Gaelic Ireland and the Crusades

1095 - 1230Twelfth Century

Crusading Movement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By

 

Warren Lawless

 

List II

 

Dr. K Simms

With thanks to Dr. Katherine Simms and Dr. Sean Duffy

Introduction_ 3

The Evidence_ 3

The First Crusade 3

The Third Crusade 4

An Itinerant Crusade? 4

The Prerequisites for Crusade_ 6

Piety 6

Communications 6

Ocean Travel 7

Coinage 7

Political Security 7

The Thirteenth Century Crusades and Conclusion_ 9

Appendix A_ 10 - Chronology of the Crusades 10

Appendix B_ 11 - Irish Royal Pilgrimages to Rome and the Holy Land_ 11

Bibliography_ 12

Notes 15

 


Introduction

This interesting topic provided insights into Ireland's relationship to Europe

and the issue of how in tune with or isolated from Continental Europe we were.

This essay is an examination of the case for Irish involvement in the eleventh and twelfth century crusading movement and the issues it raises for Gaelic Ireland's relationship with Europe. The historian Michael Dolley, writing in 1972, assumed that Ireland was uninvolved in the First Crusade: [1] 

 

"On 15 July 1099, to shouts of 'God wills it', a random and ragged but reasonably representative array of the chivalry of Western Europe stormed Jerusalem...We should not be surprized that there were no Irishmen among these knights... wWhere Europe was concerned Ireland was a land apart...".

 

 

W.L Warren, writing in 1969, put the case clearly: [2]

 

"I am skeptical of suggestions that the Irish of the twelfth-century were more in tune with the Europe of their own day than they had been previously: show  me a crusade that had an an Irish contingent and I may be more inclined to believe it."

 

Frankish Europe (i.e the old Carolingian Empire, plus lands into which its practises had spread in Britain, Central Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Spain) was basically different from Gaelic Ireland; Take for example the use of coinage in the Frankish economy, the different dynastic succession practises, and the parish system in their Churches. However, this did not preclude Irish involvement in the Frankish-led crusades, as they were "...the common enterprize of all Christians "[3] and people from peripheral regions, such as Wales, Man, the Orkneys, Scotland, Denmark and Norway, are known to have participated between 1095 and 1192.

 

If i Earlier work on Irish participation in the First Crusade had reveanvolvement in the crusades can be used as a measure of how much Gaelic Ireland was in tune with European developments, then the evidence at first appears negative. The Irish annals for this period contain only one reference to the crusades[4] and none whatsoever to Gaelic crusaders. This would seem to confirm Warren's view. However, there exists Continental sources for Irish involvement in the crusades. What we shouldcan conclude from the Irish Aannals is that any Gaelic involvement in the early crusading movement must have been of a minor nature.

 

The Evidence

 

The First Crusade

The references to Irish crusaders in foreign chronicles present difficulties; apart from the normal question of accuracy, there is the additional complication in that at this time the use of the word Scoti was undergoing a change in usage, from describing Irish persons to describing Scottish persons. However, there is one indisputable reference to Irish involvement by Ekkehard of Aura. He went to the Holyland in 1101 and wrote his account of the First Crusade around 1115. It provides a list of nations who participated in the effort:[5]

 

"...centum millia virorum ex Aquitania scilicet atque Normannia, Anglia, Scotia et Hibernia, Britannia, Galicia, Wasconia, Gallia, Flandria, Lotharingia, caeterisque gentibus christianis, quaram nunc minime occurrunt vocabula."

 

Though lengthy, there is supportive evidence for the involvement of all the other nations he lists. Moreover, Ekkehard is treated as a good source for the First Crusade as he was writing in the Holyland soon after the events he described.

 

Fulcher of Chartes was another chronicler who participated in the crusade. His account also stresses the extraordinary mix of peoples involved in the expedition:[6]

 

"Sedquis unquam audivit tot tribus linguae in uno exerito, quum ibi adessent Franci, Flandri, Frisis, Galli, Allobroges, Lotharingi, Alemanni, Baioarii, Normanni, Angli, Scothi, Aquitani, Itali, Daci, Iberi, Britones, Graeci, Armeni?"

 

Here we are faced with the problem of deciphering whether 'Scothi' is a reference to Gaelic Scots or Gaelic Irish. Alan MacQuarrie treatment of the Scottish involvement in the crusades gives four distinct references to 'Scothi' on the First Crusade, including the above accounts. He acknowledges the problem of distinguishing whether writers meant Scots or Irish. Either way, he asessment of the evidence is that "There are a number of references to Scots and Irish taking part in the First Crusade in contemporary chronicles which cannot be explained away."[7] While writing lists of European nations on crusade could provide an author with an opportunity for generalisation and exaggeration, there is collaborative evidence for the presence of the various nations listed in the accounts of the First Crusades. Furthermore, it is significant that the multitude of peoples involved included those of Scotland, Man, Wales, Scandinavia, and England, people with whom Gaelic Ireland shared close links.

 

The Third Crusade

European chronicles again make reference to Gaelic involvement in the crusading movement during the twelfth century. The thirteenth century chronicle of Aubrey , a monk of Trois-Fontaines , tells us that in 1190 after the loss of Jerusalem[8]:

 

"Inter haec igitur multi Francorum proceres...cum multis aliis Germanis, Anglis, Burgundianibus,Italis...& de cuntis Christianismi partibus orbis innunerabiles... properant succerrere paucis in Syria..."

