The Gael Grows


 * The Gael Grows
 * by Dan McCollum
 * 8 February 2002


 * From The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Dublin
 * by Sean McErik

By SE 400 [1172 CE] the Kingdom of Dublin had entered a steep, bloody decline. The Seven Years War had nearly destroyed the heart and soul of the Kingdom, leaving it a hollow shell. Ragnar VII and his brothers had, in less than a decade, utterly destroyed the peace and prosperity that their father, grandfather and great grandfather had fought so hard for.

Many historians have attempted to blame the instability of Ragnar's reign on insanity or sheer incompetence. This does not do credit to the monarch's character. True, he was known to be a cruel and vindictive ruler, but he was also known to be quite cunning at times as well as deeply pious in his faith. It was during his reign that the Great Book of Dublin was first compiled, considered by many to be the most beautiful and elegant compilation of the words of Ragnar the Prophet in all of Submissive history.

At any other time such a ruler might have been able to keep the Kingdom intact, or even increase its power. However, the forces of time and society were quickly turning against the Norse and their Kingdom of Dublin. Perhaps the two greatest disasters brought on by the Seven Years War were the crippling of the Dublin merchant fleets and the destruction of the Marcher Lords, the traditional warrior caste of the Kingdom. Ragnar made many attempts to overcome this military disaster. Unable to conscript Irish peasants into the military due to the decree that no Christians were to brandish weapons, and fear of possible revolt, the King's eyes turned to mercenaries. Unfortunately, seven years of fratricidal war had left the Kingdom’s finances in ruins and its merchants destitute. With little in the way of customs duties entering the royal treasury, Ragnar resorted to taxation to fund his expenditures, further impoverishing the merchants and driving the Kingdom’s freeholders off their land. Dissatisfaction with Ragnar’s rule, already low, fell further. To make matters even worse, during his fourteen-year reign from 393-407 [1165-79 CE], there were no less than three pretenders to the throne, two of whom claimed to be the King's long dead brother Erik the Bold, which further weakened his support.

The 6th Century Irish playwright Don Cam O'Doul would claim that each man has his own fatal flaw which, no matter his graces, would bring his downfall. O'Doul would put words in the King's mouth, in his great tragedy "Ragnar VII":

"It is every man's duty to suffer. To suffer for his fatal crime of not being divine.  Many men bear this burden and leave this world unchanged.  But we who strive climb high, high!  Only to suffer and fall for our insolence, for our arrogant wish to be like you, great Allfather!"

Although O'Doul's attempts to make Ragnar out to be a tragic hero were exercises in drama rather than history, there is still truth in these words, though the historical Ragnar would never have uttered them. In truth it was Ragnar's greatest vice, his vindictiveness, which would combine with his greatest virtue, his piety, to utterly destroy him. For, of all those in his Kingdom who felt his wrath, the ones who suffered the brunt of it were the Christians who made up a majority of the people.

There have been several explanations offered as to the source of Ragnar’s hatred of Christianity. Many historians claim that it was for their support of his younger brother Erik the Bold during the Seven Years War. Another group, and we can include our friend O'Doul in this, believe that it was the Christians’ refusal to accept Ragnar the Prophet over their Jesus which set the King down his ill-fated path. Most likely it was a combination of both.

Whatever the reason, the hand of King Ragnar VII of Dublin fell heavily indeed upon his most populous subjects. He increased the taxes upon the Christians, forcibly closed and burned many of the churches and monasteries. In 399 [1171 CE] he fought a bloody battle to extinguish the Holy Flame of Saint Brigid. FN1 The resistance from the surrounding Christian communities was so great that Ragnar was forced to give up the effort. This was the first major setback Ragnar suffered; it would not be the last.

Different Christian communities responded to Ragnar’s repression in different ways. The majority, of course, looked at these dark times as simply a return to the times of Nero and Diocletian, bearing their burden with little complaint as they attempted to go about their lives. It was during this time that the "Legend of St. Patrick the Reborn" first became popular and there are several examples of epic poems of the time being constructed around the legend. FN2

Others fled to the strongholds of the Cennedyite Crusaders who preached of St. Cennedy and his visions of Jesus, who demanded that they drive the Submissives from the shores of Ireland and, at least in some congregations, Wales and England as well. It was during these years that the Crusaders reached the height of their power, numbering at least ten percent of the Christian population of the Kingdom of Dublin among their adherents.

Still others, the smallest group, fled the land of their birth for Aquitaine, Byzantine Spain, the Magyar kingdom, and anywhere else that would allow them in. Although many of these Celtic Christians communities have died out, their remnants can still be seen today in place names, such as the province of Gaelica in Southern Spain, or the many Irishtowns in Aquitaine and Burgundy.

For some, however, Europe was much too close to the land of their suffering. In 403 [1175 CE] an Irish monastic order along with several hundred refugees left the shores of Ireland, never to return. They had heard tales of a Spanish settlement far across the Sea, and of Nordic legends of lands to the west. It seems likely that they were trying to reach modern day New Scotland, FN3 but their ships were blown off course and they arrived on the island of Manhattan. Here they made an alliance with the local Native chief, and were able to gain farming and settlement rights on the island. In return they agreed to trade many of their superior tools and to live in peace. Many of the clan chiefs married daughters of the Native families and the city of St Patrick On the Sea was born. FN4 It was the beginning of a tradition of Irish fleeing across the sea to escape religious, political, and economic persecution and turns of bad luck.

Along with the growing animosity of the Christians within the Kingdom, Ragnar also faced the increasing power of the “Free Clans” beyond the western marches. The “Free Clans” had never submitted to Norse rule, though in the three centuries since the first raids by the Outsiders their independence had often been precarious. They existed mainly upon the coastlines of Meath, Ulster, and Scotland, as well as heavy concentration in the lands of the Dunboy peninsula. Although history has portrayed them as illiterate barbarians who never gave up the old ways of life, they were in fact a thriving society which was forever at odds with the Kingdom.

The territory of the Free Clans had existed in a precarious state of peace during the reigns of the Snorri Kings. The power of the Marcher Lords had kept them at bay, and a status quo slowly developed. However, with the coming of the Seven Years War and the destruction of the Marcher Lords, the Free Clans began to raid deep into the lands of the Kingdom and to extend their territory.

Although there were many Free Clans, the two most important were the clans O'Sullivan and O'Neil. The O'Neil were an older family, with more prestige, who had a long history of fighting the Submissives. The O'Sullivan was newer to the scene, but had the vitality of the young. It was the O’Sullivan who lead the most daring raids into the Kingdom, and would be the catalyst of change for the islands. Both clans had become refuges for those Irish Christians who found it intolerable to live under Submissive rule, and each boasted at least one major trading city that had begun as a refugee community. Of these two, the city of O'Sullivan, named for the clan, was the wealthiest although could not compare to royal capital of Dublin in matters of trade, population and wealth.

By the year 403 the end of the Kingdom of Dublin was already in sight. All that was needed was the catalyst to set the lands aflame. In that year, Ragnar VII had a Cennedite church in the Earldom of Scotland burned to the ground, with the congregation still inside. It was said that they sang the songs of Freedom and Ireland while the fires consumed their bodies. Those songs would soon be heard all across the Isles.

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