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In 1266, Norway and Scotland entered into an agreement aimed at pacifying a long tradition of competition over control of the islands and waterways along Scotland’s seaboards. This paper examines how the two kingdoms developed diplomatic strategies aimed at regulating social, economic and political developments along their common maritime frontier, and seeks to show how effective diplomacy was in ensuring long-term peace and stability in the region throughout the Late Middle Ages. It focuses on three issues which were addressed more explicitly in Norwegian–Scottish accords: first, the question of dominion over the islands around Scotland’s seaboards; second, the question of mobility to and from those islands; and third, the question of how to protect and limit the threat of piracy in and around those islands. Although largely unprecedented in a Northern European context, this case reveals emerging concepts and strategies of maritime sovereignty in the Late Middle Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The island province of Orkney played a crucial role in Norway's overseas expansion during the Early- and High-Middle Ages. Located just offshore from mainland Scotland, it provided a resort for westward-sailing fleets as well as a convenient springboard for military forays into Britain and down the Irish Sea. The establishment of a Norwegian-Scottish peace and the demarcation of fixed political boundaries in 1266 led to a revision of Orkney's role in the Norwegian realm. From that point until the its pledging to the Scottish Crown in 1468, Norway depended on Orkney as a hub for diplomacy and foreign relations. This paper looks at how Orkney figured in Norwegian royal strategies in the west and presents key examples which show its transition from a tool of war to a forum for peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]