Scottish–Norwegian War

Scottish–Norwegian War
Date 1262–1266 Location Mostly Scotland, possible at the Hebrides and Orkney as well Result Scottish victory, Treaty of Perth Territorial changes Scottish sovereignty over the Hebrides and Isle of Man. Scotland confirms Norwegian sovereignty over Shetland and Orkney.
Belligerents
Kingdom of Norway Kingdom of the Isles Earldom of Orkney	Kingdom of Scotland
Commanders and leaders
Haakon IV of Norway Magnus Olafsson Magnus III of Orkney Ogmund Crouchdance	Alexander III of Scotland Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland Patrick III, Earl of Dunbar
Strength
Around 12,000 light armed soldiers, no cavalry, around 120 leidang ships	Around 5,000 heavy armed soldiers and 800 heavy cavalry
[1]: Magnus III of Orkney did not participate in the war; however, he would remain nominal head of the forces who participated in the war from the Earldom of Orkney. [2]: Haakon IV of Norway died during the war, according to some historians, even though he resided in Orkney, the war was still ongoing.

Kingdom of Norway

Haakon IV of Norway

Alexander III of Scotland

[1]: Magnus III of Orkney did not participate in the war; however, he would remain nominal head of the forces who participated in the war from the Earldom of Orkney.

The Scottish–Norwegian War was a conflict from 1262 to 1266. The conflict arose because of disagreement over the ownership of the Hebrides. The war contained only skirmishes and feuds between the kings. The only major battle was the indecisive Battle of Largs.

Both the Hebrides and the Isle of Man had come under Norwegian influence dating to the reign of King Harald Fairhair of Norway. Norwegian control had been formalized in 1098, when Edgar, King of Scotland signed the islands over to King Magnus III of Norway, setting the boundary between Scots and Norwegian claims in the west. The Scottish acceptance came after the Norwegian king had imposed more direct royal control over the Hebrides as well as Orkney and the Isle of Man in a swift campaign earlier the same year, directed against the local Norse-Gaelic leaders of the various islands. In Norwegian terms, the islands were the Suðreyjar, meaning Southern Isles.

The Norwegian suzerainty over the Hebrides had been contested since the 1240s, when the Scottish king, Alexander II, began asking King Haakon IV of Norway if he could purchase the islands from him. For almost a decade these attempts were unsuccessful, and the negotiations ceased for thirteen years after Alexander II died. When his son Alexander III came to power in 1262, by obtaining majority support among the clansmen, he sent Haakon a final request saying that if Haakon did not sell them the Islands they would take them by force.

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