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First off this is the restart of my original AAR here which was cut short due to an untimely format. I have updated my format and information and hope that it is to the liking of all. The game will be played on VH with Normal aggression. I used the improvements pack and made some changes of my own (renamed characters, removed non-historical Leinster figures etc). I hope you enjoy.
Great Medieval dynasties with your host Richard W. Southern (Great Medieval Dynasties is an IBC Public Television Production)
Hello and welcome back for another exciting edition of Great Dynasties. If you have been tuning in to this series you will know that we have covered the dynsasties of ancient Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. We have seen the rise and fall of the great Egyptian God kings, the massive continent spanning empires of Persia, and the sophisticated military and political machine that was Rome. We now turn our sights to the history after the fall of the Roman empire. The medieval ages were ones of peril struggle and death. Yet some of the greatest dynasties of our time rose out of the ashes of the western Roman empire. Our first look will be at the Uí Cheinnselaigh/Mac Murchada dynasty of Ireland. I will not be taking you on the journey today, however, Carmel McCaffrey an excellent Irish historian who you may recognize from another show on this station In Search of Ancient Ireland. Listen as she guides you through the amazing history of the second longest lasting dynasty in the world.
Christmas, 1066. William, Duke of Normandy has assumed the English throne after defeating Harold the Saxon at hastings. The world at that time would be focusing on the events of England, however events were unfolding in ireland that would mould the course of history in the british isles and for europe as a whole.
In 1042 the Uí Cheinnselaigh dynasty of Leinster resumed control of the county after nearly 300 years of obscurity within their own country. The king of the Uí Cheinnselaigh at that time was Diarmait mac Mail na mBo. Diarmait had wrested the kingship of leinster from the Uí Dúnlainge, their cousins and rival family. From there he had pushed north to Baile Átha Cliath, securing for his son the dukedom of the county. With Baile Átha Cliath, Laign, and Osriage under his control, Diarmait had cemented his familys posistion as the most powerful family in Ireland. In addition he had garnered powerful allies within his own court, as he hosted the exiled sons of Harold Godwinson, Harold and Ulf.
Nollaig Ó Muraíle (Historian): Diarmait was really an impressive figure at this time. His style of "go it alone" leadership and military aggression had not been seen since the wars to remove the vikings from power half a century earlier. In addition his refusal to seek any foreign aid was unique at the time for any country, especially the irish kingdoms which were readily allying themselves with the other nations.
With his power now centralised, Diarmait looked at his posistion. It was obvious to the other kings that he was seeking the high kingship for his son and the line that would follow. Diarmait wished to expan his power from Baile Átha Cliath to the four remaining free counties, Mide, Tir Eoghain, Tir Conail, and Ulaid. However he had no claims to the land and if he had, attacking anyone of them could result in a full scale civil war. The three northern counties that made up Ulster, Tir Eoghain, Tir Conail, and Ulaid each had claims on another county of Ulster. In order to protect themselves from one another, the three counties each allied themselves with the other large famililes. Tir Eoghain was allied to Leinster, but the rest went to Connacht and Munser. In addition, the lord of Mide had allied himself with the lord of Silvo, a vassal of Connacht. While this intertwined series of alliances prevented war, it an uneasy peace in the country.
In august of 1067, Diarmait died, leaving control of the realm to his eldest son Murchad. Murchad, unlike his father, was far less of an agressive person. He lacked not only the diplomatic skills but the military prowess as well. Murchads rule would see little in the way of expanding the boundries of the Kingdom, but he manage his lands well from within. He also had also developed a keen eye to ruiling from watching his father. Knowing his position was still rather weak, he decided to take his cues for action from observing the surrounding kingdoms.
