Gebeachan
Gebeachan,[2] also known as Gébennach,[3] and Gebechán,[4] was a tenth-century King of the Isles. He seems to have been a subordinate to Amlaíb mac Gofraid, King of Dublin, and is recorded to have fought and died at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.
Career
Gebeachan was slain in 937 at the Battle of Brunanburh,[5] a remarkably bloody affair fought by Æðelstan, King of the English (died 939) on one side, and Amlaíb mac Gofraid, King of Dublin (died 941), Custantín mac Áeda, King of Alba (died 952), and Owain ap Dyfnwal, King of the Cumbrians (fl. 934) on the other.[6] According to a poem preserved by the ninth–twelth-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Æðelstan's opponents suffered mightily, with five kings, seven earls, and "countless of the raiding-army of Seamen and Scots" amongst their dead.[7] As for Gebeachan, his fall in this conflict is attested by a single source, a seventeenth-century translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, which styles him "king of the Islands".[8] This title appears to be a translated form of the Gaelic rí Innse Gall, a style otherwise first recorded in 989.[9]
"Gebeachan", the name that the Annals of Clonmacnoise ascribes to him, seems to represent either the Gaelic Gebechán,[10] Giblechán,[11] or Gébennach[12] (the latter two attested by the fifteenth–sixteenth-century Annals of Ulster in 890 and 973 respectively).[13] Another possibility is that the name is derived from gebech, a word for a type of craftsman.[14] Alternately, Gebeachan's name could be derived from a nickname referring to fetters or bondages.[15] Whatever the case, the name is clearly Gaelic,[16] indicating that Gebeachan was unlikely to have been from Orkney,[17] and more probably to have been seated in the southern Hebrides.[18]
There is reason to suspect that Gebeachan may have been a subordinate of Amlaíb,[19] a monarch styled "king of the Irish and the many islands" by the twelfth-century Chronicon ex Chronicis.[20] If so, Gebeachan's obituary would be evidence of Uí Ímair authority in the Isles in the 930s and 940s.[21] In fact, Gebeachan's attested title suggests that he was one of the five reguli, noted by Chronicon ex chronicis, who are stated to have fallen supporting Amlaíb at Brunanburh.[22] Amlaíb himself died 941. In an entry following his death, the twelfth-century Chronicon Scotorum records that Muirchertach mac Néill, King of Ailech (died 943) raided "the Isles of Alba", presumably in reference to the southern Hebrides.[23] This notice may have bearing on Gebeachan's apparent cooperation with Amlaíb, and appears to show that opponents of the Uí Ímair seized the initiative on his death.[24]
Also in 941, the seventeenth-century Annals of the Four Masters reports that a chieftain named Áed Albanach was slain amongst a vast host of Dublin Vikings by the invading forces of Amargein mac Cináeda, overking of Uí Failge. The fact that Áed bore a Gaelic personal name, died with the Dubliners, and bore an epithet referring to a Scotsman, could be evidence that he was a successor of Gebeachan.[25] Further evidence of this may be the record Mór, a woman attested by the twelfth-century pseudo-historical Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil, which identifies her as a daughter of a certain Áed mac Echach, and describes her as the daughter of a King of the Hebrides.[26]
Citations
- ↑ Cassell's History of England (1909) p. 49.
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013); Jennings (1994).
- ↑ Crowcroft; Cannon (2015); Jennings (2015); Jennings (1994).
- ↑ Downham (2013).
- ↑ Crowcroft; Cannon (2015); Jennings (2015); Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 527; Downham (2013) p. 183; Etchingham (2001) p. 167.
- ↑ Ryan (2013) p. 303.
- ↑ Woolf (2007) pp. 169, 172–173; Halloran (2005) p. 133 n. 3.
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 527, 527 n. 127; Wood (2013) p. 148; Downham (2013) p. 183; Etchingham (2001) p. 167; Jennings (1994) pp. 202–203; Murphy (1896) pp. 150–151.
- ↑ Jennings (1994) p. 203.
- ↑ Downham (2013) p. 183.
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 527 n. 127.
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 527 n. 127; Jennings (1994) p. 203.
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 527 n. 127; The Annals of Ulster (2012) §§ 890.4, 973.2; The Annals of Ulster (2008) §§ 890.4, 973.2.
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 527 n. 127; eDIL s.v. Gebech (n.d.).
- ↑ Jennings (1994) p. 205 n. 11; eDIL s.v. Gébend (n.d.).
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 527 n. 127; Etchingham (2001) p. 167; Jennings (1994) pp. 203, 205 n. 11.
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 527 n. 127.
- ↑ Etchingham (2001) p. 167.
- ↑ Crowcroft; Cannon (2015); Jennings (2015); Downham (2013) p. 183; Etchingham (2001) p. 167; Jennings (1994) pp. 203–205.
- ↑ Crowcroft; Cannon (2015); Jennings (2015); Forester (1854) p. 97; Stevenson (1853) p. 242; Thorpe (1848) p. 132.
- ↑ Downham (2013) pp. 183–184.
