page_title: Lord of the Isles
section_title: The MacDonald lordship
hierarchical_section_title: Lord of the Isles / The MacDonald lordship
caption_attribution_description: Source: James Logan, R. R. MacIan (ill.) The Clans of The Scottish Highlands. First published 1845, reprinted 1847. Creator: Robert Ronald MacIan (1803-1856)
context_page_description: The Lord of the Isles is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Norse Gaels rulers of the isle of Man and west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of galleys. Although they were, at times, nominal vassals of the Kings of Norway, Ireland, or Scotland, the island chiefs remained functionally independent for many centuries. Their territory included the Isle of Man, Hebrides, Knoydart, Ardnamurchan, and the Kintyre peninsula. At their height they were the greatest landowners and most powerful lords in Britain after the Kings of England and Scotland.
  The end of the MacDonald Lords came in 1493 when John MacDonald II had his ancestral homeland, estates, and titles seized by King James IV of Scotland. Since that time, the MacDonald Clan has contested the right of James IV to the Lordship of the Isles and uprisings and rebellions against the Scottish Monarch were common.
context_section_description: In their maritime domain the Lords of the Isles used galleys (birlinns) for both warfare and transport. These ships had developed from the Viking longships and knarrs, clinker-built with a square sail and rows of oars. From the 14th century they changed from using a steering oar to a stern rudder. These ships took part in sea battles and attacked castles or forts built close to the sea. The Lordship specified the feudal dues of its subjects in terms of numbers and sizes of the galleys (birlinns) each area had to provide in service to their Lord.
caption: MacDonald, Lord of the Isles – a Victorian illustrator's impression
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