Lagmann mac Gofraid

Who is Lagmann mac Gofraid?

Lagman Godredsson was a late 11th century ruler of the Isle of Man and the Hebrides. Lagmann was the eldest son of Gofraid Crobán, a late 11th century ruler of Man, the Hebrides, and Dublin. There is uncertainty of the events in the Hebrides and the Isle of Man immediately following Gofraid's death, in 1095. The Chronicle of Man states that Lagmann took control of the kingdom following his father's death. However, Lagmann may have taken control when his father seized the Kingdom of Dublin, in 1091. Lagmann is recorded to have warred with his younger brother, Aralt, and had him blinded and mutilated. According to the chronicle, a repentant Lagmann voluntarily travelled to Jerusalem, where he died. Some historians of the Crusades consider Lagmann to have taken part in the First Crusade.

Some scholars of the Norse-Gaelic history of the British Isles suggest that Lagmann was forced from his island-kingdom by leading members of the powerful Uí Briain dynasty. The chronicle states that Muirchertach Ua Briain was invited by the leading men of Hebrides and Man, to select a ruler for their kingdom. This event may suggest that a faction supporting Lagmann's youngest brother, Amlaíb, appealed to Muirchertach for aid in battling supporters of Lagmann. Muirchertach imposed his nephew, Domnall mac Taidc, upon upon the kingdom, who ruled for several years. The Uí Briain influence within the island-kingdom may have enticed Magnús Berfœttr, King of Norway, to send a representative into the Hebrides in 1097, and to have led a successful full-scale invasion of the kingdom, the following year. Mediaeval saga accounts record that Lagmann was captured by Magnús as he sailed down the Hebrides and took control of the entire Kingdom of Man and the Isles. As the Chronicle of Man is untrustworthy in much of its chronology, it has been suggested that it was after Lagmann's capture, and Magnús's conquest of the island-kingdom, that Lagmann attempted his journey to Jerusalem.