October 1st , 1263
In 1263, the Norwegian King Haakon the Old used Kirkwall as a base for his fruitless attempt to maintain Norse rule over the Western Isles. Hakon IV (1204-December 15, 1263), also called Haakon the Old, was declared to be the son of Hakon III of Norway, the leader of the Birkebeiner, who had seized control over large parts of Norway in 1202.
A dispute with the Scottish king concerning the Hebrides, a Norwegian possession, induced Haakon to undertake an expedition to the west of Scotland. A division of his army seems to have repulsed a large Scottish force at Largs on October 02, 1263 (though the later Scottish accounts claim this battle as a victory), but won back the Norwegian possessions in Scotland.
Haakon was wintering in the Orkney Islands, when he was ill and died on December 15, 1263. A great part of his fleet had been scattered and destroyed by storms. The most important event in his reign was his forcing the submission of the Icelandic Commonwealth. Worn out by internal strife fostered by Haakons emissaries, the Icelandic chiefs acknowledged the Norwegian king as overlord in 1262. Their example was followed by the colony of Greenland.
