Harald Maddadsson escalated his defiance of Scottish authority by ravaging Caithness and having the Bishop of Caithness, John, blinded and castrated. The mutilation of a bishop was an outrage that shocked the entire Christian world and brought papal as well as royal condemnation. William the Lion mounted a punitive campaign that finally brought Harald to heel. The episode illustrated both the extreme violence that characterised Norse-Gaelic politics in the far north and the determination of William to enforce royal and ecclesiastical authority even in the most remote corners of his kingdom.
Bishop of Caithness blinded and castrated; Harald's supporters killed
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Research a location near Caithness