 

The Third Crusade saw major involvement by the King of England , Richard I Among the Christian nobles he records was an Irish king[9] , and

 

"Cum Rege Ricardo fuit unus Rex de Hibernia unus de Wallia & cum eis Comes de Hollandia."

 

Aubrey wrote his chronicle between 1227 and 1251. Compiling it he used fifty previous writers, as well as genealogies, poetry, and communications with contemporary figures. His work is therefore a compilation, described as more 'curious than critical'.[10]. TThe accuracy of his work probably varies from year to year. Analysing the relevant extracts from the chronicle, those nations he lists did participate in the Third Crusade. The reference to the Welsh king is most likely accurate as we know that the crusade was preached in Wales in 1188 and that Welsh princes took crusading vows.[11] The Count of Holland had travelled with Emperor Frederick II's army, not King Richard I's and had died of plague at Antioch in 1190. However Aubrey does give us the Counts name correctly and his presence and death on the crusade. The internal evidence therefore makes his reference to an Irish king credible.I would therefore accept his reference to an Irish king on the crusade.

 

An Itinerant Crusade?                                          

Another reference to Irish crusading involvement is found in the thirteenth-century Continental chronicle, the Libellus de Fundatione Consecrati Sancti Petri. This Irish Benedictine community had grown from a group of Irish pilgrims at Weih St. Peter in the late eleventh-century who had built the monastery of St. James (c.1090-1111) and adopted the Benedictine Rule. Monasteries were built elsewhere in Germany  for members of the community and in 1215 St. James of Ratisbon was recognised as the head of an independent Benedictine chapter.[12] There is a detailed description of the mission of certain "comites crucesignati de Hybernia", who were travelling to Rome and the Holy Land and bearing gifts from King Conchubhar Ua Briain (+1142) for the German Schottenkloster at Ratisbon:[13]

 

            "In illis diebus quidam comites potentes de terra Hybernie crucesignati

            erant et parati versus Romam et Ierosolimam ad peregrinandum..."

 

'Crucesignati' meant 'signed with the Cross', i.e one who had taken crusading vows.

 

The Libellus was written as a propagandist text between 1250-1260 at a time when the privileges of St. James were under attack from local lay and ecclesiastical powers. The Libellus blended "fact with fiction" in pursuit of its rights, and so for example invented a role for Charlemagne in the foundation of Weih St. Peter. [14] Should we therefore trust the reference to Gaelic crusaders? The author did use reliable sources  and historians agree on the Libellus's value: D.A Binchy says that "...the legend gives a tolerably accurate account of  its ([the monastries)] early days,and forms a very useful supplement to the Vita Mariani as a source for the early history of St. James."[15] P.A Breatnach believes that despite its propagandist purpose "the authentic basis of the account remains evident and much of the information is clearly historical."[16] What then is the is evidence to support the specific reference to crusading Irish nobles visiting St. James on the way to the Holy Land?

 

The Irish nobles are described as travelleding with gifts from  King Conchubhar Ua Briain and various unnamed nobles. This suggests they were Munstermen and vassals of Ua Briain. There is clear evidence of close links between the Schottenkongregation and the province of Munster in the recorded works of the congregation. The author of the Visio Tnugdali was an Irishman in St. James c.1149 and the tale with its references to prominent Irish ecclesiastical figures and royal figures from Munster shows the author was in touch with Ireland.[17] In the Visio Tnugdali, written after Conchubhar Ua Briain's death in 1142, he is described as cruel but is one of the three Munster kings deserving of a place in the World of Light.[18] Furthermore a necrology of St. James , Ratisbon , written in the seventeenth-century , contains the names of twenty-eight Irish kings and ecclesiacs, two-thirds of which are from the twelfth-century.[19] Inclusion in a necrology was generally bought through some form of endowment.[20] The necrology describes Conchubhar Ua Briain as 'frater noster', 'Our brother'.[21] This supports the indications of close links between Munster and the German Schottenklosters contained in the Libellus, as exemplified by the story of Conchubhar Ua Briain sending gifts to St. James. All this points to the reliability of the reference to Gaelic crusaders.[22]

 

The Libellus places the journey of the Gaelic comites during the reigns of Conchubhar Ua Briain (1118-1142) and Emperor Lothar III (1125-1137). This puts the journey outside of a major crusade and in a special field of endeavor: Soon after the Christians captured Jerusalem in 1099, contingents of European nobles began arriving to lend assistance to the new Crusader states of Outremer.[23] Small , privately initiated expeditions (called itinerant crusades ) continued to arrive in the Holy-Land for the rest of the century. To take a few examples , in 1107 King Sigurd 'the Jerusalem-Farer'of Norway brought a fleet to the Holy-Land ,;  in 1150-53 there was a ' Jorsalaferd ' by men of the Orkney Islands; and in 1163 a siege of the Hospitaller fortress , Krak de Chevaliers, was broken by a relieving force of Byzantines, assisted by contingents from Wales and Poitiers.[24] What the Libellus described was a Gaelic itinerant crusade.

 


The Prerequisites for Crusade

The evidence suggests that there was Gaelic involvement in the twelfth-century crusading movement. I will now examine the factors involved in going on crusade - motivation, transportation, political dangers, et cetera - to see if our evidence of  Gaelic participation in the crusades can be reconciled with what we know of the resources and motives of twelfth-century Gaelic rulers.

Having outlined the documentary evidence for Gaelic involvement in the crusades and argued for the reliability of these references, it is now necessary to examine what basis existed for this involvement, and if it was sufficent to add credence to our evidence.the factors involved in going on crusade - motivation, transportation, political dangers, et cetera - to see if our evidence of Gaelic participation in the crusades can be reconciled with what we know of the resources and motives of elventh and twelfth-century Gaelic rulers.

