The reign of King Haakon, after peace had been restored, was very beneficial to the country. He improved the laws, and, among other changes, abolished the ordeal of fire. This was done after consultation with the visiting cardinal, who declared that it was not proper for Christians to challenge God to give his verdict in human affairs. It was decided that at the death of a king the oldest legitimate son was to succeed to the throne, and the kingdom was not to be divided between two or more princes. In architecture great progress was made, and a great deal of money was spent for the erection of monasteries, churches and royal mansions. A wall was built around the royal mansion in Bergen; this wall was the beginning of the fort afterward called Bergenhus. King Haakon also built the grand royal hall in Bergen and a hospital for lepers. In Tunsberg he built a monastery, and the strong wall of the fort is still to be seen. He began to Christianize the Finns and built churches for them. The church which he built at Tromsoe was the northernmost Christian church in the world. King Haakon gained a high reputation in foreign countries. The Russian grand-duke, Vasilij, asked for the hand of his daughter Christina, and the Spanish king, Alfonso X. of Castile, wooed her for one of his brothers. The latter suit was accepted, and Christina was married to the Spanish prince, Don Philip, in 1257. The pope wanted Haakon for emperor of Germany, and the French king, Louis IX., urged him to take the command of a crusade. During the reign of King Haakon, in 1261, Greenland was made a dependency of Norway, and the next year Iceland acknowledged the supremacy of Norway. The Icelanders agreed to pay the king of Norway a tribute; but they were to retain their own laws and their own officers. In the summer of 1263 King Haakon sailed with a strong fleet and a large army westward to make war on Alexander III. of Scotland, who had tried to annex the Norwegian possessions west and north of Scotland. King Haakon proceeded to the Sudr Islands (the Hebrides), where he met with terrible storms, during which his fleet suffered considerable loss. In a battle at Largs, near the entrance to the Firth of Clyde, some of Haakon's best men fell. Scotch and Norwegian accounts differ as to which side was really defeated; but even from Scotch sources it appears that there was for some time afterward a great dread of the reappearance of "the black fleet of Norway." A contemporary Scotch poet and soothsayer, Thomas of Erceldoune, wrote: It will be seen upon a day Between the Bass and Bay, Craigin and Fidderay, The black fleet of Norroway. Quhen the black fleet is come and gane, Then may they bigg thair burgh of lime and stane Quhilk they biggit of straw and hay-- That will stand till doomes day.