page_title: Jura, Scotland
section_title: Vikings
hierarchical_section_title: Jura, Scotland / History / Vikings
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Château de Claig English: Site of Claig Castle on Fraoch Eilean, just off the Isle of Jura
context_page_description: Jura is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, adjacent to and northeast of Islay.
  With an area of 36,692 hectares, or 142 square miles, and only 196 inhabitants recorded in the 2011 census, Jura is much more sparsely populated than Islay, and is one of the least densely populated islands of Scotland: in a list of the islands of Scotland ranked by size, Jura comes eighth, whereas by population it comes 31st. Jura is part of the council area of Argyll and Bute. The island is mountainous, bare and infertile, covered largely by extensive areas of blanket bog.
  The main settlement is the east coast village of Craighouse, which is its capital. Craighouse is home to the Jura distillery, producing Isle of Jura single malt whisky. The village is also home to the island's only hotel, shop and church. North of Craighouse there are a number of other settlements, all quite small and on or near the east coast: Keils, Knockrome, Ardfernal, Lagg, Tarbert, and Inverlussa.
  Between Jura's northern tip and the island of Scarba lies the Gulf of Corryvreckan, where a whirlpool makes passage dangerous at certain states of the tide.
context_section_description: Dál Riata was ultimately destroyed when Vikings invaded, and established their own domain, spreading more extensively over the islands north and west of the mainland, including Jura. This became the Kingdom of the Isles, but following the unification of Norway, the islands were under tenuous Norwegian authority, somewhat resisted by local rulers, like Godred Crovan. Following Godred's death, the local population resisted Norway's choice of replacement, causing Magnus, the Norwegian king, to launch a military campaign to assert his authority. In 1098, under pressure from Magnus, the king of Scotland quitclaimed to him all sovereign authority over the isles.
  To Norway, the islands became known as Suðreyjar (Old Norse, traditionally anglicised as Sodor), meaning southern isles. The former territory of Dal Riata acquired the geographic description Argyle (now Argyll): the Gaelic coast.
  Half a century later, however, Somerled, the husband of Godred Crovan's granddaughter, led a successful revolt against Norway, transforming Suðreyjar into an independent kingdom. Somerled built the sea fortress of Claig Castle on an island at the southern tip of Jura, establishing control of the Sound of Islay; on account of the Corryvreckan whirlpool, this essentially gave him control of the sea traffic between the Scottish mainland and the Hebrides.
  After his death, nominal Norwegian authority was re-established, but de facto authority was split between Somerled's sons and the Crovan dynasty. Somerled's son Dougall received the part of Jura north of Loch Tarbert (along with adjacent islands further north), while Dougal's nephew Donald received the rest of Jura, as well as Islay, and lands to the east. It is unclear why Jura was split like this, but it may have been connected to a dispute with Donald's other uncle, Angus, who Donald and his brother had ultimately dispossessed.
  In the mid 13th century, increased tension between Norway and Scotland led to a series of Battles, culminating in the Battle of Largs, shortly after which the Norwegian king died. In 1266, his more peaceable successor ceded his nominal authority over Suðreyjar to the Scottish king (Alexander III) by the Treaty of Perth, in return for a very large sum of money. Alexander generally acknowledged the semi-independent authority of Somerled's heirs.
caption: The remains of Claig Castle, a vital stronghold of Somerled
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