Lord of the Isles

Lord of the Isles, now a Scottish title of nobility, originally referred to a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of galleys. Although at times nominal vassals of the King of Norway and/or of the King of Scotland, the Lords of the Isles remained functionally independent for many centuries. Their territory included the Hebrides, (Skye and Ross from 1438), Knoydart, Ardnamurchan, the Kintyre peninsula, Arran and Antrim in Ireland (see map).

Founding of the dynasties

Somerled, Gilledomman's grandson, successfully seized the Isles from the Norse in 1156 and founded the dynasties of the Lords of the Isles. He had Celtic blood on his father's side and Norse on his mother's: his contemporaries knew him as Somerled Macgilbred, Somhairle or in Norse Sumarlidi Höld ('Somerled' means "summer wanderer", the name given to the Vikings). He took the title Rex Insularum (King of the Isles) as well as King of Man.

Related Topics:
Somerled - 1156 - Man

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After Somerled's death in 1164 three of his sons divided his kingdom between them:

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• Aonghus (ancestor of the McRuari or McRory)
• Dughall (ancestor of Clan MacDougall)
• Ragnald, whose son Donald Mor McRanald would give his name to the Clan Donald which would contest territory with the MacDougalls.

King Haakon IV of Norway (reigned 1217 - 1263) confirmed Donald's son Angus Mor (the Elder) Mac Donald (the first Macdonald) as Lord of Islay, and the two participated jointly in the Battle of Largs (1263). When that ended with an effective victory for the Scots, Angus Mor accepted King Alexander III as his (nominal) overlord and retained his own territory.

Related Topics:
Haakon IV of Norway - Islay - Battle of Largs - Alexander III

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