King Of Scotland Máel Coluim Mac Cináed II
Malcolm II of Scotland
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Malcolm II of Scotland (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, nicknamed "Forranach" meaning "Destroyer" in Gaelic) (died November 25, 1034) was King of Scots (Alba) from 1005 to 1034. He was the son of King Kenneth II of Scotland and first cousin of his predecessor, King Kenneth III of Scotland (Cináed mac Duib), who was murdered by Malcolm II at the Battle of Monzievaird in 1005.His rule was contested for ten years during the reign of Kenneth III but Malcolm II finally gained the throne after Kenneth III's death. It appears that he only ruled part of Scotland during his reign, in opposition to leaders from Moray such as Findláech mac Ruaidrí (d. 1020, probably father of Macbeth), and Máel Coluim mac Máil Brigti (d. 1029), both of whom were also called Kings of Alba (and therefore Scotland) in the Irish annals, though neither are called Kings of Scotland in modern texts. In 1006, Malcolm II was defeated by Northumbrian forces under Uhtred the Bold while besieging Durham. The English then became preoccupied with the Danish allowing Malcolm II to march south, avenging the loss at Durham by winning the Battle of Carham against the Anglo-Saxons in 1016 and, thereby, regaining Lothian. Thirteen years later, however, Canute, King of England, Denmark, and Norway, travelled to Scotland. What happened is lost to time, but claims that Malcolm II submitted to Canute seem very unlikely. However, Canute seems to have recognised Malcolm II's possession of Lothian.
In the west, Malcolm II made an alliance with King Owen the Bald of Strathclyde and together they defeated King Canute at the Battle of Carham in 1018. He battled to expand his kingdom, gaining land down to the River Tweed and in Strathclyde. When King Owen died without an heir, Malcolm II claimed Strathclyde for his grandson, Duncan. This caused dissent throughout the Kingdom of Strathclyde which resulted in Malcolm II's murder at Glamis in 1034. He was buried on the Isle of Iona shortly after.
If it really was his daughter and not of his northern roval Malcolm, King of Moray, who was in c 1007 married to Sigurd Hlodvirsson, Earl of Orkney, then that is an indication that Malcolm II's influence extended to the far north, in addition to the south where his expansion is well-attested.
As the last of the House of Alpin, he did not have any sons to succeed him. Malcolm II lived, according to contemporary accounts, to a great age - which means that not only the generation of his children were adults (that itself was much rarer in that era than today), there were even his grandchildren already adults and capable to take reins of power.
He had arranged good marriages for his daughters. A daughter (or granddaughter) has been said to have produced the future king MacBeth of Scotland. Malcolm II's (reportedly eldest) daughter, Bethoc, married Crínán, the Abbot of Dunkeld and their son became Duncan I (c. 1010?1040), who succeeded Malcolm II upon his death in 1034.
Malcolm's (whichever Malcolm it was) daughter and Earl Sigurd had Thorfinn Sigurdsson, who established his rule in the lands of Caithness and Sutherland and allegedly in several other northern parts of Scotland too. It has been a question of loyalty whether this meant they became any better under the control of the King of Alba, but at least it means that Thorfinn had a separate sphere of power in northern Scotland at and soon after Malcolm's death.
Notes: conquered Lothian 1018. King of Alba, King of Strathclyde.
said to have married an Irishwoman from Ossory.
Killed by his kinsman.
Kenneth II of Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaCináed mac Maíl Coluim (before 954?995) was King of Alba. The son of Máel Coluim mac Domnaill, he succeeded Cuilén mac Iduilb on the latter's death at the hands of Amdarch of Strathclyde in 971.
The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba was compiled in Cináed's reign, but many of the place names mentioned are entirely corrupt, if not fictitious.[1] Whatever the reality, the Chronicle states that "[h]e immediately plundered [Strathclyde] in part. Kenneth's infantry were slain with very great slaughter in Moin Uacoruar." The Chronicle further states that Cináed plundered Northumbria three times, first as far as Stainmore, then to Cluiam and lastly to the River Dee by Chester. These raids are difficult to reconcile with the early part of Cináed's reign, and may belong to around 980, when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records attacks on Cheshire.
In 973, the Chronicle of Melrose reports that Cináed, with Máel Coluim mac Domnaill, the King of Strathclyde, "Maccus, king of very many islands" (i.e. the King of Man and the Isles Magnus Haraldsson, called Maccus mac Arailt) and other kings, Welsh and Norse, came to Chester to acknowledge the overlordship of the English king Edgar. It may be that Edgar here regulated the frontier between the southern lands of the kingdom of Alba and the northern lands of his English kingdom. Cumbria was English, the western frontier lay on the Solway. In the east, the frontier lay somewhere in later Lothian, south of Edinburgh.
The Annals of Tigernach, in an aside, name three of the Mormaers of Alba in Cináed's reign in entry in 976: Cellach mac Fíndgaine, Cellach mac Baireda and Donnchad mac Morgaínd. The third of these, if not an error for Domnall mac Morgaínd, is very likely a brother of Domnall, and thus the Mormaer of Moray. The Mormaerdoms or kingdoms ruled by the two Cellachs cannot be identified.
The feud which had persisted since the death of Idulb mac Causantín between his descendants and Cináed's family persisted. In 977 the Annals of Ulster report that "Amlaíb mac Iduilb, i.e. King of Scotland, was killed by Cináed mac Domnaill." The Annals of Tigernach give the correct name of Amlaíb's killer: Cináed mac Maíl Coluim. Thus, even if only for a short time, Cináed mac Maíl Coluim had been overthrown by the brother of the previous king.
Adam of Bremen tells that Sweyn Forkbeard found in exile in Scotland at this time, but whether this was with Cináed, or one of the other kings in Scotland, is unknown. Also at this time, Njal's Saga, the Orkneyinga saga and other sources recount wars between "the Scots" and the Northmen. The authority of the kings of Alba rarely stretched north of the Mounth, and these are more than probably wars between Sigurd Hlodvirsson, Earl of Orkney, and the Mormaers, or Kings, of Moray.
The Chronicle says that Cináed founded a great monastery at Brechin.
Cináed was killed in 995, the Annals of Ulster say "by deceit" and the Annals of Tigernach say "by his subjects". Some later sources, such as the Chronicle of Melrose, John of Fordun and Andrew of Wyntoun provide more details, accurately or not. Supplying corrections, the simplest account is that he was killed by his own men in Fettercairn, through the treachery of Fimberhele (or Finglene) daughter of Cuncar, Mormaer of Angus, in revenge for the killing of her only son.[6] He was buried on Iona.
The Prophecy of Berchán adds little to our knowledge, except that it names Cináed "the kinslayer" and supplies confirmation that he died in Strathmore.
Cináed's son Máel Coluim was later king of Alba. Cináed may have had a second son, named either Dúngal or Gille Coemgáin.[7] Sources differ as to whether Boite mac Cináeda should be counted a son of this Cináed or of Cináed mac Duib.