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Helga Moddansdóttir
Helga Moddansdóttir was the mistress of Haakon Paulsson who was Earl of Orkney from 1105 to 1123. The ''Orkneyinga saga'' states that she was the daughter of Moddan of Dale, Moddan () - described as a rich and well-born farmer - and that she and the earl had three children. She was a member of a powerful dynasty in northern Scotland, sometimes referred to as "Clan Moddan" by modern historians, whose power base was "Dale" possibly near the modern-day Helmsdale in Sutherland. Although little is known about her own activities save a fabulous story about a poisoned shirt that supposedly killed her son Harald it is clear that she, her sister Frakkök and her children had a significant impact on the politics of early 12th century Orkney, Caithness and Sutherland. Family background and status After the death of earl Magnus Erlendsson c. 1115 at the hands of his cousin Haakon Paulsson, the family of ''Moddan of Dale'' played a significant part in the affairs of the Earldom of Orkney. How ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haakon Paulsson
Haakon Paulsson (Old Norse: ''Hákon Pálsson''; died 1123) was a Norwegian ''jarl'' who ruled the earldom of Orkney together with his cousin Magnus Erlendsson from 1105 to 1123. Their lives and times are recounted in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', which was first written down in the early 13th century by an unknown Icelandic author. Family background Haakon's father was Paul Thorfinnsson who, along with his brother, Erlend Thorfinnsson, had ruled as a joint earl of Orkney. Paul and Erlend remained on friendly terms until their children grew to adulthood, after which disputes between their sons led to a quarrel and open hostility between the brothers. Paul, who was the elder of the two, was "very much the one in charge" initially.''Orkneyinga saga'' c. 33 He married an unnamed daughter of Norwegian earl Hakon Ivarsson and they had two sons and four daughters. Of these siblings, Haakon played the greatest part in later Orcadian events. Their other children were Thora, Brynjolf, In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concubine
Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar, but mutually exclusive. During the early stages of European colonialism, administrators often encouraged European men to practice concubinage to discourage them from paying prostitutes for sex (which could spread venereal disease) and from homosexuality. Colonial administrators also believed that having an intimate relationship with a native woman would enhance white men's understanding of native culture and would provide them with essential domestic labor. The latter was critical, as it meant white men did not require wives from the metropole, hence did not require a family wage. Colonial administrators eventually discouraged the practice when these liaisons resulted in offspring who threatened colonial rule by producing a m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matad, Earl Of Atholl
Matad of Atholl was Mormaer of Atholl, 1130s–1153/59. It is possible that he was granted the Mormaerdom by a King of Scotland, as suggested by Roberts, rather than merely inheriting it. However, this is unlikely. If he did inherit it, he inherited it from his father, Máel Muire. According to the Orkneyinga Saga, Matad was the son of Máel Muire, who was son of king Donnchad I and younger brother of King Máel Coluim III Cenn Mór. It is highly unlikely that the kings of Scotland, with little more claim to the kingship than Matad himself, would have been in a position to "grant" the Mormaerdom. It is much more likely that Matad inherited part of a deal made with Máel Muire by the king in order to alienate Máel Muire and his descendants from the kingship. Mormaer Matad is most famous for being the father of Harald Maddadsson, or ''Arailt mac Mataid''. He married Margaret, the daughter of Haakon Paulsson (the son of Thorfinn the Mighty Thorfinn Sigurdsson (100 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clan MacAlister
Clan MacAlister is a Scottish Clan. The clan is the earliest branch to have split off from Clan Donald, claiming descent from Alasdair Mòr, son of Domhnall founder of Clan Donald. From Alasdair Mòr the clans takes its surname ''MacAlister''; this surname is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic '' MacAlasdair'' meaning "son of Alasdair". In the 15th century the chief of the clan was seated in Kintyre, and the clan was centred there until the 18th century, when a chief sold the family estate in preference to an estate in the Scottish Lowlands. History of the clan Origins Clan MacAlister was originally a branch of Clan Donald—one of the largest Scottish clans. Newton 2007: p. 37. The eponymous ancestor of Clan Donald is Domhnall, son of Raghnall, son of Somhairle. Eyre-Todd 1923, 1: pp. 232–243. Traditional Clan Donald genealogies, created in the later Middle Ages, give the clan a descent from various legendary Irish figures. Modern historians, however, distrust these tradition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clan Macruari
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societies' exogamy rules are on a clan basis, where all members of one's own clan, or the clans of both parents or even grandparents, are excluded from marriage as incest. Clans preceded more centralized forms of community organization and government, and have existed in every country. Members may identify with a coat of arms or other symbol. Etymology The word "clan" is derived from the Gaelic word meaning "children", "offspring", "progeny" or "descendants". According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the word "clan" was introduced into English in around 1406, as a descriptive label for the organization of society in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. None of the Irish and Scottish Gaelic terms for kinship groups is cognate to English '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clan Donald
Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan McDonald ( ), is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs also held the title of Earl of Ross until 1476. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of coats of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, recognises under Scottish law the ''High Chief of Clan Donald''. There are also numerous branches to the Clan Donald and several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, Clan MacDonald of Glencoe, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, and Clan MacAlister. There are also notable historic branches of Clan Donald without chiefs so-recognised, these are: the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lords Of The Isles
Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( or ; ) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was held by a series of his descendants, the Norse-Gaelic rulers of the Isle of Man and Argyll and the islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages. They wielded sea-power with fleets of galleys ( birlinns). Although they were, at times, nominal vassals of the kings of Norway, Ireland, or Scotland, the island chiefs remained functionally independent for many centuries. Their territory included much of Argyll, the Isles of Arran, Bute, Islay, the Isle of Man, Hebrides ( Skye and Ross from 1438), Knoydart, Ardnamurchan, and the Kintyre peninsula. At their height they were the greatest landowners and most powerful lords after the kings of England and Scotland. The end of the MacDonald Lords came in 1493 when John MacDonald II had his ancest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clan MacDougall
Clan MacDougall is a Highland Scottish clan, historically based in and around Argyll. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in Scotland, issuing new grants of coats of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, recognizes under Scottish law the Chief of Clan MacDougall. The MacDougall chiefs share a common ancestry with the chiefs of Clan Donald in descent from Somerled of the 12th century (and thus further of the Viking-born Norse-Gael dynasty of House of Ivar). In the 13th century the Clan MacDougall whose chiefs were the original Lords of Argyll and later Lords of Lorne was the most powerful clan in the Western Highlands. During the Wars of Scottish Independence the MacDougalls sided with the Clan Comyn whose chiefs rivaled Robert the Bruce for the Scottish Crown and this resulted in clan battles between the MacDougalls and Bruce. This marked the MacDougall's fall from power and led to the rise of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerled
Somerled (died 1164), known in Middle Irish as Somairle, Somhairle, and Somhairlidh, and in Old Norse as Sumarliði , was a mid-12th-century Norse-Gaelic lord who, through marital alliance and military conquest, rose in prominence to create the Kingdom of Argyll and the Isles. Little is certain of Somerled's origins, although he may have been born in the north of Ireland and appears to have belonged to a Norse–Gaels, Norse–Gaelic family of some prominence. His father, GilleBride, of royal Irish ancestry, appears to have conducted a marriage alliance with Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair, son of Alexander I of Scotland, and claimant to the Scottish throne. During a period of alliance with David I of Scotland, Somerled married Ragnhildis Olafsdottir , Ragnhild, daughter of Óláfr Guðrøðarson (died 1153), Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of Man and the Isles in 1140. In 1153, Olaf of Man died and was succeeded by his son, Godred. But Godred Olafsson was a very unpopular ruler. Somerle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ragnhildis Olafsdottir
Ragnhildis Olafdottir, also known as Ragnhild, (c.1115 - unknown) was the daughter of king Óláfr Guðrøðarson of the Kingdom of Mann and Ingibiorg Hakonsdottir, making her a granddaughter of Haakon Paulsson. Ragnhild married the Norse-Gaelic lord Somerled, king of the Kingdom of the Isles. As the mother of Dubgall, Ragnall, and Aonghas,Entry for the year 1102 ''Chronica Regum Manniæ et Insularum'' Ragnhild was the progenitor of Clann Somhairle and the ancestor of , |
Kingdom Of The Isles
The Kingdom of the Isles, also known as Sodor, was a Norse–Gaelic kingdom comprising the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and the islands of the Clyde from the 9th to the 13th centuries. The islands were known in Old Norse as the , or "Southern Isles" as distinct from the or Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland. In Scottish Gaelic, the kingdom is known as . The territory is sometimes called the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, although only some of the later rulers claimed that title. The historical record is incomplete, and the kingdom was not a continuous entity throughout the entire period. At times the rulers were independent of external control, although for much of the period they had overlords in Norway, Ireland, England, Scotland or Orkney. At times there also appear to have been competing claims for all or parts of the territory. The islands have a total land area of over and extend for more than from north to south. Viking influence in the area began in the late 8th c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Óláfr Guðrøðarson (died 1153)
Óláfr Guðrøðarson (died 29 June 1153) was a twelfth-century King of Mann and the Isles. As a younger son of Guðrøðr Crovan, King of Dublin and the Isles, Óláfr witnessed a vicious power struggle between his elder brothers in the aftermath of their father's death. At some point, the young Óláfr was entrusted to the care of Henry I, King of England, and like the contemporaneous Scottish monarchs, Alexander I, King of Scotland, Alexander I and David I, King of Scotland, David I, Óláfr appears to have been a protégé of the English king. As King of the Isles, Óláfr contracted marital alliances with neighbouring maritime rulers. Although he appears to have overseen successful military operations to reclaim the northernmost territories once controlled by his father, he may have witnessed the loss of authority in Galloway as well. Like his counterpart David I, Óláfr was a reformer and moderniser of his realm. However, his four-decade reign ended in abrupt disaster whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