In Octoboer of 67' England became the new papal controller. With the gained prestige from this posisition, William acted quickly to further solidify his posistion in Britain. First he assasinated the two remaining sons of Harold, eliminating any further anglo-saxon chance of reclaiming the throne. He then, using a concocted claim through the Duke of lancaster upon the kingdom of Gwynnd in Wales. War quickly followed and with the assistance of allies in Brittany, William added Gwynnd to his ever growing kingdom. These events prompted action from Murchad. Noticing the ammount of power papal favor could bring, Murchad gathered his resources and set out to the isle of Man. He began a construction product of a cathedral and in two years time had completed the church of Saint Maughold, patron saint of Man. There Murchad installed the Diarmait O'broin as Bishop of Man and began reorganizing his kingdom setting in place traditions that would be followed by later kings.
Francis John Byrne (Historian): There was no doubt in Murchads mind that he was less of a king that his father. He hadn't taken his family from near disappearance to controller of a fifth of ireland. He hadn't gained Osriage as a vassal county and he hadn't installed himself as the king of Baile Átha Cliath. His father had. His talent was reorganizing and fixing what his father had built, which was a rather chaotic slapped together kingdom which while on the outside seemed powerful, still had some major weaknesses.
One major weakness was the control of the counties. With the birth of his second son Flann in June of 68' Murchad decided to give his eldest son a county of his own to ease the pressure on his own court. Though he would not be able to rule instantly (he was only 3) he would be in the capable hands of Cerball O'Cathasaigh, a distant cousin to the Bishop. He decided to give Donnchad, Laign, the familial home and it's castle at Cill Mhantáin (Wicklow), while he would move the capital of Leinster to Baile Átha Cliath (Dublin). From now on all direct heirs of the king would be crowned first Iarla (Low Prince) of Laign. Symbollicly this gave the prince a limited ammount of freedom in the comfort of his families home, which he would leave when he became king and moved into the more business like castle of Dublin. However this power was limited as the kings castle at Dublin, which was less than 30 miles from wicklow, would keep the ever present eye of the true lord, watching over his heir. Murchad then removed Domnall, Iarla of Osriage from his place and put his younger brother Enna as Iarla instead.
Francis John Byrne (Historian): To Murchads credit he really did a smart thing by installing his family members as the lords of his counties, save for Man which sat in the hands of the Bishop. This consolidation of power within his family would ensure loyalty to him and any other kings of Leinster in his line.
Having solidified his families control over their land he began yet again looking over seas to weigh his next move. Unfortunately for the Duke, his next move would never come. Murchad had contracted pneumonia a in November of 74' and it hadn't let up. Was bedridden for two months and At 9:13 AM January 1st 1075 the old Duke died in his bed in King and his son 10 Year old Donnchad was crowned King of Leinster at St. Maugholds. He was young, yet had learned a lot from his father. He immediately set his toddler brother and his heir next in line to the throne, as Iarla of Laigin. Though only 10 he had spent much time around his father and followed his fathers example of leadership.
Yet for all his skill Turbulent times were ahead of the young king. Domnail O'Neil, King of Tir Eoghain had declared war on Tir Conail and trying to expand his own families power. They couldn't have chosen a worse momment to do so. William, seeing Tir Eoghains only alliance dissolved by the death of Murchad, took the opportunity to lay claims to Tir Eoghain, yet again through his duchies and counties. All of Ulster exploded into war when Ulaid declared war on Tir Eoghain and marched into An Ómaigh un opposed as Tir Eoghains armies were themselves besieging Leifear. Donnchad saw all of England building itself up to wage war with Tir Eoghain and decided to throw his lot into the fray, himself layin claim to the seat of Iarla of Tir Eoghain, and act which quieted Williams claims. In may of 76', the young king declared war upon ir Eoghain and marched his armies north, meeting up with a force from Ulaid who were already besieging the castle at An Ómaigh.
When the castle finally fell in august of 76' to the armies of Ulaid, the men of dublin began marching back to their homes. Donnchad learned that the pope had begun a crusade against the heathens. His initial goal was Jerusalem but for the small nation, not even in control of it's own island yet, that was too far. So Donnchad settled on the Tangiers and marched the armies of Dublin and of Man against the Tangierians. The Dublin force landed on the 8th of May in 1077 and was hurt by heavy fighting whilst waiting for the Manx reinforcements. Unexpectedly, Donnchads uncle Enna had too comitted troops though he had done so without the request of Donnchad.
