In 1476, James III of Scotland was informed of a secret treaty made by John of Islay with Edward IV of England. James stripped John of his earldom, as well as the sheriffdoms of Nairn and Inverness, and the lordships of Kintyre and Knapdale, but confirmed him with the remainder of his lands and the title Lord of the Isles. The designation of Lord of the Isles, however, was from this point forward to be granted by the crown, rather than self-assumed. And John had lost much more than land and titles; he had lost prestige and standing among his own kin. The Lordship had always depended on territorial expansion to give life to its warrior values; but now that it was contracting, all of the latent tensions came forth, finding expression in the person of Angus Óg. Angus, according to Hugh Macdon