 

Piety

The First Crusade was initiated by Urban II in 1095 in a bid to assist the Byzantine Empire against  Muslimpowers power. His appeal met with widespread enthusiasm and was transformed into an armed pilgrimage with the object of seizing the Holy Land and with the reward of remission of sins. The key reason for the response to this and later crusades was religion. The people of Latin Christiandom were strongly devoted to religious practise. Thus the lay aristocracy patronised religious orders, like the Cluniacs, the Cistercians and the Knights Templar. Some aristocrats also acted as faithful allies of the Papal Reform movement. Gaelic Ireland in this period exhibited the same religious piety.

 

The well-known movement for church reform in the eleventh and twelfth centuries was an effort , led by native clergymen and encouraged by Rome and the Church in England, to bring Irish social practises and Church organisation  into line with Continental practises.[25] The reformers encountered some kings who were conservative , for example Toirdhelbach Ua Conchubhar (1105-1153) , and some kings who were willing for reasons of politics or piety to support reform , for example Muircheartach Ua Briain (1085-1119) and Donnchad Ua Cerbaill , King of Airgialla (a1138-1168).[26] But even conservatives kings displayed piety , as is evidenced by the reverential treatment given a piece of the True Cross which came to the court of the High King Toirdhelbach Ua Conchubhar.[27] Where aristocratic piety is most demonstrable is in the support for monastic orders and church-building. The High King Muircheartach MacLochlann (+1166) was a patron of the Columban revival in Ulster;[28] Dairmait MacMurchada (+1171), King of Leinster, was a patron of five Arrousian and one Cistercian foundations;[29] Domnall Mor Ua Briain (+1194) built three cathedrals , at Killaloe, Cashel and Limerick , and reportively founded sixteen monastries.[30] These examples indicate that kings of high standing expended resources on the Church of their faith. TThe active religious life among the clergy and the laity, whether conservative or reformer , indicates that there would be a positive response to the call to religious duty and the offer of religious reward that accompanied the preaching of the crusades.

 

Communications

This raises the question of how word of the crusades could reach Gaelic Ireland. Information could have come through either irregular or organised means. Pilgrims, clerics and traders were bearers of news and these were certainly traveling , in unknown volume, between Ireland and the rest of Europe.[31] Such news was subject to inaccuracy: One traveller ,who carried  word of the Second Crusade, seems to have been affected by the anti-semitism of Rodolph the Monk, , a self-appointed preacher of the Crusade. Thus the Annals of Tigernach for 1147 tells us that:[32]

 

            "A great army was collected by the Christians to Jerusalem to extirpate the power of the Jews "

 

A more reliable source  were the official preachers of a crusade. Two such channels open to Gaelic Ireland were the Papacy and the Cistercians. The former played a leading role in all crusades. They initiated the call for crusades, offered legal benefits for crusaders and organised preaching and funding. There is no known Papal letters to Ireland between 1077 and 1171. However Ireland in the twelfth century was in contact with the Papacy. The most evident sign of this is the Papal legates active in  Ireland  from 1110 onwards.[33] Also, the opposition of Irish clerical reformers to the abuses of simony and lay control of the Church , the popularity of Rome in the eleventh century as a destination for pilgrimages abroad and the recognition of the position of the Pope at the head of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in De statu ecclesiae, anthe Irish church reform document, all attest that Ireland was in communion and contact with Rome.[34]

 

The earliest survivingfirst evidence of Papal attempts to engage Ireland in the crusades comes only in 1199. This is a letter addressed to the Christian world, including Ireland, in which Pope Innocent III calls for men and money for a crusade against the Saracens. Between 1199 and 1221 there are ten Papal letters to Ireland concerning  the crusades.[35] Most are general appeals to the Christian world for aid. One issued in April 1213 is a message invoking a General Council to discuss Church reform and the recovery of the Holy-Land. Among its recipients were the kings of Cork , Limerick , Connaught and Meath.[36] The point that  can be made is that Gaelic-Papal links were a source of news of the crusades in the early thirteenth century and may have had a similar consequence in the elventh and twelfth centuryies.

 

The other formal source for word of the crusades in Ireland were the Cistercians. This austere, yet popular monastic order was introduced into Ireland in 1142 by Malachy of Armagh (+1148), whilst he was Bishop of Down and Papal Legate for Ireland. He was supported in this by his friend  Bernard, the famed Abbot of Clairvaux. The first Irish Cistercian foundation was at Mellifont; : there were seven new abbeys by 1153 and fifteen by 1171.[37] This expansion was assisted by aristocratic allies of Malachy , such as King Donnchad Ua Cerbaill of Airgialla and King Diarmait  Mac Murchada of Leinster. We know that Mac Murchada's piety came to the notice of of Bernard of Clairvaux and that in 1148 he was rewarded by the abbot with a letter of confraternity with the Cistercians.[38] The significance of all this is that Bernard of Clairvaux, at the request of Pope Eugenius III, was the central propagandist for the Second Crusade. Edessa, one of the Crusader States, had been over-run in 1144 and Latin Europe responded by preparing to make a new armed pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to save Outremer and gain the absolution their forbearers had won.[39] Bernard's propaganda was very strong and successful:[40]

 

"...O mighty soldier , O mighty warrior , you now have a cause in which you can fight without endangering your soul; a cause in which to win is glorious and for which to die is gain..."

