| Notes |
- Malcolm I
Malcolm I of Scots
King of Alba
Reign 943–954
Predecessor Constantine II
Successor Indulf
Died 954
Issue Dub, King of Scots
Kenneth II, King of Scots
House Alpin
Father Donald II, King of Scots
Malcolm I of Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Máel Coluim mac Domnaill (anglicised Malcolm I) (died
954) was king of Scots (before 943 – 954), becoming king
when his cousin Causantín mac Áeda abdicated to become a
monk. He was the son of Domnall mac Causantín.
Máel Coluim was probably born during his father's reign
(889–900).[1] By the 940s, he was no longer a young man,
and may have become impatient in awaiting the throne.
Willingly or not—the 11th-century Prophecy of Berchán, a
verse history in the form of a supposed prophecy, states that
it was not a voluntary decision that Constantine II abdicated
in 943 and entered a monastery, leaving the kingdom to Máel
Coluim.[2]
Seven years later, the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says:
[Malcolm I] plundered the English as far as the
River Tees, and he seized a multitude of people
and many herds of cattle: and the Scots called
this the raid of Albidosorum, that is, Nainndisi.
But others say that Constantine made this raid,
asking of the king, Malcolm, that the kingship
should be given to him for a week's time, so that
he could visit the English. In fact, it was
Malcolm who made the raid, but Constantine
incited him, as I have said.[3]
Woolf suggests that the association of Constantine with the
raid is a late addition, one derived from a now-lost saga or
poem.[4]
He died in the shield wall next to his men. Máel Coluim would be the third in his immediate family to die
violently, his father Donald II and grandfather Constantine I both having met similar fates 54 years earlier in
900 and 77 years earlier in 877 respectively.
In 945, Edmund I of England, having expelled Amlaíb Cuaran (Olaf Sihtricsson) from Northumbria, devastated
Cumbria and blinded two sons of Domnall mac Eógain, king of Strathclyde. It is said that he then "let" or
"commended" Strathclyde to Máel Coluim in return for an alliance.[5] What is to be understood by "let" or
"commended" is unclear, but it may well mean that Máel Coluim had been the overlord of Strathclyde and that
Edmund recognised this while taking lands in southern Cumbria for himself.[6]
The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says that Máel Coluim took an army into Moray "and slew Cellach".
Cellach is not named in the surviving genealogies of the rulers of Moray, and his identity is unknown.[7]
Máel Coluim appears to have kept his agreement with the late English king, which may have been renewed
with the new king, Edmund having been murdered in 946 and succeeded by his brother Edred. Eric Bloodaxe
took York in 948, before being driven out by Edred, and when Amlaíb Cuaran again took York in 949–950,
Máel Coluim raided Northumbria as far south as the Tees taking "a multitude of people and many herds of
cattle" according to the Chronicle.[8] The Annals of Ulster for 952 report a battle between "the men of Alba and
the Britons [of Strathclyde] and the English" against the foreigners, i.e. the Northmen or the Norse-Gaels. This
battle is not reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and it is unclear whether it should be related to the
expulsion of Amlaíb Cuaran from York or the return of Eric Bloodaxe.[9]
The Annals of Ulster report that Máel Coluim was killed in 954. Other sources place this most probably in the
Mearns, either at Fetteresso following the Chronicle, or at Dunnottar following the Prophecy of Berchán. He
was buried on Iona.[10] Máel Coluim's sons Dub and Cináed were later kings.
References
1. Woolf, Pictland to Alba, p. 177.
2. Woolf, Pictland to Alba, p. 175; Anderson, Early Sources, pp. 444–448; Broun, "Constantine II".
3. Anderson, Early Sources, pp. 452–453.
4. Woolf, Pictland to Alba, pp. 178–181.
5. Early Sources, pp. 449–450.
6. ASC Ms. A, s.a. 946; Duncan, pp. 23–24; but see also Smyth, pp. 222–223 for an alternative reading.
7. It may be that Cellach was related to Cuncar, Mormaer of Angus, and that this event is connected with the apparent feud that led
to the death of Máel Coluim's son Cináedin 977.
8. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ms. D, s.a. 948, Ms. B, s.a. 946; Duncan, p. 24.
9. Early Sources, p. 451. The corresponding entry in the Annals of the Four Masters, 950, states that the Northmen were the victors,
which would suggest that it should be associated with Eric.
10. Early Sources, pp. 452–454. Some versions of the Chronicle, and the Chronicle of Melrose, are read as placing Máel Coluim's
death at Blervie, near Forres.
Further reading
For primary sources see also External links below.
Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, volume 1. Reprinted with
corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
Duncan, A.A.M., The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence. Edinburgh
University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. ISBN 0-7486-1626-8
Smyth, Alfred P. Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80-1000. Reprinted, Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP,
1998. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7
External links
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork includes the Annals of Ulster, Tigernach,
the Four Masters and Innisfallen, the Chronicon Scotorum, the Lebor Bretnach (which includes the Duan
Albanach), Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in
progress.
(CKA) The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle XML Edition by Tony Jebson and translated at the OMACL
Preceded by
Causantín mac Áeda
King of Scots
943–954
Succeeded by
Ildulb mac Causantín
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malcolm_I_of_Scotland&oldid=783102782"
Categories: 954 deaths 9th-century births 9th-century Scottish monarchs 10th-century Scottish monarchs
House of Alpin Burials at Iona Abbey
This page was last edited on 31 May 2017, at 04:25.
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900 - 954 (54 years)
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