By Fiona Grahame

‘There were few Earls with the ability and fearlessness and lack of respect for the long arm of royal authority that Harald Maddadson shows.’ – The Northern Earldoms, Barbara Crawford.

Securing his title as an Earl of Orkney by his mother at the age of 3, Harald Maddadson was one of Orkney’s greatest earls. Born in Scotland, a son of Margaret (daughter of Earl Haakon Paulsson of Orkney), and Earl Maddad of Athol, cousin of David King of Scots, Harald was raised in Orkney which was very much his home.

His early life took him through the great struggles of the War of the Three Earls. He ruled jointly with Earl Rognvald and then solely. His period of power (1138 – 1206) came when Kings were attempting to dominate and pull into line the semi-autonomous  Orkney. 

He was married twice, both strengthening his Scottish connections. His first wife was Afreka, daughter of  Earl Duncan of Fife, one of the most powerful families in the south of Scotland, with whom he had 4 children. His second wife was Gormflaith (Hvarflod), daughter of the arch rebel Malcolm MacHeth the Earl of Ross, with whom he had 6 children. The sons from this marriage were to be his heirs.

David I, King of Scots, began the practice of establishing Anglo-Norman families in Scotland and of using the Church to extend royal power and influence into all parts of his realm. This strategy was continued by the Scottish Kings who followed and  included Caithness which was part of the Earldom of Orkney. 

In 1151 King David sought the approval of the Pope for including the see of Orkney in a Scottish Church province under the Archbishop of St Andrews. Something he had already secured for Caithness. This was an enormous challenge to the authority of Earl Harald and the Church in Orkney, which had its own Bishop. 

In that same year King Eystein Haraldsson of Norway landed in Orkney searching for Earl Harald eventually finding him over in Thurso. The King trapped Harald and his boats in Thurso harbour. He forced him to hand over his realm into the King’s hands and demanded a ransom payment of 3 marks of gold for Harald’s safe return. The ransom was paid, and satisfied with this the king set off to raid parts of Scotland and England.

The War of the Three Earls (1152 – 4) demonstrated how Kings in distant lands could make trouble in Orkney by supporting one faction against another. This strategy was to continue to be used by both the crowns of Norway and Scotland during Harald’s reign.

Resisting the ever increasing power of Kings was no easy option. The Kings themselves  faced challenges to their rule in both Norway and Scotland. Harald took the side of the rebels. 

In 1193 he met with Sigurd, son of the late King Magnus Erlingsson, challenger to the Norwegian  king, Sverre. A large force was sent with Sigurd made up of great warriors from Orkney and Shetland – the Eyiarskeggjar, or Island Beardies.  At first they were successful taking control over large parts of southern Norway. In 1194 King Sverre and his men attacked them at Florevag, north of Bergen, where he annihilated the rebel forces. Most of Harald’s men from Orkney and Shetland were killed. 

Faced with this massive defeat, Harald travelled to Norway and submitted to Sverre. Severe terms were imposed on the Orkney Earl. Shetland was taken out of the Earldom to be put under the control of Norway. The lands of those in Orkney who had rebelled were confiscated and the remaining families had three years  to buy them back. If not, these too would be forfeited to the Norwegian King. In addition to these conditions, a half of all taxes and fines paid in Orkney were to go to Sverre. To ensure this was complied with he installed a  syssleman, his official in the islands. After the death of King Sverre, Harald killed syssleman Arne Lorja, putting an end to that spy in his camp. 

The defeat at Florevag was a massive dent in the power and influence of Harald which the Scottish king, William then took advantage of. William invaded Harald’s lands in Moray and Ross. He captured Harald and imprisoned him in Roxburgh Castle. Harald only got out of this imprisonment by exchanging himself with his son and heir, Thorfinn. It didn’t work out well for Thorfinn who was blinded, castrated, and died in prison. 

The Scottish king encouraged Harald Ungi (Young Harald) in his campaign to seize the Orkney Earldom. Harald the Young did have a claim to the Orkney Earldom being from the Erlend line of Magnus and Rognvald. He didn’t have a chance up against the experienced warriors and massive support Earl Harald could count on. A battle took place near Wick in which Harald Ungi’s men were heavily defeated and he was killed while hiding near some peat diggings. There was an attempt by the remnants of his support to create a saintlike cult around his death with reports of miracles etc, similar to that of his forebears, Magnus and Rognvald. This cult got no support from the Orkney Bishop, whose authority had been diminished by the previous actions of Scotland’s Kings. King William’s man in Caithness, Bishop John, either didn’t grasp the importance of this or was too busy with other affairs, and the quest of the cult to sanctify Harald Ungi went nowhere.

Earl Harald always returned to his base in Orkney where support for him remained strong. The Scots king was not finished yet and took over Caithness handing it over to Rognvald Gudrodsson, King of Man. Rognvald didn’t remain in Caithness for long as there was much plundering to do elsewhere. Three stewards, men of the Scottish King, were left in charge. Once Rognvald of Man was out the way, Harald had one of the stewards, Hlifolf the Old, killed. 

The Scots King could still count on the Bishop he had installed in Caithness to inform him of any plans he might hear that Harald had. Bishop John, was not only a spy for the King but he also obstructed the payments of ‘Peter Pence’ of 1 penny for every house in Caithness. This was a payment collected in Orkney, Denmark and Norway but not in Scotland. However, Caithness, was not considered part of Scotland, despite what King William wanted, and Harald had Papal support in collecting it with a decree from Pope Innocent III.

In amongst this challenge to the power of Earl Harald enters King John of England who offered him safe passage in a 1201 letter no doubt to try his hand at extending his kingdom.  Harald didn’t take up this offer but it’s interesting that it was made. 

Earl Harald’s annoyance at Bishop John reached such a level that he had the cleric maimed, possibly blinded and his tongue cut out – a sentence befitting an informant. The details of this incident are unclear as the Bishop recovered both his sight and speech according to some sources. 

Enter the Pope again who issued a decree detailing the punishment of the man, Lumberd, blamed with the maiming of Bishop John. The punishment included walking semi naked around the Thurso area for 15 days, with his tongue tied out beyond his lips. He also had to carry rods so he could be beaten when he came to a church where he would lie down in silence and fast till evening. Lumberd then had to travel to Jerusalem for 3 years, and for 11 years fast every 6^th day.

When news of the maiming of Bishop John reached King William he amassed together a  considerable force despite it being winter. This was the largest Scottish force to invade Caithness. Harald promptly escaped over to Orkney.

It might have been news that William intended to invade Orkney with this force, that prompted Harald to travel to Perth under safe conduct arranged by Roger, Bishop of St Andrews where he agreed to submit to the King of Scots.

Included in the deal was a fine of £2,000 silver and the payment of a quarter of all his rents. 

Harald returned to Orkney where he continued to be considered one of the greatest Earls the islands had ever had. 

This story first appeared in iScot Magazine and is part of a series for The Orkney News featuring tales of the Norse Earls of Orkney.