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Malcolm II of Scotland

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1500 and
before (including Roman Britain)

      Máel Coluim mac Cináeda
           King of Scots
   Reign       1005–1034
   Born        around 980
   Died        25 November 1034
               Glamis
   Buried      Iona
   Predecessor Cináed mac Duib
   Successor   Donnchad mac Crínáin
   Issue       Bethóc, other daughters
   Father      Cináed mac Maíl Coluim

   Máel Coluim mac Cináeda ( anglicised Malcolm II) (c. 980 – 25 November
   1034) was King of Scots from 1005 until his death. He was a son of
   Cináed mac Maíl Coluim; the Prophecy of Berchán says that his mother
   was a woman of Leinster and refers to him as forranach (the Destroyer
   or Avenger).

   To the Irish annals which recorded his death, Máel Coluim was ard rí
   Alban, High King of Scotland. In the same way that Brian Bóruma, High
   King of Ireland, was very far from being the only king in Ireland, Máel
   Coluim was one of several kings within the geographical boundaries of
   modern Scotland. His fellow kings included the king of Strathclyde, who
   ruled much of the south-west, various Norse-Gael kings of the western
   coasts and the Hebrides and, nearest and most dangerous rivals, the
   Kings or Mormaers of Moray. To the south, in the kingdom of England,
   the Earls of Bernicia and Northumbria, whose predecessors as kings of
   Northumbria had once ruled most of southern Scotland, still controlled
   large parts of the south-east.

Early Years

   It is unclear if Máel Coluim first appears in 997, when "Cináed mac
   Maíl Coluim" is credited with killing Causantín mac Cuilén. Whether
   Máel Coluim killed Causantín or not, there is no doubt that in 1005 he
   killed Causantín's successor Cináed mac Duib in battle at Monzievaird
   in Strathearn.

   John of Fordun writes that Máel Coluim defeated a Norwegian army "in
   almost the first days after his coronation", but this is not reported
   elsewhere. Fordun says that the Bishopric of Mortlach (later moved to
   Aberdeen) was founded in thanks for this victory over the Norwegians,
   but this appears to be a claim without foundation.

Bernicia

   The first reliable report of Máel Coluim's reign is of an invasion of
   Bernicia, perhaps the customary crech ríg (literally royal prey, a raid
   by a new king made to demonstrate prowess in war), which involved a
   siege of Durham. This appears to have resulted in a heavy defeat, by
   the Northumbrians led by Uchtred, later Earl of Bernicia, which is
   reported by the Annals of Ulster.

   A second war in Bernicia, probably in 1018, was more successful. The
   Battle of Carham, by the River Tweed, was a victory for the Scots led
   by Máel Coluim and the men of Strathclyde led by Eógan (Owen the Bald).
   By this time Earl Uchtred may have been dead, and Eiríkr Hákonarson was
   appointed Earl of Northumbria by his brother-in-law Canute, although
   his authority seems to have been limited to the south, the former
   kingdom of Deira, and he took no action against the Scots so far as is
   known. The work De obsessione Dunelmi (The siege of Durham, associated
   with Symeon of Durham) claims that Uchtred's brother Eadwulf Cudel
   surrendered Lothian to Máel Coluim, presumably in the aftermath of the
   defeat at Carham. This is likely to have been the lands between Dunbar
   and the Tweed as other parts of Lothian had been under Scots control
   before this time. It has been suggested that Canute received tribute
   from the Scots for Lothian, but as he had likely received none from the
   Bernician Earls this is not very probable.

Canute

   Canute, reports the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, led an army into Scotland on
   his return from pilgrimage to Rome. The Chronicle dates this to 1031,
   but there are reasons to suppose that it should be dated to 1027.
   Burgundian chronicler Rodulfus Glaber recounts the expedition soon
   afterwards, describing Máel Coluim as "powerful in resources and arms
   ... very Christian in faith and deed." Ralph claims that peace was made
   between Máel Coluim and Canute through the intervention of Richard,
   Duke of Normandy, brother of Queen Emma. Richard died in about 1027 and
   Rodulfus wrote close in time to the events.

   It has been suggested that the root of the quarrel between Canute and
   Máel Coluim lies in Canute's pilgrimage to Rome, and the coronation of
   Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II, where Canute and Rudolph, King of
   Burgundy had the place of honour. If Máel Coluim were present, and the
   repeated mentions of his piety in the annals make it quite possible
   that he made a pilgrimage to Rome, as did Mac Bethad mac Findláich in
   later times, then the coronation would have allowed Máel Coluim to
   publicly snub Canute's claims to overlordship.

   Canute obtained rather less than previous English kings, a promise of
   peace and friendship rather than the promise of aid on land and sea
   than Edgar and others had obtained. The sources say that Máel Coluim
   was accompanied by one or two other kings, certainly Mac Bethad, and
   perhaps Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of the Isle of Man and Galloway.
   The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle remarks of the submission "but he [Máel
   Coluim] adhered to that for only a little while". Canute was soon
   occupied in Norway against Olaf Haraldsson and appears to have had no
   further involvement with Scotland.

