Editing History of the Isle of Man (section)

===Viking Age and Norse kingdom===
{{main|Kingdom of the Isles}}
The period of Scandinavian domination is divided into two main epochs – before and after the conquest of Mann by [[Godred Crovan]] in 1079. Warfare and unsettled rule characterise the earlier epoch, the later saw comparatively more peace.
[[Image:Kingdom of Mann and the Isles-en.svg|thumb|right|The [[Kingdom of Mann and the Isles]] about the year 1100. Sodor and Mann in red.]]
Between about AD 800 and 815 the Vikings came to Mann chiefly for plunder. Between about 850 and 990, when they settled, the island fell under the rule of the Scandinavian [[Kings of Dublin]] and between 990 and 1079, it became subject to the powerful [[Earl of Orkney|Earls of Orkney]].{{sfnp|Moore|1911|p=537}}

There was a mint producing coins on Mann between c. 1025 and c. 1065. These Manx coins were minted from an imported type 2 [[Hiberno-Norse]] penny die from [[Dublin]]. Hiberno-Norse coins were first minted under Sihtric, [[King of Dublin]]. This illustrates that Mann may have been under the thumb of Dublin at this time.

Little is known about the conqueror, [[Godred Crovan]]. According to the ''Chronicon Manniae'' he subdued Dublin, and a great part of [[Leinster]], and held the Scots in such subjection that supposedly no one who set out to build a vessel dared to insert more than three bolts. The memory of such a ruler would be likely to survive in tradition, and it seems probable therefore that he is the person commemorated in Manx legend under the name of King Gorse or Orry.{{sfnp|Moore|1911|p=537}} He created the [[Kingdom of Mann and the Isles]] in around 1079 including the south-western islands of Scotland until 1164, when two separate kingdoms were formed from it. In 1154, later known as the [[Diocese of Sodor and Man]], was formed by the [[Catholic Church]].

The islands under his rule were called the ''Suðr-eyjar'' (South isles, in contrast to the ''Norðr-eyjar'' North isles", i.e. Orkney and [[Shetland]]), consisting of the [[Hebrides]], all the smaller western islands of [[Scotland]], and Mann. At a later date his successors took the title of {{lang|la|Rex Manniae et Insularum}} ([[King of Mann and the Isles|King of Mann and of the Isles]]).{{sfnp|Moore|1911|p=537}} The kingdom's capital was on [[St Patrick's Isle]], where [[Peel Castle]] was built on the site of a Celtic monastery.

[[Olaf I Godredsson|Olaf]], Godred's son, exercised considerable power and according to the Chronicle, maintained such close alliance with the kings of Ireland and Scotland that no one ventured to disturb the Isles during his time (1113–1152). In 1156 his son [[Godred II Olafsson|Godred]] (reigned 1153–1158), who for a short period also ruled over Dublin, lost the smaller islands off the coast of Argyll as a result of a quarrel with [[Somerled]] (the ruler of [[Argyll]]). An independent sovereignty thus appeared between{{clarify|date=January 2017}} the two divisions of his kingdom.{{sfnp|Moore|1911|p=537}}

In the 1130s the Catholic Church sent a small mission to establish the first [[Diocese|bishopric]] on the Isle of Man, and appointed [[Wimund]] as the first bishop. He soon afterwards embarked with a band of followers on a career of murder and looting throughout Scotland and the surrounding islands.

During the whole of the Scandinavian period, the Isles remained nominally under the suzerainty of the [[Kings of Norway]] but the Norwegians only occasionally asserted it with any vigour.{{sfnp|Moore|1911|p=537}} The first such king to assert control over the region was likely [[Magnus III of Norway|Magnus Barelegs]], at the turn of the 12th century. It was not until Hakon Hakonarson's 1263 expedition that another king returned to the Isles.