Editing Islands of the Clyde (section)

=== Viking influence ===
[[File:RothesayCastleS.jpg|thumb|left|The 13th century curtain wall of [[Rothesay Castle]], [[Isle of Bute|Bute]]]]
{{main|Kingdom of the Isles}}

Beginning in the 9th century and into the 13th century, the Islands of the Clyde constituted a border zone between the Norse ''[[Kingdom of the Isles|Suðreyjar]]'' and Scotland, and many of them were under Norse hegemony.

Beginning in the last half of the 12th century, and then into the early 1200s, the islands may well have served as the power base of [[Somhairle mac Giolla Brighde]] and [[Clann Somhairle|his descendants]]. During this time, the islands seem to have come under the sway of the [[Steward of Scotland]]’s authority and to have been taken over by the expanding [[Clan Stewart|Stewart]] lordship.<ref>Forte; Oram; Pedersen (2005) pp. 241–248.</ref>

This western extension of Scottish authority appears to have been one of the factors motivating the Norwegian invasion of the region in 1230, during which the invaders seized [[Rothesay Castle]].<ref>Forte; Oram; Pedersen (2005) pp. 248–253.</ref>

In 1263, Norwegian troops commanded by [[Haakon IV of Norway|Haakon Haakonarson]] repeated the feat, but the ensuing [[Battle of Largs]] between Scots and Norwegian forces, which took place on the shores of the Firth of Clyde, was inconclusive as a military contest.<ref>Coventry (2008) p. 545</ref><ref>Keay (1994) p. 597</ref>

This battle marked an ultimately fatal weakening of Norwegian power in Scotland. Haakon retreated to [[Orkney]], where he died in December 1263, consoled on his death bed by recitations of the old sagas. Following his death, under the 1266 [[Treaty of Perth]], all rights that the Norwegian Crown "had of old therein" in relation to the islands were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland.<ref>Hunter (2000) pp. 106–111</ref><ref>Barrett (2008) p. 411</ref><ref>[http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/manxsoc/msvol04/v3p210.htm "Agreement between Magnus IV and Alexander III, 1266"] isleofman.com. Manx Society vols IV, VII & IX. Retrieved 11 January 2011.</ref>