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- Magnus Barefoot (Old Norse Magn?s berf?tt, modern Norwegian Magnus Berrf?tt) was born circa 1073 in Norway the son of Olaf Kyrre and grandson of Harald Hardrada, and of the House of Westfold. He was King of Norway from 1093 until 1103 and King of Mann and the Isles from 1099 until 1102. The epithet berf?tt means barefoot or bareleg and is commonly understood to come from his habit of wearing Gaelic-style clothing, leaving lower legs bare. According to another theory, he got the nickname because he was forced to flee from an attack in his barefeet.
The period of peace during the reign of Magnus' father Olaf Kyrre came to an abrupt end when Magnus succeeded him in 1093. Magnus made war with Sweden and Denmark and sought to build a Norwegian empire around the Irish Sea. In 1093 Magnus Barefoot led a Norse fleet from Mann to Ynys M?n, Gwynedd, and appeared off of the coast at Ynys Seiriol (Puffin Island), inturputing a Norman victory celebration after they had recently defeated the Welsh of Gwynedd. In the battle that followed between the Norman occupiers and the Norse, known as the Battle of Anglesey Sound, Magnus shot dead the earl of Shrewsbury with an arrow to the eye. The Norse left as suddenly and as mysteriously as they had arrived, however leaving the Norman army weakened and demoralized. In 1098, he conquered the Orkney Islands, the Hebrides and the Isle of Man. Magnus returned to Norway in 1099 but in 1102 set out again, this time to conquer Ireland. He captured Dublin and the surrounding area.
In the following year, 1103, he attempted to capture the whole of Ireland, but he was caught in an ambush and died in battle. There is no concrete evidence as to the exact location of his death but belief, folklore and conclusion point either to a location which is known locally as the "war hollow" which is situated within the Portrush Golf Course in County Antrim in what is now Northern Ireland. Or to another location just outside Downpatrick, County Down.
Magnus was married to Margrethe/Fredkulla (the daughter of his former enemy Inge Stenkilsson, King of Sweden), in 1101 at Kungah?lla; she died before 1130 and was buried in Roskilde. They did not have surviving children. His extant sons at his death were Olaf Magnusson, ?ystein Magnusson and Sigurd Magnusson (later known as Sigurd Jorsalfar or Crusader) who all together succeeded him. After his death, Harald Gille and Sigurd Slembedjakn later came forward and both claimed to be his illegitimate sons (and thus heirs to the throne). Harald Gille became King Harald IV of Norway in 1130.
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 21 July 2015.
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1073 - 1103 (~ 30 år)
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