While all this fighting was going on in Africa, the forces of Ulaid finally did in Tir Eoghain. With the county now under their control they re-established the duchy of Ulster and very quickly did Tir Connail bow to the will of this new entity on Ireland.
R. F. Foster (historian): The years between 1076 and 1080 were excedingly chaotic for Donnchad. Not only did you have war in Ulster but the pope was demanding of everyone that they commit to some sort of battle against the moslems. I would have to say that Donnchad did well for a boy of 11 in ruiling his lands
The Tangiers War was pressing in Donnchad. The Tangierians had landed troops at Droichead an Chaisleáin (Castlebrige) and then marched north, besieging Wicklow. They had beaten Donnchads armies back to Ireland and now they were on the offensive. Troops from Dublin and Man were gathered and at a titanic battle, Donnchads general proved his worth, slaughtering the moslems. They then hunted down the scattered forces and killed off all Tangierians who had landed at Ireland. His armies anhialated, the Shiek proposed peace between himself and Donnchad. Though he was itching to continue the fight, the King of Leinster Knew that it would be impossible for either country to wage war so far from its homeland. The peace was signed in Febuary of 1080 and the armies of Leinster returned to their homes.
Donnchad had learned from those chaotic four years three things. First that his armies were competent, even when over seas when fighting on soil that they were not accustomed and when outnumbered, as they had fought many battles with unfavorable odds while in africa. Second if he were to gain territory overseas he would need to first consolidate his power at in ireland. Third that if he were to consolidate power, he would need to take the next richest kingdom in Ireland after his own, Ulster.
I must really commend you on the restart; it's really well done. You make all the impossible things that CK forces you to do sound realistic. You could be easily talking about Tangerians besieging Wicklow and I'd be taking it for granted.
RGB: Thanks. I've noticed about waging war with nations over seas in comparisson to your own nation. They always always always manage to land troops on your home territory. No matter how far away they seem to be.
Kurt_Steiner: Gotta love patronyms!
JimboIX: Yeah I love PBS/Discovery/History channel specials on any nation. I though it'd be something more akin to what I'd like to read and watch.
When he turned 18, Donnchad abandonned the name of Uí Cheinnselaigh and took his fathers name instead, establishing the Mac Murchada (Son(s) of Murchad) dynasty in memoriam to his father. Now the most pressing matter for the young king of Laigin was to find for himself a wife. He found one in the daughter of the king of castile, Blanca.
The Spanish states of Leon, Castile and Galicia hung on her survival. The lords of Galicia, Leon, and Castile, should two die, the last surviving one would inherit both kingdoms. Sancho the king of Castile was the next in line for Duke of Galicia and King of Leon, should neither of his nephews produce an heir.
He had no sons and Blanca was his only child. The sucession laws would have allowed any son of hers to inherit her fathers throne and the possibility of inheriting the thrones of both Leon and Galicia.
Determined to make her his wife Donnchad assasinated the brother of the Duke of Galicia, reducing the number of heirs to Galicia and giving a direct shot back to his uncle the king of castile and by inheritance to the sons of Blanca. The assasination was a greatly publicized event through out Europe. When news of the assasination reached the Vatican, the pope immediately excommunicated Donnchad. Undetered, the king of Laigin pressed on in his plans.
Francis John Byrne (Historian): Many people within the historian community have agreed that while Donnchad would have been reprimanded by the pope for assasinating the Galacian heir, excommunication was not something that would normally have been done. Most agree that the pope, the former archibishop of Cantebury, was working under orders from William, King of England, to help him press his claims on Ireland. And Donnchad was unfortunately unaware of this.
