The Highland Battles: Warfare on Scotland's Northern Frontier in the Early Middle Ages

by Chris Peers

Overview

The wars fought in Scotland’s northern and western highlands between the ninth and fourteenth centuries were a key stage in the military history of the region, yet they have rarely been studied in depth before. Out of this confused and turbulent period came the more settled and familiar history of the region. The Highlands and islands were controlled by the kings of Norway or by Norse or Norse-Celtic warlords, who not only resisted Scottish royal authority but on occasion seemed likely to overthrow it.

That is why Chris Peers’s ambitious study is of such value for he provides a coherent and vivid account of the series of campaigns and battles that shaped Scotland. The narrative is structured around a number of battles – Skitten Moor, Torfness, Tankerness, Renfrew, Mam Garvia, Clairdon and Dalrigh – which illustrate phases of the conflict and reveal the strategies and tactics of the rival chieftains.

Chris Peers explores the international background to many of these conflicts which had consequences for Scotland’s relations with England, Ireland and continental Europe. At the same time he considers to what extent the fighting methods of the time survived into the post-medieval period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526741745
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	12/30/2020
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	654,089
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Chris Peers is a leading expert on the history of ancient and medieval warfare and has written widely on the subject. He has contributed many articles to military history, wargaming and family history magazines, and his major publications include Warlords of China: 700BC-AD1662, Warrior Peoples of East Africa, Soldiers of the Dragon, The African Wars: Warriors and Soldiers of the Colonial Campaigns, Offa and the Mercian Wars: The Rise and Fall of the First Great English Kingdom, and Genghis Khan and the Mongol War Machine.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vi

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Men and the Weapons 11

Chapter 2 The Killing Field of Skitten Moor 47

Chapter 3 Thorfinn's War and the Battle of Torfness 73

Chapter 4 A Fruitless Victory: Tankerness, 1136 95

Chapter 5 The Rise, Fall and Legacy of Somerled the Great: Renfrew, 1164 107

Chapter 6 The Forgotten Field of Mam Garvia 137

Chapter 7 Clairdon - the Last Viking Battle 155

Chapter 8 The End of a Long Struggle: Largs, 1263 173

Appendix I The Kings of Scotland, 844 to 1286 191

Appendix II The Kings of Norway, 872 to 1280 193

Appendix III The Earls of Orkney, c.880 to 1231 195

Appendix IV The Kings of the Isles and Kings of Man, 1079 to 1265 197

Bibliography 198

Index 201