kingdom · British Isles

Kingdom of the Isles

1079 CE – 1266 CE · capital Castletown (Rushen)

A Norse-Gaelic sea kingdom of Man and the Hebrides, ruled from the Isle of Man by the Crovan dynasty under Norwegian overlordship.

Origins

Godred Crovan, a Norse-Gael who had fought at Stamford Bridge in 1066, seized the Isle of Man in 1079 after a battle at Sky Hill. His descendants ruled Man and the Hebrides, the Sudreys, as a kingdom under the nominal overlordship of Norway.

Rule and society

The kingdom was a maritime power of galleys and island fortresses, with Castle Rushen and the church at Rushen Abbey. Man's Tynwald assembly descends from its Norse institutions. Its kings intervened in Irish and Scottish affairs. Somerled's revolt in 1156 took the southern Hebrides, leaving the Crovan line with Man, Lewis and Skye.

Decline and legacy

After the Battle of Largs in 1263, Norway ceded Man and the Isles to the Kingdom of Scotland by the Treaty of Perth in 1266, the year after the last king, Magnus Olafsson, died. Man later came under English rule as the Lordship of Mann.

Lineage

Kingdom of Argyll and the Isles 1156 CE – 1164 CEKingdom of the IslesKingdom of Scotland 843 CE – 1707 CELordship of Mann 1333 CE – 1765 CELordship of the Isles 1336 CE – 1493 CE

Connections (2)

More states of British Isles →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of the Isles. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-isles
MLA
“Kingdom of the Isles.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-isles. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of the Isles.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-isles.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of the Isles’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-the-isles (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