 

Diarmait Mac Murchada received a letter of confraternity from Bernard :; is it not possible that he also received a request to join the Crusade? We know that he did not go on crusade such thing , but that such a connection can be drawn between an Irish king and the principal figure of the Second Crusade suggests that the image expressed by Dolley and Warren of Gaelic Ireland being distinct and isolated may in part be wrong. Furthermore Bernard of Clairvaux's energetic example "...caused the Cistercians from now on to become the most devoted crusading preachers...".[41] That this was the case in Ireland can be seen from the Papacy's nomination of the Abbot of Mellifont, along with the Archbishop of Dublin, to preach the Fifth Crusade in Ireland.[42] The Cistercian Order in Ireland were a sign that twelfth century Gaelic Ireland was being influenced by Frankish Europe and provided a means of conveying further influences, such as crusading.

 

Ocean Travel

I will now examine three other prerequisites  of crusading activity: transport, finance and political security. Any Irish crusaders would need sea-transport, to either the Continent or the Eastern Mediterranean. We know of several available sources of sea-transport. Warfleets were built and owned by families like the Corca Laigde and kings such as Toirrdelbach Ua Conchubhar.[43] These were used in river and coastal warfare, however, and may not have been capable of long-distance travel,however. Use of the Hiberno-Norse fleets could be acquired by domination of the Norse towns, as practised by twelfth century provincial kings, though this option was closed off by Anglo-Norman expansion. Passage could also be sought on an Irish, English or Continental trading vessel.[44] AAnother option was the hiring of vessels, as done by Muirchertach Mac Lochlann in 1154.[45] The evidence therefore is that Gaelic nobles had access to sea-transportation.

 

Coinage

On the matter of finance, historians of the crusades have stressed the importance of having a large purse.[46] But apart from Dublin and its hinterland, the Gaelic economy lacked coinage. Instead cattle-stock was used as a form of wealth and exchange.[47] Coin could probably be acquired by trade, with the Lordship for example and Irish travelers to the Continent obviously managed , with or without cash. But a journey on crusade would involve large resources, because of the time and distance involved  and  the needs of the followers a noble would naturally take with him. The absence of a native coinage was therefore an obstacle to possible involvement in the crusades.

 

Political Security

The final factor to be considered is political security. As is known, Gaelic politics lacked fixed succession by promogeniture. Warfare between minor and provincial kings was frequent. Whilst this might not affect any clerics or other members of the learned class who wished to crusade, I had considered that it would be impossible for it would be a great risk for any ruler to detach himself from the struggle for power to crusade, as a crusader could be away for two to five years. The absence of a lord and his retinue on crusade would expose his property and followers to attack and place the retention of power by his family in jeopardy, risks perhaps not worth the prestige or personal relief of going on crusade. The rulers of Frankish Europe, however, faced the same problem. Conrad III, King of the Germans, was initially reluctant to participate in the Second Crusade, as he was facing serious domestic opposition to his rule.[48] Henry II, King of England , in reply to the Patriarch of Jerusalem's plea for aid for the Holy Land in 1185, said[49]

 

"...that at the present moment it was not safe for him to leave his kingdom without his controlling hand and protection..."

 

And when Henry II and his rival, Philip II, King of France, agreed to go on crusade in 1187 , their plans were disrupted by the rebellion of Henry II's sons.[50]

 

Irish nobles wishing to go on crusade faced political obstacles but so did the Continental  rulers and this evidently did not prevent the latter's participationwho journeyed to the Holy Land. Furthermore,Ireland was a special case because of its different political system but  there is evidence that  Irish kings were prepared to take risks to journey abroad for their faith. This is afforded by Aannalistic records of pilgrimages by Irish nobles to Rome and the Holy Land in the eleventh and thirteenth centuries (see Appendix B).

 

Looking at the list of pilgrims, we find three prominent figures, a king of Dublin (1028), an ex-king of Munster (1064) and a king of Breifne (1231), plus two royal sons and five minor kings. Four of the ten died whilst on their pilgrimage, a very high proportion. On the question of the political repercussions of leaving the country, it is possible to say that Donnchad Ua Briain (1064) had no worries, whilst both Amlaib (1034) and Aedh Ua Conchubhar Maenmhaighe (1224) had their interests safeguarded by their fathers. It seems that both Sitric (1028) and Flaithbertach Ua Neill (1030) appointed their sons as deputies in their absence.[51] The royal pilgrims who returned suffered political upsetsseveral as a result of their absence. Flannacan Ua Cellaig, Tthe King of Brega, had accompanied King Sitric of Dublin on his pilgrimage in 1028. The annals record that However, in 1029 another 'King of Brega' captured and held to ransom Amlaib, Sitric's son.[52] and that in 1032 Ua Riagain, King of Brega, was killed by by Domnall Ua Ceallaigh.[53] This indicates that the Ua Cellaig family temporarily loss control of their lordship as a result of Flannacan's absence. Another example is Flaithbertach Ua Neill, who left for Rome in 1030. The annalistic note that in 1034 'Flaithbertach Ua Neill took Ailech again'[54] suggests that his absence on pilgrimage had undermined his rule.