In april of 1084, William, King of England decided to cash in on his claims in Tir Eoghain. He declared war on Ulster and landed a force at Wicklow, with Donnchads permission. Using his own claim on the county, Donnchad too declared war with Tir Eoghain. Acting as commander of the joint English & Laigin force, Donnchad personally let the force into Ulster. Taking his army, and part of the English force, Donnchad marched to Tir Eoghain and laid siege to the castle at Omagh, while the other half of the English army, under William attacked Ulaid at the fort of Emuin Macha. With both her castles under siege the king of Ulster tried suing for peace by offering Donnchad large ammounts of gold. Under normal circumstances he would have taken the kings ransom but he kept on fighting in Tir Eoghain. The reason behind this was that he did not want the English to keep using their claim on the county. Keeping them stuck at Ulaid and allowing no further expansion would have slowed future invasions. However Williams large force, forced Donnchad to back down in Omaghn, and in 1086, all of Ulster came to be under English hands.
R. F. Foster (historian): Okay you've got to realize, Donnchad had no idea that William would have turned on him at Omagh. While he didn't implicitly trust the English, he thought that he would have at least been a gentleman and you know, let him keep the castle that he had besieged for six months.
Nollaig Ó Muraíle (Historian): In my mind, Donnchad is one of the most heroic, tragic, and important figures in Irish history. Loads of people in Ireland have called him a heretic because of his excommunication and a traitor for inviting the English on to Ireland. Few realize the pivitol role he had. Had Donnchad not assasinated the brother of the king of Galicia, any son he would have had with Blanca would not have been able to inherit both the throne of Castile and Galicia. He let William to ireland in the hopes that assisting him would encourage the English king to use his influence over the pope to remove the excommunicated status. He really wasn't an traitor nor a heretic, just an excedingly unlucky king.
William than turned on his former ally by making a claim the title of count of Dublin. His claim came from a conversation he had with Donnchad when his force arrived at Omagh in which he claimed Donnchad had promised it to him since he (Donnchad) believed that William would have a better chance at uniting Ireland than himself.
Katherine Simms (Historian): The garbage William spewed when he went back to London was entirely false. There is are court scribe records of a conversation between William and Donnchad at Omagh which might have been the basis for Williams claim but in no way eluded to Donnchad, giving up his throne to the English king. Basically it goes something like this. When William arrived at Omagh, Donnchad was obviously surprised as he thought William would have sailed back to London after Emuin Macha was taken, which William had indicated in two letters written to Donnchad. One recieved in January of 1086 and another that Donnchad got in March. At Omagh, Donnchad naturally asked William what he was doing there and he said "To take my castle." Donnchad asked "Your castle, I've been here for six months and you were supposed to be in London by now." To which William replied "Well yes but I didn't think a young boy such as yourself could hold the siege." At which Donnchad answered, "Don't think that just because it might be easier for you, with larger armies, to hold a siege that the irish will can not bind their nation together."
After three years of fighting and the betrayal of William, Donnchad refocused his attempts at wooing the Spanish princess. He spent much of his time courting her in Castile, as she was afraid of Laigin being too cold. Though the trips were hard on him his work paid off and he and Blanca were married. They had two ceremonies, one in Guadalajara and another at the church of Saint Maughold in May of 1087.
Many within Laigin didn't appreciate their Kings decision to marry a Spaniard. By August of 1088 the situation in Leinster had degraded. The Bishop of Man was threatening independence due to Donnchads, "lack of divine favour" as he called it.
Brad Stephan Gregory (Religious Historian): Donnchad was really put in a bit of a pickle by the Bishop claiming he had lost divine favor. What the bishop was essentially saying was that Donnchad no longer had the god given right to be king. That type of attitude could not only put Man in a state of rebellion but set the entirety of Laigin into civil war. Donnchads options were limited. He could let the Bishop keep spewing treasonous sayings and let his kingdom slowly turn against him or he could take down the errant bishop and essentially seal his fate with the papacy.
Donnchad attempted to revoke the bishops title over Man. He would allow him to stay bishop but under Donnchad controlling the county. However the Bishop refused. As a result Donnchad declared war on the Bishopric. In the months preceding the Bishop had secretly made a deal with the Duke of the Isles, saying he would pledge alliegance were Donnchad to attack him and he did.
