1098–1266
Magnus Barefoot, Largs and Perth, 1098–1266
In 1098 King Magnus Olafsson of Norway sails west with a large fleet, 160 ships by the Chronicle of Mann and 60 by Orderic Vitalis. In Orkney he sends the two earls prisoner to Norway and makes his young son Sigurd earl. He raids Lewis, Uist, Skye, Mull, Islay and Kintyre, takes Man, and at Anglesey Sound defeats the Normans and kills Earl Hugh of Montgomery with an arrow. King Edgar of Scotland cedes him the islands of the west, and by the sagas Magnus has his ship dragged across the isthmus at Tarbert to claim Kintyre as well.
A silver penny of Magnus Barefoot, struck about 1093 to 1103, Museum of Cultural History, OsloWikimedia Commons, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Magnus Barefoot silver penning; struck c.1093-1103 AD.jpg)
In 1102 Magnus returns to Man and Ireland. He marries Sigurd to a daughter of the high king Muirchertach Ua Briain, who recognises his rule over Dublin. On 24 August 1103 Magnus is killed in an ambush by the Ulaid near Downpatrick, the last Norwegian king to fall in battle abroad. Snorri Sturluson says he took the name Barefoot from the short Gaelic tunic he wore.
The opening of Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar in the Icelandic manuscript Eirspennill of the early 14th century, AM 47 fol.Wikimedia Commons, unknown scribe, Public domain (AM 47 fol (E) - Eirspennill, 139v cropped.jpg)
In 1263 Haakon IV answers a Scottish attack on Skye by leading to the Hebrides the largest fleet, by the Icelandic annals, ever to sail from Norway. On the night of 30 September a storm drives some of his ships ashore at Largs on the Firth of Clyde. On 2 October the Scottish army attacks the Norwegians guarding them, about 200 on a mound and 700 to 800 on the beach by Hákonar saga, and drives them back to their ships. Haakon withdraws to Orkney and dies at Kirkwall in December.
Scottish knights and archers at Largs, a detail of William Hole’s mural of about 1899 in the Scottish National Portrait GalleryWikimedia Commons, William Hole, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Battle of Largs (detail), 1263.JPG)
His son Magnus the Lawmender makes peace. By the Treaty of Perth of 2 July 1266 the Hebrides and Man pass to King Alexander III of Scotland in return for a yearly payment, and Scotland accepts Norwegian rule over Orkney and Shetland.
Sources
- Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla, the saga of Magnus Barefoot.
- Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar.
- Michael Brown, The Wars of Scotland 1214–1371 (2004).
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