 

These examples are useful because the crusades were like armed pilgrimages. The prime motivation of both was religion. Major crusades were accompanied by non-combatant pilgrims.[55] Both activities required rulers to leave their lands for long periods and to provide the logistics to support themselves abroad. Early crusaders were even described by chroniclers as pilgrims (peregrinus). Thus the records of Irish royal pilgrimages throw light on the capacity of Irish rulers to crusade. They indicate that death and political problems were the difficulties that faced the Irish kings who made the journey to the Holy Land or Rome. But it did not discourage them. Irish kings were willing and able to journey abroad for the sake of their Faith. This in turn supports the evidence we have of an Irish 'itinerant crusade ' some time between 1125 and 1137, and the reference to Irish participation in the First and Third Crusade.


The Thirteenth Century Crusades and Conclusion

 

Irishmen on crusade in the elventh and twelfth century challenge the idea that Ireland was isolated from European trends. But if it was possible for Irishmen to go on crusade and some actually did, why are there so little evidence of Irish participation?  Does this show that elventh and twelfth century Gaelic Ireland was still distant from the practises of mainstream Europe?

 

To complete the analysis of Irish involvement we must jump forward to the thirteenth century when crusading was a well-established Eurpoean enterprise.

 

For the thirteenth century, the Papal letters referred to already[56] indicate that word of the crusades reached Gaelic kings and that preaching and fund raising for the crusades took place in Ireland after 1200.[57] Furthermore , we have our first references to individual Gaels taking the cross: a Papal letter of 1215x16 reveals that Aed O Mael Eoin, Bishop of Clonmacnoise, took the crusading vow. This was commuted in return for a contribution to the subsidy for the Holy Land.[58] The Irish Annals also note that in 1227[59]

 

1227 "Dionysius Ua Mordha was crossed as a crusader from being bishop of Oil-Finn...Cumara Ua Domnallain , who was crossed , was killed in captivity..."

 

and in 1231[60]

 

1231"Flaihbhertach O'Flannagain , dux of the descendents Cathal son of Muiredhach Muillethan , died in pilgrimage in the monastery of Boyle , after having been crossed."

 

By the 1220s the experience of crusading had even entered bardic lore, as in the poem 'Mhuiredhaich, meil do sgin', written in the Mediterranean by Muiredhach Albanach Ó Dalaigh:[61]

 

"Protect us in the hot land,

gentle Lady Mary."

 

Gaelic Ireland evidently  participated in preparations for the Fifth and Sixth Crusades and this is a good example of what Robert Bartlett describes as '' a massive redeployment of men and resources " that took place in Europe in 1000-1300 AD, which had the affect of "...drawing the people and wealth of remote... parts into the central programmes of Latin Christendom".[62] But by the time of the Third Crusade, Gaelic Ireland had been invaded by Anglo-Normans and foreign-ruled lordships were established in the east of the country that owed allegiance to the crown of England. As a result the growth in Gaelic involvement in the crusades from that point onward can be interpreted as the natural outcome of Gaelic Ireland's existing interaction with Europe and the consequence of new political ties and contacts borne out of Frankish invasion.

 

Gaelic Ireland was sufficiently in tune with Latin Europe to involve itself in such common efforts as the crusades, but it was sufficiently alien from the Frankish culture that dominated the crusades to be unable to successfully resist when similar land-hungry knights arrived at its shores, cities and borders in the twelfth century.

 


Appendix A

Chronology of the Crusades

 

1095   The Council of Clermont  and the launch of the First Crusade.

 

1099   Crusaders capture Jerusalem. Outremer  established. Arrival

of reinforcements from the West.

           

1144  Fall of Edessa, one of the Crusader states.

 

1145  Launch of the Second Crusade.

 

1147  French and German contingents set-out.

 

1148  End of the Second Crusade in defeat.

 

1187  Battle of Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem. Launch of the Third Crusade

 

1190  Richard I and Philip II set-off on crusade.

 

1192  Treaty between Richard I and Saladin.

 

1204  Fourth Crusade directed against Constantinople.

 

1213  Preparations for a new crusade begun by the Papacy.

 

1218-21 The Fifth Crusade.

 

1227-29 Frederick II's Crusade.

 


Appendix B

Irish Royal Pilgrimages to Rome and the Holy Land

 

 

1026  Mael Ruanaid Ua Mael Darald, King of the North on his pilgrimage....to Rome (AI).

 

1028  Sitriuc grandson of Amlaib, King of the Foreigners, and Flannacan Ua Cellaig, King of Brega, went to Rome (AU).

 

1030  Flaithbertach Ua Neill went to Rome (AU).

 

1034  Amlaib son of Sitriuc was killed by the Saxons on his way to Rome (AU).

 

1051  Laidcnen son of Maelan, King of Gailenga, went with his queen to Rome on his pilgrimage and died (AU).

 

1064  Donnchad, son of Briain (Boru), went to Rome (AI).

 

1080  Ua Cinn Fhaelad, King of the Deisi, went to Jerusalem (AI).

 

1224  Aedh, son of Conchubhar Maenmhaighe died while coming from the River [Jordan] and from Jerusalem this year (ALC).

 

1231  Uaigharg Ua Ruairc, King of Breifne, died in pilgrimage on the way to the River [Jordan] (ALC).

 

 

 

 

 

Key: ALC Annals of Loch Cé, AU Annals of Ulster, AI Annals of Inisfallen

 

 


Bibliography

 

Primary Sources:       Listed alphabetacally according to title.

 

Chronicum Alberici Monachi Trium Fontium , in Accesiones Historicae II , ed. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz , (1698).

Vita Mariani Scoti , in Acta Sanctorum Feb. ii , ed. Bollandus ,  (1658) , p.361-72.

The Annals of Connaught (A.D 1224-1544) , ed. A. Martin Freeman , (1944).

