Manx Braveheart

20 December 1324. On this day Robert de Bruce, King of Scots, granted the Isle of Man to Thomas Randolph. This was after Bruce had 'subdued' the Manx, apparently, which I imagine involved a certain amount of violence.

It generally did. Back in 1275 the Manx had rebelled against Alexander III of Scotland, and declared the isle independent. The king responded by sending a fleet to crush the revolt.

This was an interesting example of Anglo-Scots co-operation, before the two kingdoms fell out forever. Alexander's fleet was led by John de Vescy, lord of Alnwick in Northumberland. He had an interesting past. In his youth Vescy had been a committed Montfortian, described as a member of Earl Simon's 'Praetorian Guard'. After the battle of Evesham he suddenly discovered a great affection for Simon's nemesis, the later Edward I.

As a lord of the Anglo-Scots border, Vescy had to serve both kings. He and the Comyns led the Scottish invasion of Man, against a Manx army led by Guðrøðr Magnússon. The two sides met in battle at Ronaldsway on 8 October 1275, where the Manx were defeated and 537 of them put to the sword (a precise number, implying the local chronicler was an eyewitness). Guðrøðr was probably among the dead, ending the male line of the Manx Norse dynasty.

Serving two kings was an exhausting business. Vescy went on to fight in Edward I's Welsh wars, and led an army of Gascon and Basque troops into Gwynedd in 1283. He died in 1287, probably in need of the rest.

If I was a mischievous, provocative sort of person, I might suggest a Manx version of Braveheart could be fun, with the Bruces shown as wicked oppressors who kick their children and throw people out of windows. But I'm not so I won't.

(Attached, first pic, is an aerial pic of the battlefield today).