The nature and the historical importance of the known links between Dublin and England

Résumé du document

In September 1170, Dublin was captured by the Anglo-Normans under the commandments of de Cogan and le Gros; henceforth England's relationship with Ireland became a mix of colony and feudal lordship. The presence of Anglo-Normans in Dublin can therefore conventionally be dated after the 1170 capture; however this assertion contradicts the mercantile, ecclesiastical and political history of the former period when Dublin was trading with Bristol and Chester, when the Church of Dublin was organised until 1140 under Canterbury and when political alliances were made between Irish and English kings. These links can be confirmed by archaeological evidences such as coins or pottery, by statements such as legislation or papal bull and finally by historical known facts.
Finally what do these links tell us about their relationship before 1170 and from there, what can we deduce about the significance of the Anglo-Norman "invasion": was the invasion the "inevitable development" of these links or an unpredictable event which led to a transformation of the town of Dublin.
As a result we will take an interest to the numismatic, economic and ecclesiastical links between Dublin and England before 1170 so as to examine ultimately the significance the Anglo-Norman capture of Dublin.

Extraits

[...] When the Scandinavians became Christians, they didn't want to have any connexion with the Irish Church but to enter into communion with the Church of England. Also their repulsion to the Irish Church enabled England to obtain a closer control over this one. This control was first illustrated by the fact that early bishops were trained in England in Benedictine order, such as Bishop Samuel who had been a monk of the Benedictine reform of St Albans, and that Dublin's bishops were consecrated by archbishop of Canterbury. [...]

[...] Thus, de Cogan and Le Gros could legitimately invade Dublin. To conclude, we can say that Dublin and England had strong economic and ecclesiastical links before the invasion; it seems indeed that England participated in part to the economic development of the town as well as to the reform of the Irish Church. It even seems that in case of their ecclesiastical relation, Canterbury exerted supervision on Dublin which Aubrey Gwynn described as well-planned campaign of ecclesiastical imperialism”[6]. Thus we can assert that these links are significant since they have moulded Dublin into the city it became in the later Middle Age and also because they are partly the reasons of the Anglo-Normans invasion. [...]

[...] Gwynn, ‘Medieval Bristol and Dublin', Irish Historical studies, vol (1947). P. Holm, slave trade of Dublin, ninth to twelfth centuries', Peritia (1986), pp.317-345. S. Kinsella, ‘From Hiberno-Norse to Anglo-Norman, c.1030-1300' in Milne, Christ Church Cathedral, pp.25-52. A. MacShamhráin, emergence of the metropolitan see: Dublin, 1111-1216' in J. [...]

[...] Thus we may wonder which the nature of these known links was and more precisely what were there origins and their influences on Dublin and on its relation with England. Finally what do these links tell us about their relationship before 1170 and from there, what can we deduce about the significance of the Anglo-Norman “invasion”: was the invasion the “inevitable development” of these links or an unpredictable event which led to a transformation of the town of Dublin. As a result we will take an interest to the numismatic, economic and ecclesiastical links between Dublin and England before 1170 so as to examine ultimately the significance the Anglo-Norman capture of Dublin. [...]

[...] Thus we can see the major importance of the ecclesiastical link between Dublin and England in the reasons of the invasion, since it seems that Archbishop Theobald was the one who urged for an invasion of Ireland, probably in order to recover Canterbury's authority over the Irish Church, rather than the king Henry II. Indeed, it seems that the king of England did not want to invade Ireland on the terms which Adrian IV granted in 1154 and it is only twelve years later that he was recalled to him this donation by Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster. [...]