The battle of Mag Femen ( Dr. Ir. Cath Mag Femen ) - a battle took place on August 22, 917 near the village of Mag Femen (near modern Clonmel ) between the Viking army led by Ragnall Wa Imar and the army of the High King of Ireland Niall Glundub , during which neither side was able to win a decisive victory.
| The Battle of Magician Femen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| date | August 22, 917 | ||
| A place | Mage Femen ( Ireland ) | ||
| Cause | viking expansion | ||
| Total | none of the parties won | ||
| Opponents | |||
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| Commanders | |||
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| Losses | |||
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Historical Sources
The battle of Mage Femen and related events is reported in several Irish annals : in the Annals of Ulster , Annals of Clonmacnois , Annals of the Four Masters , The Scottish Chronicle , and the treatise The ” [1 ] .
Background
At the turn of the 9th-10th centuries, the Irish won several major victories over the Vikings and . Including, in 902, the King of Leinster, Carball Mack Muirekine, and the King of Breguy, Mael Finnia, Mack Flannacine, captured Dublin . This put an end to the existence of the Viking kingdom here. Most of the Dublin Scandinavians, led by their king Ivar II, were expelled from Ireland [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] .
However, in the mid-910s, Viking attacks on Ireland intensified again: in 914 they captured Waterford , and in 915 - Cork and Limerick . In 917, a new large fleet of Scandinavians arrived at the island from Britain , headed by Ragnall Wa Imar and Sitrik Blind , close relatives of King Ivar II. On the way to Ireland, the Vikings split up: part of them, under the command of Ragnall, landed at Waterford and, moving from there to Munster, tried to take possession of Emley , and the Vikings, led by Sitrick, landed near the northern border of Leinster and began to ruin this kingdom. The High King of Ireland, Niall Glundub, opposed the Scandinavians with the army assembled at Mead . He probably intended to defeat both Viking forces one at a time, delivering the first blow to the Scandinavians of Ragnall Wa Imar [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] .
Battle
The Irish and Vikings met near the village of Mag Femen (near modern Clonmel), where both troops built fortified camps at a short distance from each other. About nine o'clock in the morning on August 22, 917, unexpectedly for the Scandinavians, the soldiers of Niall Glundub attacked a large Viking detachment of Ragnall Wa Imara, who was heading to rob the neighboring villages. According to the annals, in the battle the Irish killed about a hundred Vikings and almost put their enemies to flight when the main Scandinavian forces approached the battlefield. The help received allowed the Vikings to turn the battle in their favor. The warriors of the High King, who had suffered heavy losses after dark, were forced to retreat to their camp. However, the Vikings attempt to storm the Irish camp by storm ended in failure. After this, the Scandinavians returned to their parking lot [7] [8] [14] [15] .
Consequences
For twenty days, the Irish and the Vikings remained in their camps, without attempting to attack each other. Probably realizing that the forces of both troops were approximately equal, Niall Glundub and Ragnall Wa Imar were waiting for reinforcements to approach. The first of them hoped for the help of King Leinster Augayre poppy Aylella , the second - for Sitrick the Blind. However, in September, the High King received news of the Battle of Kenn Fwight , in which the Leinsters suffered a crushing defeat. Fearing that after this Ragnall and Sitrick might attack his army together, Niall Glundub hastily left the camp and returned to Mead [7] [11] [14] [15] [16] [17] .
Notes
- ↑ Annals of Ulster (year 917.2-4); Annals of Clonmacnois (year 914); Annals of the four masters (years 915.6–7 and 917.2); The Scottish Chronicle (year 917); War of the Irish with aliens (chapter 30).
- ↑ Annals of Ulster (year 902.2); Annals of the Four Masters (year 897.5); The Scottish Chronicle (year 902).
- ↑ Byrne-Rothwell D. The Byrnes and the O'Byrnes . - House of Lochar, 2010 .-- Vol. 2. - P. 21-23. - ISBN 978-1-9048-1703-1 .
- ↑ Sawyer P. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings . - Oxford: Oxford University Press , 2001 .-- P. 92 & 97. - ISBN 978-0-1928-5434-6 .
- ↑ Medieval Ireland. An Encyclopedia / Duffy S. - New York & London: Routledge , 2005 .-- P. 75-76. - ISBN 978-0-4159-4052-8 .
- ↑ Downham, 2007 , p. 26-27.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Moore N. Niall (870? -919) // Dictionary of National Biography / Edited by Sidney Lee. - London: Elder Smith & Co. - Vol. Xl. Myllar - Nicholls. - P. 408-409.
- ↑ 1 2 Downham, 2007 , p. 31–32, 267 & 273.
- ↑ Hart C. Sihtric Cáech // Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. - Vol. L. - P. 597.
- ↑ Hart C. Ragnall // Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. - Vol. Xlv. - P. 796.
- ↑ 1 2 Forte A., Oram RD, Pedersen F. Viking Empires . - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. - P. 102-103. - ISBN 978-0-521-82992-2 .
- ↑ Neville P. Ireland. History of the country. - M .: Eksmo , 2009 .-- S. 47. - ISBN 978-5-6993-3804-7 .
- ↑ Mikhailova T.A. Ireland from the Vikings to the Normans: language, culture, history. - M .: Languages of Slavic culture, 2012. - P. 44. - ISBN 978-5-9551-0615-1 .
- ↑ 1 2 Hudson BT Niall mac Áeda // Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. - Vol. Xl. - P. 745.
- ↑ 1 2 Hudson BT Prophecy of Berchán: Irish and Scottish High-kings of the Early Middle Ages . - Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996 .-- P. 151-152. - ISBN 978-0-3132-9567-6 .
- ↑ Downham, 2007 , p. 31–32 & 273–274.
- ↑ Powell FY Sihtric (d.927) // Dictionary of National Biography. - Vol. Lii. Shearman - Smirke. - P. 248-249.
Literature
- Downham C. Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to AD 1014 . - Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press , 2007 .-- ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0 .
- Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib: The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill / Todd JH - London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1867. - 368 p.
- The Annals of Clonmacnoise / Murphy D. - Dublin: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1896. - 398 p.
Links
- The Annals of Ulster . Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition. Date of appeal September 30, 2018.
- Annals of Inisfallen . Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition. Date of appeal September 30, 2018.
- Annals of the Four Masters . Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition. Date of appeal September 30, 2018.
- Chronicon Scotorum Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition. Date of appeal September 30, 2018.
- Fragmentary Annals of Ireland . Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition. Date of appeal September 30, 2018.