In late October of 1088, the Duke declared war on Leinster. On December 18th 1088, Donnchads forces landed on Man and crushed the bishops troops. The bishop plead for his life, yet Donnchad had little time for mercy with the errant bishop. He brought the former bishop to the cliffs outside Doolish, the capital of Man. Cutting off his calves, he cast the bishop off the cliffs. Once the castle of Man was taken. Donnchad would send his forces against the lord of the Isles. On Febuary 24th, The Lord of the Isles sent a force to relaim the Island but it was quickly crushed personally by Donnchad and two months later, Man was fully back in the control of King of Leinster. 10 days later the Lord of the Isles agreed to a peace proposal. He would empy his coffers to Donnchad, in return, Donnchad would give up his claims to the western Isles.
On July 14 1090, Fiachra Mac Murchada was born.
This boy was key to two kingdoms. He was not only heir to the throne of Laigin, but was the sole heir of his grand-father Sancho, king of Castile. In addition, his cousin Nuno Jimenz lacked any male heirs. Were Nuno to die in battle, or by some other means, Fiachra would not only inherit Castile, but the Duchy of Galacia. He had naught to worry about from his other cousin Recaredo Jimenz. The former king of Leon had lost his realm to Muhammad al-Aftas, Amir of Badajoz, whilst trying to reclaim much of the Iberian punisula. He now was a minor courtier in Aragon, protected by his cousin Frantez, King of Aragonra. Yet Frantez was also in the clutches of Muhammad. Both kings it appeared would lose their kingdoms to the heathens. Fiachras rule when he could assume it would be far more troubling than that of his fathers. Not only would he be bound to unite Ireland, but reclaim the lands of tje Jimenz.
While the future of his sons spanish domain was fought out in Iberia, Donnchad had worries in Ireland to contend with. Osriage had gone into rebellion at the beginning of May in 92'.
His cousin Moenach was attempting to cash in on his claims to the Kingdom of Leinster. Unfortunately he lacked the military stregnth and prowess of Donnchad. The armies of Dublin defeated Moerch in no less than four battles, the last of which resulted in Moenachs death on the field of battle, personally executed by the King of Laigin himself. While his son took over, he was under the care of the remaining courtiers and was not an effective Iarla at a mere one year old. When the fighting was finally ended in January of 1093, Kadavaeler, Moerchs son, was disposed and he and his supporters fled to Leon in Britanny.
With events very calm, at least for the momment in Ireland. Donnchad returned his attention to Iberia. The situation of the spainish was dire. Leon had fallen to the Amir of Badajoz and Navarra too was about to have it's casket closed. Only Castile and Galacia stood against he massive muslim onslaught of the emirate. At Donnchads prodding, Sancho had gone to war with the independent muslim kingdom of Toledo. The massive armies of Castile easily swept Toledan forces. However all of the lands gained for the kingdom landed under the control of the vassals of the king and not the king himself. Fearing for his sons power in the future, Donnchad sent another assasin against galacia who was too sucessful, killing off Nino and doubling the king of castiles power. This move also opened up the opportunity for the castilian kingdom to expand westward against the smaller moslem kingdoms of western Iberia. With these new lands, Fiarchra would have a much better shot at dealing a killing blow to Badajoz and reuniting the broken spanish nations. While the backlash for these actions were harsh, Donnchad knew that he and his son would both outlive the king of castile, who had slipped into a deep schizophrenic coma, so bad that he even ordered an assasination attempt on Fiachras life. Once his son assumed the throne of Castile, Donnchad could very easily declare Laigin castilian domain, centralizing Fiarchras power and providing protection from England and her dog Britanny, both of which, since the Ulster wars had been bristling with aires about conquering the rest of ireland.
Donnchad is playing a very dangerous game- and putting a lot of faith in his infant son to e able to turn things around in Spain, on the other hand, it saves Ireland from being at the mercy of the english should it work- good luck.
