The Medieval History of Ireland - Essay Example

"For the medievalists, the greatest challenge is posed by the events which, so it is maintained by academics and laypeople alike, have influenced Irish history substantially for more than seven centuries until the present time. At stake is the significance of the year 1169, the so-called Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland and its impact on Irish society, in other words, the interpretation of medieval Irish history." (Richter) Therefore, it has been maintained by academics and lay-people alike that Christian belief, Norman invasions, and colonization have had an important influence upon the medieval Irish identity.

In a reflective analysis of the medieval history of Ireland, it becomes lucid that the country was greatly affected by continuous invasions from the various nations of Europe and the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland which started in 1167 was the most important invasion during the middle age. The expedition of Cambro-Norman knights started in 1169 was motivated by the renewed Norman expansion during the period. Significantly, the Norman invasion of Ireland was formally inaugurated by the landing of a Norman military force in the land at the request of Dermot MacMurrough.

The Norman invasion of Ireland, consisting of a huge force of Normans, Welsh, and Flemish, changed the socio-cultural spectrum of the nation. The influence of the Norman invasion of Ireland on the medieval Irish identity is evident and it has been maintained by several scholars. "With the Norman invasion, Ireland could be said to have 'joined the club'. This implies not only that she shared the experience of many other countries in Europe and the Middle East who were peacefully infiltrated or militarily conquered by Normans between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, including of course England, Scotland, and Wales, but also that she entered a world of shared ideology, custom, law, and culture which gave most of western Europe in the high Middle Ages a sense of community, inaccurately expressed from time to time as the unity of Christendom under the pope, or the alliance of feudal kingdoms led by the Holy Roman Emperor.

" (Simms, 53) Therefore, it is essential to realize that the Norman invasion influenced the ideology, customs, law, social life, and culture of Ireland and the impact of the Norman invasion upon the medieval Irish identity cannot be questioned. Along with the Norman invasion, the introduction of the Christian belief and colonization of the following period influenced the medieval Irish identity considerably. Significantly, the colonization of Ireland ensured the expansion of the Anglo-French colony in Ireland and the colonial period, in turn, influenced the cultural aspects of the people of Ireland in the medieval period.

Another major element of the continuous invasion of the land and the colonization of the country by the foreign rulers has been the introduction of Christian belief in the country, and this Christian belief influenced the socio-cultural aspects of the country in the medieval period. "By the early thirteenth century, the church in Ireland was thus organized much as it was elsewhere in Western Europe. There were, of course, some survivals from the older order But on the whole, these survivals were unimportant There is, indeed, much evidence to show that at this period Norman.