The Annals of Inisfallen ,ed. Sean Mac Airt, (1977).

The Annals of Loch Ce - A Chronicle of Irish Affairs from A.D 1014 to A.D 1540 , ed. William M. Hennessy, Volume I and II (1871).

Annals of Tigernach , ed. Whitley Stokes , Volume II (1993), reprinted from Revue Celtique 1896/97.

The Annals of Ulster (to 1131) ,ed. Sean Mac Airt and Gearoid Mac Niocaill,(1983).

The Annals of Ulster , ed. B. Mac Carthy, Volume I (1893) and Volume II (1901).

'The letters of Innocent III to Ireland', by Rev. P. J Dunning , in Archivium Hibernicum , xiii (1947), p.27-44.

'The letters of Innocent III to Ireland', by Rev. P. J Dunning , in Traditio, xviii (1962), p.229-53.

Biblioteca Apostalica Vaticana Rome , Lat. 10,100 - Necrology of St. James of Wurzburg.

Calender of Documents Relating to Ireland , 1171-1251 , ed. H.S Swetman, (1875).

Cambrensis Eversus , by John Lynch , ed. Martin Kelly , Volume II (1850).

Chronicum Scotorum , ed. William M. Hennessy, (1866).

Expugnatio Hibernica , by Gerald of Wales , ed. A.B Scott  and F.X Martin , (1978).

De Gesta Regum Anglorum II , by William of Malmesbury , ed. W. Stubbs , (1889).

The Journey Through Wales / Description of Wales , by Gerald of Wales ! , ed. Lewis Thorpe , (1978).

Pontificia Hibernicia ,Volume I, ed. Maurice P. Sheehy, (1962).

Recueil des Historiens des Croisades: Historiens Occidentaux ,ed. Academie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres  , III (1866) , IV (1879) , V (1895).

Die Regensburger Schottenlegende - Libellus de Fundacione Consecrati Petri , ed. Padraig A. Breatnach , (1977).                                                                                   

 The Triumphs of Turlough , ed. S. H O' Grady, Volume II (1929).

The Vision of Tnugdal , ed.Jean-Micheal Picard and Yolande de Pontfarcy , (1989).

 


Secondary Works      

 

 Anderson, Alan Orr ed., Early Sources of Scottish History AD 500 to 1286, Vol. II, (rep. 1990).

 Barnbarr, C. L, New Century Cyclopedia of Names, Vol. II, (1954).

 Bartlett, Robert, The Making of Europe, (1993).

 Binchy, D. A,'The Irish Benedictine Congregation in Medieval Germany ' in Studies 18 (1929), p.194-210.

 Breatnach, P. A, 'The origins of the Irish monastic tradition at Ratisbon (Regensburg) ' in Celtica 13 (1980), p. 58-77.

  Candon, Anthony, ' Barefaced effrontery: secular and ecclesiastical politics in early twelfth century Ireland ',in Seanchas Ard Macha, 14 (1990-91), p. 1-25.

  ibid, ' Muirchertach Ua Briain, politics, naval activity and the Irish Sea,1075 -1119', in G. Mac Niocaill ed. Keimelia (1988), p.397-415.

 Costello, Con, Ireland and the Holy Land, (1975).

  ibid ,'Ireland and the Crusades ',in  Irish Sword  Volume IX, No.37, (1970), p.263-77.

 D'Ahat, R. and M. Prevost ed., Dictionaire de Biographie Francaise, IV, (1948).

 Dolley, Micheal, Anglo-Norman Ireland (1972).

  ibid, ' Coinage to 1534: the sign of the times ', Chapter 29, New History of Ireland Vol. II, (1987).

 Flanagan, Laurence, A Dictionary of Irish Archaeology, (1992).

 Flanagan, Marie Therese,'St. Mary's Louth and the introduction of the Arroasian observance into Ireland' in Clogher Record 10 (1979-81),p. 223-33.

   ibid, 'Hiberno-Papal relations in the late twelfth century ' in Archivium Hibernicum No.34 (1976-7), p.55-70.

 Frame, Robin, The Political Development of the British Isles 1100-1400, (1990).

 Gwynn, Aubrey, ' Ireland and the Continent in the eleventh century ', in I.H.S 8 (1953), p. 193-216.

   ibid   and R.N Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, Ireland (1970).

  ibid, ' Medieval Bristol and Dublin', in  I.H.S  5 (1946-47), p. 275-86

 Henry, F., Irish Art in the Romanesque Period 1020-1170, (1970).

 Hogan, James, ' The Irish law of kingship, with special reference to Ailech and Cenel Eoghain ', in P.R.I.A  40 (1932), p. 186-254.

 Howarth, Stephen, The Knights Templar, (1982).

 Kenny, James F.,The Sources for the Early History of Ireland - Ecclesiastical, (1966).

 Macquarrie, Alan, Scotland and the Crusades (1985).

  ibid, 'The Crusades and the Scottish Gaidhealtachd in fact and legend', in The Middle Ages in the Highlands, ed. L. Mac Lean, (1981), p.130-41.

 Martin, F.X, Introduction and Chapter 2, A  New  History of Ireland Volume II, ed. Art Cosgrove,   (1987).

 ibid,  No Hero in the House - Diarmait Mac Murchada ahd the Coming of the Normans to Ireland, 19th O' Donnell Lecture, (1975).

  Mayer, Hans-Eberhard, The Crusades  (1988).

 The New Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 16, p. 880-892.

