page_title: Fergus of Galloway
section_title: Alliance with Óláfr Guðrøðarson
hierarchical_section_title: Fergus of Galloway / Unravelling of the Isles / Alliance with Óláfr Guðrøðarson
caption_attribution_description: Español: Exposición temporal en el Museo Nacional de Escocia con piezas del Museo Británico, Museo Nacional de Escocia y otras colecciones. Un rey con número de la colección permanente NMS 20. English: Exhibition in the National Museum of Scotland. Pieces from the British Museum, National Museum of Scotland and other collections. A king with number of permanent collection NMS 20
context_page_description: Fergus of Galloway was a twelfth-century Lord of Galloway. Although his familial origins are unknown, it is possible that he was of Norse-Gaelic ancestry. Fergus first appears on record in 1136, when he witnessed a charter of David I, King of Scotland. There is considerable evidence indicating that Fergus was married to a bastard daughter of Henry I, King of England. Although the identity of this woman is unknown, it is possible that she was the mother of Fergus's three children.
  Fergus forged a marital alliance with Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles through the marriage of the latter to Fergus's daughter, Affraic. As a consequence of this union, the leading branch of the Crovan dynasty descended from Fergus. When Óláfr was assassinated by a rival branch of the dynasty, Galloway itself was attacked before Fergus's grandson, Guðrøðr Óláfsson, was able to seize control of Isles. Both Fergus and his grandson appear to have overseen military operations in Ireland, before the latter was overthrown by Somairle mac Gilla Brigte, Lord of Argyll. The fact that there is no record of Fergus lending Guðrøðr support against Somairle could be evidence of a slackening of Fergus's authority.
context_section_description: Early in his career, Fergus bound himself to the Isles in the form of a marital alliance between Affraic and Óláfr, the reigning King of the Isles. Although the union itself is not dated in contemporary sources, the Scandinavian sojourn undertaken the couple's son in 1152 suggests that the marriage was arranged in the 1130s or 1140s. The alliance forged between Óláfr and Fergus gave the former's family valuable familial-connections with the English Crown, one of the most powerful monarchies in western Europe. As for Fergus, the union bound Galloway more tightly to a neighbouring kingdom from which an invasion had been launched during the overlordship of Magnús Óláfsson, King of Norway. The alliance with Óláfr also ensured Fergus the protection of one of Britain's most formidable fleets, and further gave him a valuable ally outwith the orbit of the Scottish Crown.
  One possible reason for Fergus's apparent lack of further participation in Anglo-Scottish affairs may have been due to events in the Isles. Although the thirteenth- to fourteenth-century Chronicle of Mann portrays Óláfr's reign as one of tranquillity, a more accurate evaluation of his reign may be that he adeptly managed to navigate an uncertain political climate. In regard to Fergus, the acquisition of the Dublin kingship in 1142, by the Islesman Ottar mac meic Ottair, may well have represented a threat to the authority of Óláfr, and the prospects of Fergus's grandson. By the mid part of the twelfth century, however, the ageing Óláfr's realm may well have begun to buckle under the strain, as perhaps evidenced by the depredations wrought on the Scottish mainland by Óláfr's leading ecclesiast, Wimund, Bishop of the Isles. Confirmation of Óláfr's concern over the royal succession may well be preserved by the chronicle, which states that Guðrøðr journeyed to the court of Ingi Haraldsson, King of Norway in 1152, where Guðrøðr rendered homage to the Norwegian king, and seemingly secured recognition of the royal inheritance of the Isles.
  The following year marked a watershed in the history for the Kingdom of the Isles with the successive deaths of David and Óláfr. The latter was slain by three Dublin-based sons of his exiled brother, after which these men—the Haraldsonnar—partitioned Mann amongst themselves. Once in control, the chronicle reveals that the Haraldsonnar fortified themselves against forces loyal to the kingdom's legitimate heir by launching a pre-emptive strike against Fergus. Although the invasion of Galloway was repulsed with heavy casualties, once the Haraldsonnar returned to Mann the chronicle records that they slaughtered and expelled all resident Gallovidians that they could find. This ruthless reaction evidently reveals an attempt to uproot local factions adhering to Affraic and her son. Whatever the case, within months of his father's assassination, Guðrøðr executed his vengeance. Enstrengthened with Norwegian military support, Guðrøðr overcame his three kin-slaying cousins, and successfully secured the kingship for himself.
caption: A king gaming piece of the so-called Lewis chessmen.[140] Some of the pieces may have arrived in the Isles as a result of Guðrøðr's dealings in Norway.[141]
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