Sitric Cáech in the context of Ragnall ua Ímair


Sitric Cáech in the context of Ragnall ua Ímair

⭐ Core Definition: Sitric Cáech

Sitric Cáech or Sihtric Cáech or Sigtrygg Gále, (Old Norse: Sigtryggr [ˈsiɣˌtryɡːz̠], Old English: Sihtric, died 927) was a Hiberno-Scandinavian Viking leader who ruled Dublin and then Viking Northumbria in the early 10th century. He was a grandson of Ímar and a member of the Uí Ímair. Sitric was most probably among those Vikings expelled from Dublin in 902, whereafter he may have ruled territory in the eastern Danelaw in England. In 917, he and his kinsman Ragnall ua Ímair sailed separate fleets to Ireland where they won several battles against local kings. Sitric successfully recaptured Dublin and established himself as king, while Ragnall returned to England to become King of Northumbria. In 919, Sitric won a victory at the Battle of Islandbridge over a coalition of local Irish kings who aimed to expel the Uí Ímair from Ireland. Six Irish kings were killed in the battle, including Niall Glúndub, overking of the Northern Uí Néill and High King of Ireland.

In 920 Sitric left Dublin for Northumbria, with his kinsman Gofraid ua Ímair succeeding him as king in Dublin. That same year Sitric led a raid on Davenport, Cheshire, perhaps as an act of defiance against Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons. In 921 Ragnall ua Ímair died, with Sitric succeeding him as King of Northumbria. Though there are no written accounts of conflict, numismatic evidence suggests there was a Viking reconquest of a large part of Mercia in the following few years. An agreement of some sort between the Vikings of Northumbria and the Anglo-Saxons was achieved in 926 when Sitric married a sister of Æthelstan, perhaps Edith of Polesworth. Sitric also converted to Christianity, though this did not last long and he soon reverted to paganism. He died in 927 and was succeeded by his kinsman Gofraid ua Ímair. Sitric's son Gofraid later reigned as king of Dublin, his son Aralt (Harald) as king of Limerick, and his son Amlaíb Cuarán as king of both Dublin and Northumbria.

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Sitric Cáech in the context of Ecgwynn

Ecgwynn (also spelled Ecgwynna; Old English: Eċġwynn, meaning “sword joy”; fl. 890s) was the first known consort of Edward the Elder, who reigned as King of the English from 899 to 924. She was the mother of Æthelstan (r. 924–939), the first monarch to rule a unified England, and is also believed to have had a daughter who married Sitric Cáech, Norse king of Dublin,Ireland and Northumbria.

Virtually nothing is known about Ecgwynn’s origins or personal life and her name is absent from all contemporary records and does not appear in any surviving sources until after the Norman Conquest. The earliest known reference comes from William of Malmesbury, who Latinized her name as Egwinna and who is in fact the principal source for her existence.

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Sitric Cáech in the context of Owain ap Dyfnwal (fl. 934)

Owain ap Dyfnwal (fl. 934) was an early tenth-century King of Strathclyde. He was probably a son of Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde, who may have been related to previous rulers of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Originally centred in the valley of the River Clyde, this realm appears to have undergone considerable southward expansion in the ninth or tenth century, after which it increasingly came to be known as the Kingdom of Cumbria.

Owain may have represented the Cumbrians in the tripartite alliance with the kingdoms of Alba and Mercia, assembled by Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians in the second decade of the tenth century. Around this time, the Cumbrians are recorded to have campaigned against either Ragnall ua Ímair or Sitric Cáech. Owain may also be the king of Strathclyde who is recorded to have submitted to Æthelflæd's brother, Edward, King of the Anglo-Saxons, in 920 with Ragnall and Custantín mac Áeda, King of Alba. Moreover, Owain seems to have been present at another assembly in 927, when he, Custantín, Ealdred (son of Eadwulf), and perhaps Owain ap Hywel, King of Gwent, acknowledged overlordship of Edward's son and successor, Æthelstan. This assembly may have been held on or near the River Eamont, seemingly the southern frontier of the Cumbrian kingdom.

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