  O'Corrain, Donnchad,' Mael Muire Ua Dunain (1040-1117),Reformer ' in Folia Gadelica, ed. Padraig de Brun, (1983), p.47-53.

   ibid, Chapter 1, 'Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland ', in R.F Foster ed.,  The Oxford Illustrated History Ireland, (1989).

  ibid, ' Nationality and kingship in pre-Norman Ireland ',in Historical Studies XI, ed. T.W Moody, (1978).

  O'Riain-Raedel, Dagmar, 'Irish kings and  bishops in the memoria of the German Schottenkloster ' in Irland und Europa : the Early Church, ed. Michael Richter (1984) p.390-404.

 Powell, James M, Anatomy of a Crusade 1213 - 21, (1986).

 Richter, Michael, 'The European dimension of Irish history in the eleventh and twelfth centuries' in Peritia 4 (1985), p.328-345.

 Riley-Smith, Johnathon, The Crusades - A Short History (1987).

 Setton, K.M, ed., A  History of the Crusades  Volume One and Two (1969 ).

 Tyerman, Christopher, England and the Crusades (1988).

 Warren, W.L, 'The interpretation of twelfth century  Irish history ',in J.C Beckett ed., Historical Studies vii (1969).

 Watt, J. A, The Church and the Two Nations in Medieval Ireland, (1970).

 Wood, Herbert, ' The Templars in Ireland ', in P.R.I.A  26 (1906-7), p.327-77.

 

 

________________________________________________________________


Notes



[1] Michael Dolley, Anglo-Norman Ireland (1972), p.1

[2] Dr. W.L Warren 'The interpretation of twelfth century Irish history', in J.C Beckett ed., Historical Studies VII (1969), p.7

[3] Pope Honorius III, 1219, quoted in Robert Barlett, The Making of Europe (1993), p.260

[4] Whitley Stokes ed., Annals of Tigernach Volume II (1993), reprinted from Revue Celtique (1896/97), entry for 1147 A.D

[5] Ekkehard of Aura, Recueil des Historiens des Croisades: Historiens Occidentaux, ed. Academie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, V (1895) 16A. The nations listed include Aquitaine, Norman, English, Scottish, Irish, Breton, Galician, Gascon, Welsh, Flemish, and Lotharingian.

[6] Fulcher of Chartes, Recueil des Historiens des Croisades: Historiens Occidentaux, ed. Academie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, III (1866) 337A: "Whoever heard such a number of languages  in a single army, when it contained Franks, Flemish, Frisians, Welsh, Allobrogians, Lotharingians, Germans, Bavarians, Normans, English, Irish/Scottish, Aquitanians, Italians, Danes, Iberians, Bretons, Greeks, Armenians?"

[7] Alan MacQuarrie, 'The Crusades and the Scottish Gaidhealtachd in fact and legend', in The Middle Ages in the Highlands, ed. L. Mac Lean , (1981), p.131. This inspiring work provides various examples of evidence for Gaelic involvement in the Crusades.

[8] Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz ed., Chronicon Albrerici monachi Trois Fontium, (Hanover 2698), p.382: "Among these there were many nobles of the Franks...with many other German, English, Burgundians, Italians...and innumerable people from all parts of the whole Christian world hastened to the aid of the few in Syria..."

[9] ibid p.390 "With Richard came one king of Ireland and one of Wales and the Count of Holland..."

[10] M. Prevost ed., Dictionaire De Biographie Francaise Volume IV (1948), p.294

[11] Gerald of Wales, The Journey Thrrough Wales and Description of Wales, ed. Lewis Thorpe (1978), p.77 & 200

[12] D.A Binchy, 'The Irish Benedictine Congregation in Medieval Germany' in Studies 18 (1929), p.194-210; P.A Breatnach 'The origins of the Irish monastic tradition at Ratisbon (Regensburg)' in Celtica 13 (1980), p.58-77

[13] Padraig A. Breatnach ed., Die Regensburger Schottenlegende - Libellus de Fundacione Consecrati Petri (1977), p.240: "There were certain powerful counts from Ireland signed with the Cross and prepared to make their pilgrimage towards Rome and Jerusalem...". See also p.241 & 244.

[14] D.A Binchy, 'The Irish Benedictine Congregation...', p.198

[15] D.A Binchy, 'The Irish Benedictine Congregation...', p.199

[16] P.A Breatnach, 'The origins of the Irish monastic tradition..', p.72-73

[17] Jean-Michael Picard ed., The Vision of Tnugdal (1989), p.143, 144-145, 155

[18] Picard ed., The Vision of Tnugdal..., p.143

[19] Biblioteca Apostolica varicana Rome Lat. 10100: Necrology St. James of Wurzburg; Available in the N.L.I: Neg. 2865, Pos. 1975. For a discussion of the necrologies contents see Dagmar O'Riain-Raedel, 'Irish kings and bishops in the memoria of the German Schottenkloster' in Irland und Europa: the Early Church, ed. Michael Richter (1984), p.390-404

[20] Dagmar O'Riain-Raedel, 'Irish kings and bishops...', p.391

[21] 'Frater Noster, Our brother', Dagmar O'Riain-Raedel, 'Irish kings and bishops...', p.399, note 15

[22] Because the gifts the Irish nobles presented to the Schottenkloster may have warranted inclusion of their bearers in the necrology, we may be able to associate the "comites crucesignati de Hybernia " with three 'comites Hibernia ' mentioned in the Necrology of St. James; They are Donnchadh (Dunchang), Domnall (Donellus), and Ruaidhri (Rodezicks). See necrology entries for March, October and December. The twelfth-century slant of the necrology makes this an interesting possibility.

