Aufrica de Connoght

Coat of arms of the King of Mann, as depicted by the late thirteenth-century Armorial Wijnbergen.[note 1]

In 1264, with the collapse of Norwegian sovereignty along the western seaboard of Scotland, Alexander III, King of Scotland forced the submission of Magnús Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles.[8] The following year, Magnús died without a legitimate heir, and his island realm was annexed by Alexander.[9] After the latter's death in 1286, Edward I, King of England claimed overlordship of Scotland, and subsequently recognised John Balliol as King of Scotland in 1292.[10]

In 1293, almost certainly as a result of the significant English influence upon John's fledgling regime,[11] Aufrica appealed to John and Edward, concerning rights she claimed to Mann as an alleged heiress of Magnús.[12] Later in 1304, Aufrica quitclaimed these claimed rights to Simon de Montagu.[13] Although it is possible that she and Simon were married at about this point,[14] there is no specific evidence of such a union.[15] 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,[16] who pardoned Simon for his actions against the island in 1313.[17] Later in the century, Simon's grandson, William de Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, inherited Simon's rights to Mann.[18][note 2] 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.[23]

Although John de Courcy is not known to have had any legitimate children,[24] 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.[25] 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.[26]