page_title: Magnús Óláfsson
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Magnús Óláfsson / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Kingdom of the Isles in about 1200. The lands controlled by the Crovan dynasty are coloured red; the lands controlled by the descendants of Somerled (Clann Somairle) are coloured yellow. Locations displayed on this map include: the Atlantic Ocean, Arran, Barra, Bute, Garmoran, Glenelg, Harris, Iona, Islay, Isle of Man, Kintyre, Lewis, Lorne, Mull, Skye, the Small Isles, and Uist. I based this map off one published in the following book: McDonald, R.A. (2007). Manx Kingship in its Irish sea Setting, 1187–1229: King Rǫgnvaldr and the Crovan dynasty. Four Courts Press. 978-1-84682-047-2.
context_page_description: Magnús Óláfsson was a King of Mann and the Isles. He was a son of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles, and a member of the Crovan dynasty. Magnús' realm encompassed Mann and parts of the Hebrides. Some leading members of Magnús' family—such as his father—styled themselves "King of the Isles"; other members—such as Magnús and his brothers—styled themselves "King of Mann and the Isles". Although kings in their own right, leading members of the Crovan dynasty paid tribute to the Kings of Norway and generally recognised a nominal Norwegian overlordship of Mann and the Hebrides.
  In 1237, Óláfr died and was succeeded by his elder son, Haraldr, who later drowned in 1248. The kingship was then taken up by his brother, Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson. After a reign of only weeks, Rǫgnvaldr was slain and the kingship was taken up by Haraldr Guðrøðarson, a descendant of Óláfr's half-brother and deadly rival, Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles. After a short reign, this Haraldr was removed from power by his overlord, Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway. In Haraldr's absence, Magnús and a relation of his, Eóghan Mac Dubhghaill, King in the Isles, unsuccessfully attempted to conquer Mann.
context_section_description: Magnús was a member of the Crovan dynasty—a line of Norse-Gaelic sea-kings whose kingdom encompassed the Isle of Man (Mann) and the northern parts of the Hebrides, from the late eleventh century to the mid thirteenth century. Although the kingdom originally encompassed the entirety of the Hebrides, much of the Inner Hebrides was permanently lost in the mid twelfth century, but the dynasty retained control of the largest Hebridean islands of Lewis and Harris and Skye. Magnús was the son of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles (died 1237). Although Óláfr is known to have had two wives, and no contemporaneous source names the mother of his children, Magnús' mother may have been Óláfr's second wife—Cairistíona, daughter of Fearchar, Earl of Ross, (died c.1251).
  Óláfr was a younger son of Guðrøðr Óláfsson, King of Dublin and the Isles (died 1187). Before his death in 1187, Guðrøðr instructed that Óláfr should succeed to the kingship. However, Guðrøðr was instead succeeded by his elder son, Rǫgnvaldr (died 1229), who had popular support. Rǫgnvaldr and Óláfr, who are thought to have had different mothers, subsequently warred over the dynasty's kingdom in the early thirteenth century, until Rǫgnvaldr was slain battling Óláfr in 1229. Rǫgnvaldr's son, Guðrøðr (died 1231), who was also in conflict with Óláfr, took up his father's claim to the throne, and at his height co-ruled the kingdom with Óláfr in 1231. Guðrøðr was slain in 1231, and Óláfr ruled the entire kingdom without internal opposition until his own death in 1237. Óláfr was succeeded by his son, Haraldr, who later travelled to Norway and married a daughter of Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway (died 1263), but lost his life at sea on his return voyage in 1248. In May 1249, Haraldr's brother, Rǫgnvaldr (died 1249), formally succeeded to the kingship of the Crovan dynasty's kingdom.
  Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson's reign was an extremely short one; only weeks after his accession, he was slain on Mann. His killer is identified by a contemporary source as a knight named Ívarr who may have been an ally of Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson's second cousin once removed, Haraldr Guðrøðarson (fl. 1249), who seized the kingship immediately following the killing. Although at first Haraldr was recognised as a legitimate ruler of the kingdom by Henry III, King of England (died 1272), Haraldr was later regarded as a usurper by his Norwegian overlord, Hákon. In 1250, Hákon summoned Haraldr to Norway to answer for his seizure of the kingship, and Haraldr was kept from returning to the Isles.
caption: Map of the Kingdom of the Isles circa 1200.[2] The lands of the Crovan dynasty bordering those of Clann Somhairle.
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