[23] Hans-Eberhard Mayer, The Crusades (1988), p.60, 64-65

[24] Mayer, The Crusades, p.68, 89; Alan MacQuarrie, Scotland and the Crusades (1985), p.13-14, 20-21. See Johnathon-Riley Smith, The Crusades (1987), p.89, and K.M Setton ed., A History of the Crusades, Volume II (1969), p.45

[25] J.A Watt, The Church and the Two Nations in Medieval Ireland (1970), p.1-34

[26] For Muirchertach Ua Briain see Anthony Candon, 'Barefaced effrontery: secular and ecclesiastical politics in early twelfth century Ireland' in Seanchas Ard Macha 14 (1990-91), p.1-25. For Ua Cerbill see Marie Therese Flanagan, 'St. Mary's Louth and the introduction of the Arroasian observance into Ireland' in Clogher Record 10 (1979-81), p.223-33

[27] Annals of Tigernach 1123; the holy relic was encased in the purpose-built Cross of Cong

[28] F.X Martin, A New History of Ireland Volume II, ed. Art Cosgrove (1987), p.54-55

[29] F.X Martin A New History..., p.49

[30] Dagmar O'Riain-Raedel, 'Irish kings and bishops...', p.400

 

[31] See for example Michael Richter, 'The European dimension of Irish history in the elventh and twelfth centuries' in Perita 4 (1985), p.328-345

[32] Annals of Tigernach 1147. See also Chronicum Scotorum 1147, ed. William M. Hennessy, (1866).

[33] Donnchad O'Corrain, 'Mael Muire Ua Dunain (1040-1117), Reformer' in Folia Gadelica, ed. Padraig de Brun (1983), p.47-53; Marie Therese Flanagan, 'Hiberno-Papal relations in the late twelfth century' in Archivium Hibernicum 34 (1976-77), p.55-70

[34] J.A Watt, The Church and the Two Nations...; Aubry Gwynn, 'Ireland and the Continent in the elventh century' in Irish Historical Studies 8 (1953), p.197

[35] Maurice P. Sheehy ed., Pontificia Hibernica Volume I, Letter No. 42-44, 75-77, 107, 116, 149; Rev. P.J Dunning, 'The letters of Innocent III to Ireland', in Archivium Hibernicum Volume XIII (1947), p.37

[36] Sheehy, Pontificia Hibernica, Letter No. 77: regi Corkaie (MacCarthy), Lumbricensi (Ua Briain), Connactie (Ua Conchubhar) and Mindiensi (Meath: Ua Mael Sechlainn or Ua Ruairc?)

[37] Aubry Gwynn and R.N Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, Ireland (1970), p.114-117

[38] F.X Martin, No Hero in the House - Diarmait Mac Murchada and the Coming of the Normans to Ireland, 19th O'Donnell Lecture (1975), p.19

[39] Riley-Smith, The Crusades, p.94-95; Mayer, The Crusades, p.91-98

[40] St. Bernard's Letter to the English, in Mayer, The Crusades, p.97

[41] Mayer, The Crusades, p.96

[42] Rev. P. J Dunning , 'The letters of Innocent III to Ireland' in Traditio, xviii (1962), p.244; M.P Sheehy, Pontificia Hibernica, Letter No. 76. The appointment was made in 1213.

[43] AnnaIs of Inisfallen 1124, 1125, 1127; N.H.I Vol. II, p.32-33

[44] For evidence of pre-1169 English trade  see Geraldus Cambrensis, Expugnatio Hibernica, ed. F.X Martin (1978), p.71; Anthony Candon, 'Muirchertach Ua Briain, politics, naval activity and the Irish Sea, 1075-119' in G. MacNiocaill ed., Keimelia (1988), p398; Aubry Gwynn, 'Medieval Bristol and Dublin' in Irish Historical Studies 5 (1946-7), p.277-78. See also Richter, 'The European dimension...', p.338-9

[45] N.H.I Voll II, p.32, 33, 38; Richter, 'The European dimension...', p.341-2

[46] Riley-Smith, The Crusades, p.12-14; Setton, A History of the Crusades, p.255; Christopher Tyerman, England and the Crusades (1988), p.172, 188

[47] Michael Dolley, 'Coinage to 1534: the sign of the times', N.H.I Volume II, p.816-18

[48] Riley-Smith, The Crusades, p.95; Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades Volume II (1962), p.255

[49] Geraldus Cambrensis, Expugnatio Hibernica, p.203

[50] Geraldus Cambrensis, Expugnatio Hibernica, p209

[51] Annals of Loch C¾ 1029; James Hogan, 'The Irish law of kingship, with special reference to Ailch and Cenel Eoghain' in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 40 (1932), p.208-9.

[52] Annals of Loch C¾ 1029

[53] Annals of Loch C¾ 1032

[54] Annals of Inisfallen 1034

[55] Setton, A History of the Crusades, p.465; see also Tyerman, England and the Crusades,p.27

[56] Omitted  note 76  in print out

[57] See above section on communications for Papal crusading activity in Ireland.

[58] Dunning, 'The letters of Innocent III to Ireland...', p.37

[59] Annals of Ulster 1227

[60] Annals of Loch C¾ 1231

[61] Quoted in MacQuarrie, 'The Crusades and the Scottish Gaidhealtachd...', p.136. A number of poems composed by Muiredhach and his Scottish companions are quoted therein.

[62] Barlett, The Making of Europe, p.268