Ragnvald Godredsson - Accession

Accession

Guðrøðr is known to have been formally married to Finnguala, who was a granddaughter of Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, High King of Ireland, and more than likely a daughter of Niall Mac Lochlainn, King of Cenél nEógain (d. 1176). The chronicle records that the marriage was formalised by the visiting papal legate, Vivian, Cardinal priest of St Stephen in Celio Monte, during his stay on Mann in 1176. Vivian's visit to Mann is corroborated in several contemporary sources, such as the Chronicle of Hollyrood and Roger of Howden's Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi, which state that he left Galloway for Mann on 24 December 1176, and stayed a fortnight on the island before setting off for Ireland on 6 January.

According to the Chronicle of Mann, Guðrøðr had three sons: Rögnvaldr, Óláfr, and Ívarr. Before his death on 10 November 1187, the chronicle records that Guðrøðr instructed that his younger son, Óláfr, should succeed to the kingdom, since this son had been born "in lawful wedlock". Unfortunately for scholars, since the chronicle contradicts itself in detailing Óláfr's age, it is uncertain whether he was born during the year of his father's marriage, or a few years before—what is certain, however, is that Rögnvaldr was older than Óláfr.

Because Óláfr was only a child at the time of his father's death, the chronicle relates that the Manxmen chose Rögnvaldr to rule instead, because unlike Óláfr, Rögnvaldr was a hardy young man. After returning from the Isles, where he was living at the time of his father's death, Rögnvaldr was duly proclaimed king and began his reign the following year, in 1188. Although the chronicle indirectly implies that Rögnvaldr was also a son of Finnguala, there is evidence that strongly suggests that he had a different mother. Within a letter from Óláfr to Henry II, King of England (d. 1189), Óláfr describes Rögnvaldr as a bastard. Further evidence is found within a Gaelic praise-poem of Rögnvaldr, which states that he was a son of Sadb, an otherwise unknown Irishwoman who may have been an unrecorded wife or concubine of Guðrøðr. The fact that Rögnvaldr and Óláfr more than likely had different mothers may well explain the intense conflict that took place between them in the years that followed.