earl's son. He then ravaged south-western Scotland with fire and sword, and, with the help of the thane of Argyll, whose daughter he married, he compelled the King of Scotland to surrender to him the southern portion of his kingdom. He treated his subjects with such severity that they took an opportunity of seizing him when he had only a slender escort; they then blinded and mutilated him and shut him up in the monastery of Byland, where he told his story to William of Newburgh and where he died. It is not likely that such a personage bestowed much attention on his insular diocese.
Sullr-eyjar
The islands which were under the rule of conqueror Gødred Crovan were called the Sullr-eyjar (Sudreys or the south isles, in contradistinction to the norsr-eyjar, or the north isles, i.e. the Orkneys and Shetlands, and they consisted of the Hebrides, and of all the sler western islands of Scotland, with Man. At a later date his successors took the title of Rex Manniae et Insularum ( King of Man and the Isles).
Chronicon Manniae
The conqueror Gødred Crovan was evidently a remarkable man, though little information about him is attainable. According to the Chronicon Manniae he subdued Dublin, and a great part of Leinster, and held the Scots in such subjection that no one who built a vessel dared to insert more than three bolts. Person commemorated in Manx legend under the name of King Gorse or Orry.
Early in the 13th century, when Reginald of Man (reigned 1187 - 1229) did homage to King John of England (reigned 1199 - 1216), we hear for the first time of English intervention in the affairs of Man. But a period of Scots domination would precede the establishment of full English control.
From this time till 1203 there is no important event recorded in the history of the diocese; but, in that year, the monastery of Iona, which had fallen into the hands of the Benedictine order, was taken under the protection of the papal authority by the powerful and ambitious Innocent III., for which privilege they had to pay two bezants yearly. This is notable as showing the increased influence of Rome, which was still more clearly demonstrated when, in 1219, King Reginald, in imitation of his over-lord, King John of England, offered his kingdom to the pope, and received it back in fief, subject to a yearly tribute of ten marks; and when, in 1223, he and his dominions were taken "under the protection of the blessed Peter." The earliest action of the pope in his new position as regards Man was to exhort his new vassal to provide lands for houses for the clergy of certain churches in his realm which were without any.
Whether Olaf II, who became king in 1226, approved of these arrangements with the pope, we know not, but it seems probable that he made no protest, as, from this period, there is a distinct increase of papal assumption of authority in the affairs of the Sodor diocese. Of this we have an early proof from a bull issued by Pope Gregory IX, in 1231, to Bishop Simon, in which he decreed that all the possessions of the Church of Sodor which he enumerated were to "remain to you and your successors for ever also the third part of the tithes" from Man and the other Sodor isles.
In 1246, King Harald, not content with merely confirming his predecessors' charters, issued an additional one of his own, by which the monks of Furness obtained "all kinds of mines" in Man, "three acres of land" near St. Trinians, and "exemption from all tolls and taxes." Their claim of the right of electing the bishop of the diocese from among their number will be referred to later. We have now to record an important step in the organization of the Sodor Church, viz. the holding of a diocesan synod. This synod was held at Kirk Braddan, under the presidency of Bishop Simon, in 1229, when a number of ecclesiastical statutes were enacted.
1261 Alexander III of Scotland sent envoys to Norway to negotiate for the cession of the isles, but their efforts led to no result. Defeat of the Norwegian fleet at Largs in 1263. Magnus, king of Man and the Isles (reigned 1252 -1265), who had fought on the Norwegian side, had to surrender all the islands over which he had ruled, except Man. Upon the Treaty of Perth, two years later Magnus died and in 1266 King Magnus VI of Norway ceded the islands, including Man, to Scotland in the Treaty of Perth in consideration of the sum of 4000 marks (known as "merks" in Scotland) and an annuity of 100 marks. 1275 Scotland's rule over Man did not become firmly established, when the Manx suffered defeat in a decisive battle at Ronaldsway, near Castletown.
In 1266 came the cession of Man and the Isles by Norway to Scotland (though Scotch rule was not established till 1275), and with it the advowson of the bishopric, "saving however in all things and entirely the right jurisdiction and liberty of the Church of Drontheim, which it has in respect of the bishop and Church of Man."
In the thirteenth century, Ivar, a young and gallant knight, was enamoured of the beauteous Matilda. Her birth and fortune were inferior; but his generous mind disdained such distinctions. He loved, and was most ardently beloved. The sanction of the king was alone wanting to consummate their happiness. To obtain this, Ivar, in obedience to the custom of the Island, presented his bride to Reginald, a gay and amorous prince; who, struck with the beauty and innocence of Matilda, heightened by an air of modesty, immediately, for some pretended crimes, banished Ivar from his presence, and by violence detained the virgin. In the mean time, Ivar, failing in an at. tempt to revenge his injuries, assumed the monastic habit, and retired into Rushen Abbey. Here he dedicated his life to piety; but his heart was still devoted to Matilda. This is the substance of the tradition; but according to some of the Manks records, Reginald was slain by Ivar, not in the castle of Rushen, but in a neighbouring meadow.
The cathedral of the Diocese of Sodor and Man was on St. Patrick's Isle at Peel (the only city on Man). The present cathedral of the Diocese of Sodor and Man is the parish church of St. German in Peel, which was constituted the cathedral by Act of Tynwald in 1980.