Harald Maddadsson, the powerful Earl of Orkney who also held Caithness, repeatedly defied Scottish royal authority. William the Lion mounted military campaigns into Caithness in 1196 to bring Harald to heel. Harald was eventually compelled to surrender hostages and do homage for his Scottish territories. The episode illustrated the difficulty of extending Scottish royal authority into the far north where Norse earls maintained their own traditions and networks.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
Research a location near Caithness