The designation Lord of the Isles (Scottish Gaelic: Triath nan Eilean or Rí Innse Gall), now a Scottish title of nobility, emerged from a series of mixed-blood Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages. Their power rested on large fleets of Birlinns, a type of galley which evolved from the Viking longboat, and is unique to scotland. Although at times nominal vassals of the King of Norway and/or of the King ...
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The designation Lord of the Isles (Scottish Gaelic: Triath nan Eilean or Rí Innse Gall), now a Scottish title of nobility, emerged from a series of mixed-blood Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages. Their power rested on large fleets of Birlinns, a type of galley which evolved from the Viking longboat, and is unique to scotland. Although at times nominal vassals of the King of Norway and/or of the King of Scotland, the island chiefs remained functionally independent for many centuries. Their territory included the Hebrides, (Skye and Ross from 1438), Knoydart, Ardnamurchan, bits of Ulster in the 1500s, and the Kintyre peninsula. At their height they were the greatest landowners and most powerful Lords in the British Isles following the Kings of England and Kings of Scotland.
The west coast and islands of present-day Scotland formed part of the territories of the Northern Picts. They were invaded by Gaelic tribes from Ireland starting perhaps...
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