The Norse town of Orkney, grown round the cathedral of St Magnus (begun 1137 by Earl Rognvald Kali) on the bay of Kirkjuvagr; the earls' hall and the bishop's palace are here, and it is Orkney's harbour.
Who holds it
- Name
- Earl Harald Maddadsson; Bishop Bjarni Kolbeinsson
- Title
- Lords of the town
- Since
- 1158; 1188
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
Earl Harald and Bishop Bjarni Kolbeinsson: the earl's town and the bishop's cathedral.
Charter
No charter (a royal burgh only in 1486).
Council
Not pinned; the earl's and bishop's officers.
Communities
Norse Orcadians; Scottish and Norwegian clergy and merchants.
Militia
The earl's men and the Orkney levy.
Walls and castle
The cathedral; no walls.
Trade and crafts
Shipping between Norway, Shetland, Caithness, Scotland and Ireland; grain, malt and fish.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The town's institutions in 1200 are not documented.
Primary sources for Orkney
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Saga of the Earls of Orkney, Anonymous (Icelandic) (about 1200 to 1230; surviving text mainly from Flateyjarbok, about 1390). The saga's last chapters are about Earl Harald Maddadsson, who in 1200 held Orkney under King Sverre of Norway and Caithness under William the Lion: his long rule, his quarrel with the Scottish king that cost him Caithness in 1196 to 1197, his recovery of it, and the maiming of Bishop John of Caithness and the king's revenge in 1201 to 1202. Read online
- The saga of King Sverre of Norway, Karl Jónsson and a continuator (begun about 1185 under Sverre's own supervision, completed about 1210 to 1220). The king's own authorised saga. Read online
- The Norwegian diplomatarium and the Norwegian regesta (documents of 1050 to 1590; Regesta vol. 1 covers 991 to 1263 and was published 1898). The Norwegian documents of the year are few and mostly papal: Innocent III's letters on Sverre's excommunication and the interdict, the correspondence of the exiled Archbishop Eirik and the bishops, and a handful of church grants. Read online
- Early Sources of Scottish History, Various; collected and translated by A. O. Anderson (sources of the 6th to 13th centuries; collection published 1922). The quickest way to every non-English witness to Scotland and the Isles in 1200, in translation and in date order: the Irish annals on the Isles and Galloway, Orkneyinga saga and the Norwegian sagas on Harald Maddadsson of Orkney and Caithness and his war with William the Lion, the Chronicle of Mann on Ragnall and the Hebrides, Melrose and Holyrood, and Scottish charters. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.