Somerled (1100 CE - 1164 CE) was a Norse-Gael who was king of the Kingdom of the Isles and had many descendants who came to dominate the western isles of Scotland for centuries. Not much is known about his early life but thought that he came from an influential family because he was able to marry Ragnhild daughter of Olaf the red. After becoming a influential in the region Somerled was able to drive the vikings out of western Scotland and after the death of Olaf the red King of Mann and the Isles, Somerled would come in conflict with his brother law over territory of the Kingdom of Mann, in which Somerled would come in top and inevitably becoming king of the Kingdom of the Isles. Later in his reign Somerled would go to war with the Kingdom of Scotland taking 164 ships and fighting a battle in which Somerled himself met his demise. After his death his sons would split the kingdom between themselves and come under the control of the Kingdom of Norway and eventually the Kingdom of Scotland, additionally his descendants would form some of the most influential clans in Scotland such as the MacDonalds, MacDougals, and the MacAlisters.
Sources[]
- MacPhee, Kathleen M. (2004). Somerled: Hammer of the Norse. ISBN 1-903238-24-2
- Marsden, John (2000). Somerled and the emergence of Gaelic Scotland. ISBN 978-1-904607-80-9.
- Woolf, Alex (2005). "The Origins and Ancestry of Somerled: Gofraid mac Fergusa and 'The Annals of the Four Masters'". Medieval Scandinavia.