In the midpoint of the thirteenth century,
Alexander II, King of Scots, and his son and successor,
Alexander III, King of Scots, made several attempts to incorporate the
Hebrides into the
Scottish realm. Forming a part of the
Kingdom of the Isles, these islands were a component of the far-flung
Norwegian commonwealth. The independence of the Islesmen, and the lurking threat of their nominal overlord, the formidable
Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway, constituted a constant source of concern for the
Scottish Crown. Specifically, the thirteenth-century
Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar indicates that Kermac aided
William I, Earl of Ross during this action, and states that the two led a force of Scots who burnt down a town and churches on
Skye. The invaders are described to have killed many men and women in their attack, and to have viciously
impaled little children upon their spears. It is possible that the remarkable savagery attributed to the Scots may have been intended to terrorise the Islesmen into submission. The island itself appears to have formed part of the kingdom controlled by
Magnús Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles. The earl's followers in this enterprise were likely drawn from his
vast provincial lordship. commemorating the
Battle of Largs. Thus provoked, Hákon assembled an enormous fleet to reassert Norwegian sovereignty along the north and west coasts of Scotland. In July 1263, this fleet disembarked from Norway, and by mid August, Hákon reaffirmed his overlordship in Shetland and Orkney, forced the submission of Caithness, and arrived in the Hebrides. Having rendezvoused with his vassals in the region, Hákon secured several
castles, oversaw raids into the surrounding mainland. Unfortunately for the Norwegian king, stormy weather drove some of his ships ashore on the
Ayrshire coast. A series of inconclusive
skirmishes upon the shore near
Largs, together with ever-worsening weather, discouraged the Norwegians and convinced them to turn for home. After redistributing portions of the region to certain faithful supporters, Hákon led his forces from the Hebrides and reached the
Northern Isles, where he fell ill and died that December. '', an eighteenth-century depiction of an unhistorical
Mackenzie ancestor purported to have lived during Kermac's floruit. Although
Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar declares that the Norwegian campaign was a triumph, in reality it was an utter failure. Hákon had failed to break Scottish power; and the following year, Alexander III seized the initiative, and oversaw a series of invasions into the Isles and northern Scotland. According to the thirteenth-century
Gesta Annalia I, one such expedition was undertaken by
Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan,
William, Earl of Mar, and
Alan Hostarius. Heavy fines were extracted from the northern reaches of the Scottish realm. Two hundred head of cattle were extracted from the Caithnessmen, and one hundred eighty head of cattle from the Earl of Ross himself. The severity of this latter fine could be evidence that the earl's actions during the Scoto-Norwegian conflict were deemed unacceptable by the Scottish Crown. In fact, the aforesaid Alexander Comyn and Alan are known to have extracted twenty head of cattle from William's earldom and granted this sum to Kermac as compensation for services rendered. In 1266, almost three years after Hákon's abortive campaign, terms of peace were finally agreed upon between the Scottish and Norwegian Crowns. Specifically, with the conclusion of the
Treaty of Perth in July, Hákon's son and successor,
Magnús Hákonarson, King of Norway, formally resigned all rights to Mann and the islands on the western coast of Scotland. In so doing, the territorial dispute over Scotland's western maritime region was settled at last. ==Ancestral figure==