Aufrica de Connoght, also known as Affrica de Counnought, Affreca de Counnoght, Auffricia de Connaught, and Aufrica de Cunnoght, was a fourteenth-century woman who claimed to be an heiress of

Magnús Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

, and who had some sort of connection with Simon de Montagu.

Manx claims

King of Mann (coat of arms, Armorial Wijnbergen)

In 1264, with the collapse of Norwegian sovereignty along the western seaboard of Scotland,

Alexander III, King of Scotland Alexander III (Medieval ; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Scots from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. His ...

forced the submission of

. The following year, Magnús died without a legitimate heir, and his island realm was annexed by Alexander. After the latter's death in 1286,

Edward I, King of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

claimed overlordship of Scotland, and subsequently recognised

John Balliol John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...

King of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...

in 1292. In 1293, almost certainly as a result of the significant English influence upon John's fledgling regime, Aufrica appealed to John and Edward, concerning rights she claimed to

Mann Mann may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Mann (chess), a variant chess piece which moves as a king * ''Mann'' (film), a 1999 Bollywood motion picture * ''Mann'' (magazine), a Norwegian magazine * Mann Theatres, a theatre chain corp ...

as an alleged heiress of Magnús. Later in 1304, Aufrica

quitclaim Generally, a quitclaim is a formal renunciation of a legal claim against some other person, or of a right to land. A person who quitclaims renounces or relinquishes a claim to some legal right, or transfers a legal interest in land. Originally a c ...

ed these claimed rights to Simon de Montagu. Although it is possible that she and Simon were married at about this point, there is no specific evidence of such a union. In any case, Simon later sought to seize control of the island, and in so doing incurred the wrath of

Edward II, King of England Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to th ...

, who pardoned Simon for his actions against the island in 1313. Later in the century, Simon's grandson, William de Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, inherited Simon's rights to Mann. Aufrica was not the only contemporary claimant to Mann. In 1305, the claims of a Maria, daughter of Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles, were pursued by her grandson, John Waldeboef. Although

John de Courcy {{Infobox noble , image = Sir John de Courcy (1150-1219).jpg , caption = , alt = , more = no , succession = , reign = , predecessor = , successor = , ...

is not known to have had any legitimate children, Aufrica's claim to Mann could indicate that she was a granddaughter of John and his wife, Affrica, daughter of

Guðrøðr Óláfsson, King of Dublin and the Isles Guðrøðr is a masculine Old Norse personal name. The name is rendered in Old Irish and Middle Irish as '' Gofraid'' or ''Gofraidh'' (later ''Goraidh'' in Scottish Gaelic). Anglicised forms of the Old Norse name are ''Godred'', ''Guthred'', and ...

. If so, Aufrica would have probably been named after her grandmother, who was in turn probably named after her own grandmother, Affraic, daughter of

Fergus, Lord of Galloway Fergus of Galloway (died 12 May 1161) was a twelfth-century Lord of Galloway. Although his familial origins are unknown, it is possible that he was of Norse-Gaelic ancestry. Fergus first appears on record in 1136, when he witnessed a charter o ...

. Munch; Goss (1874) p. 233.

Notes

Citations

References

Primary sources

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Secondary sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control 13th-century women 14th-century women History of the Isle of Man