- ↑ Jennings (1994) pp. 203–205; Forester (1854) p. 97; Stevenson (1853) p. 242; Thorpe (1848) p. 132.
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 530; Chronicon Scotorum (2012) § 941; Chronicon Scotorum (2010) § 941; Hudson (2006).
- ↑ Charles-Edwards (2013) p. 530.
- ↑ Annals of the Four Masters (2013a) § 939.13; Annals of the Four Masters (2013b) § 939.13; Jennings (1994) pp. 205–206, 228; eDIL s.v. Albanach (n.d.).
- ↑ Cathréim Cellacháin Caisil (2008) § 29; Jennings (1994) pp. 206–207; Ó Corráin (1974) p. 26; Bugge (1905) pp. 15 § 29, 75 § 29.
References
Primary sources
- "Annals of the Four Masters". Corpus of Electronic Texts (3 December 2013 ed.). University College Cork. 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- "Annals of the Four Masters". Corpus of Electronic Texts (16 December 2013 ed.). University College Cork. 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- Bugge, A, ed. (1905). Caithreim Cellachain Caisil: The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel. Oslo: J. Chr. Gundersens Bogtrykkeri – via Internet Archive.
- "Cathréim Cellacháin Caisil". Corpus of Electronic Texts (27 September 2008 ed.). University College Cork. 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- "Chronicon Scotorum". Corpus of Electronic Texts (24 March 2010 ed.). University College Cork. 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- "Chronicon Scotorum". Corpus of Electronic Texts (14 May 2012 ed.). University College Cork. 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- Murphy, D, ed. (1896). The Annals of Clonmacnoise. Dublin: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland – via Internet Archive.
- Forester, T, ed. (1854). The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, with the Two Continuations: Comprising Annals of English History, From the Departure of the Romans to the Reign of Edward I. Bohn's Antiquarian Library. London: Henry G. Bohn – via Internet Archive.
- Ó Corráin, D (1974). "Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil: History or Propaganda?". Ériu. 25: 1–69. eISSN 2009-0056. ISSN 0332-0758. JSTOR 30008432 – via JSTOR. (subscription required (help)).
- Stevenson, J, ed. (1853). The Church Historians of England. Vol. 2, pt. 1. London: Seeleys – via Internet Archive.
- "The Annals of Ulster". Corpus of Electronic Texts (29 August 2008 ed.). University College Cork. 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- "The Annals of Ulster". Corpus of Electronic Texts (15 August 2012 ed.). University College Cork. 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- Thorpe, B, ed. (1848). Florentii Wigorniensis Monachi Chronicon ex Chronicis. Vol. 1. London: English Historical Society – via Internet Archive.
Secondary sources
- "eDIL s.v. Albanach". eDIL. n.d. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
- Cassell's History of England: From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses. Vol. 1. London: Cassell and Company. 1909 – via Internet Archive.
- Charles-Edwards, TM (2013). Wales and the Britons, 350–1064. The History of Wales (series vol. 1). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-821731-2.
- Crowcroft, R; Cannon, J, eds. (2015) [2001]. "Isles, Kingdom of the". A Dictionary of British History (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191758027. Retrieved 6 March 2016 – via Oxford Reference. (subscription required (help)).
- Downham, C (2007). Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0.
- "eDIL s.v. Gebech". eDIL. n.d. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- "eDIL s.v. Gébend". eDIL. n.d. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- Etchingham, C (2001). "North Wales, Ireland and the Isles: the Insular Viking Zone". Peritia. 15: 145–187. doi:10.1484/J.Peri.3.434. ISBN 250351152X. ISSN 0332-1592.
- Halloran, K (2005). "The Brunanburh Campaign: A Reappraisal". Scottish Historical Review. 84 (2): 133–148. doi:10.3366/shr.2005.84.2.133. eISSN 1750-0222. ISSN 0036-9241.
- Hudson, BT (2006). "Muirchertach mac Néill (d. 943)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (October 2006 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19502. Retrieved 10 March 2016. (subscription required (help)).
- Jennings, A (1994). Historical Study of the Gael and Norse in Western Scotland From c.795 to c.1000 (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh – via Edinburgh Research Archive.
- Jennings, A (2015) [1997]. "Isles, Kingdom of the". In Crowcroft, R; Cannon, J. The Oxford Companion to British History (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199677832.001.0001. ISBN 9780199677832. Retrieved 4 December 2015 – via Oxford Reference. (subscription required (help)).
- Ryan, MJ (2013). "Conquest, Reform and the Making of England". In Highham, NJ; Ryan, MJ. The Anglo-Saxon World. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. pp. 284–322. ISBN 978-0-300-12534-4.
- Wood, M (2013). "Searching for Brunanburh: The Yorkshire Context of the 'Great War' of 937". Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. 85 (1): 138–159. doi:10.1179/0084427613Z.00000000021. eISSN 2045-0664. ISSN 0084-4276.
- Woolf, A (2007). From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070. The New Edinburgh History of Scotland (series vol. 2). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978 0 7486 1233 8.