Orkney and Moray

   A daughter of Máel Coluim, whose name is not known, married Sigurd
   Hlodvisson, Earl of Orkney. Their son Thorfinn Sigurdsson was said to
   be five years old when Sigurd was killed on 23 April 1014 in the Battle
   of Clontarf. The Orkneyinga Saga says that Thorfinn was raised at Máel
   Coluim's court and was given the Mormaerdom of Caithness by his
   grandfather. Thorfinn, says the Heimskringla, was the ally of the king
   of Scots, and counted on Máel Coluim's support to resist the "tyranny"
   of King Olaf Haraldsson of Norway. The chronology of Thorfinn's life is
   problematic, and he may have had a share in the Earldom of Orkney while
   still a child, if he was indeed only five in 1014. Whatever the exact
   chronology, before Máel Coluim's death a client of the king of Scots
   was in control of Caithness and Orkney, although, as with all such
   relationships, it is unlikely to have lasted beyond his death.

   If Máel Coluim exercised control over Moray, which is far from being
   generally accepted, then the annals record a number of events pointing
   to a struggle for power in the north. In 1020, Mac Bethad's father
   Findláech mac Ruaidrí was killed by the sons of his brother Máel
   Brigte. It seems that Máel Coluim mac Máil Brigti took control of
   Moray, for his death is reported in 1029.

   It should be said that whatever the Irish annals say, English and
   Scandinavian writers appear to seen Mac Bethad as the rightful king of
   Moray, witness their descriptions of the meeting with Canute in 1027,
   before the death of Máel Coluim mac Máil Brigti. Máel Coluim was
   followed as king or mormaer by his brother Gille Coemgáin, husband of
   Gruoch, a granddaughter of Cináed mac Duib. It has been supposed that
   Mac Bethad was responsible for the killing of Gille Coemgáin in 1032,
   but if Mac Bethad had a cause for feud in the killing of his father in
   1020, Máel Coluim too had reason to see Gille Coemgáin dead. Not only
   had Gille Coemgáin's ancestors killed many of Máel Coluim's kin, but
   Gille Coemgáin and his son Lulach might be rivals for the throne. Máel
   Coluim had no sons, or no living sons, and the threat to his plans for
   the succession was obvious. The following year another man who might
   some day be king, Gruoch's brother or nephew, was killed by Máel
   Coluim.

Strathclyde and the succession

   It has traditionally been supposed that King Eógan of Strathclyde died
   at the Battle of Carham and that the kingdom passed into the hands of
   the Scots afterwards. This rests on some very weak evidence. It is far
   from certain that Eógan died at Carham, and it is reasonable certain
   that there were kings of Strathclyde as late as the 1054, when Edward
   the Confessor sent Earl Siward to install " Máel Coluim son of the king
   of the Cumbrians". The confusion is old, probably inspired by William
   of Malmesbury and embellished by John of Fordun, but there is no firm
   evidence that the kingdom of Strathclyde was a part of the kingdom of
   the Scots, rather than a loosely subjected kingdom, before the time of
   Máel Coluim's great-grandson Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.

   As has been said, by the 1030s Máel Coluim's sons, if he had had any,
   were dead. The only evidence that he did have a son or sons is in Ralph
   Glaber's chronicle where Canute is said to have stood as godfather to a
   son of Máel Coluim. His grandson Thorfinn would have been unlikely to
   accepted as king by the Scots, and he chose the sons of his other
   daughter, Bethóc, who was married to Crínán, lay abbot of Dunkeld, and
   perhaps Mormaer of Atholl. It may be no more than coincidence, but in
   1027 the Irish annals had reported the burning of Dunkeld, although no
   mention is made of the circumstances. Máel Coluim's chosen heir, and
   the first and last tánaise ríg certainly known in Scotland, was
   Donnchad mac Crínáin.

   It is possible that a third daughter of Máel Coluim married Findláech
   mac Ruaidrí and that Mac Bethad was thus his grandson, but this rests
   on relatively weak evidence.

Death and posterity

   Máel Coluim died in 1034, Marianus Scotus giving the date as 25
   November 1034. The king lists say that he died at Glamis, variously
   describing him as a "most glorious" or "most victorious" king. The
   Annals of Tigernach report that "Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, king of
   Scotland, the honour of all the west of Europe, died." The Prophecy of
   Berchán, perhaps the inpiration for John of Fordun and Andrew of
   Wyntoun's accounts where Máel Coluim is killed fighting bandits, says
   that he died by violence, fighting "the parricides", suggested to be
   the sons of Máel Brigte of Moray.

   Perhaps the most notable feature of Máel Coluim's death is the account
   of Marianus, matched by the silence of the Irish annals, which tells us
   that Donnchad became king and ruled for five years and nine months.
   Given that his death in 1040 is described as being "at an immature age"
   in the Annals of Tigernach, he must have been a young man in 1034. The
   absence of any opposition suggests that Máel Coluim had dealt
   thoroughly with any likely opposition in his own lifetime.

   On the question of Máel Coluim's putative pilgrimage, pilgrimages to
   Rome, or other long-distance journeys, were far from unusual. Thorfinn
   Sigurdsson, Canute and Mac Bethad have already been mentioned. Rognvald
   Kali Kolsson is known to have gone crusading in the Mediterranean in
   the 12th century. Nearer in time, Domnall mac Eógain of Strathclyde
   died on pilgrimage to Rome in 975 as did Máel Ruanaid uá Máele Doraid,
   King of the Cenél Conaill, in 1025.

   Not a great deal is known of Máel Coluim's activities beyond the wars
   and killings. The Book of Deer records that Máel Coluim "gave a king's
   dues in Biffie and in Pett Meic-Gobraig, and two davochs" to the
   monastery of Old Deer. As has been said, he was probably not the
   founder of the Bishopric of Mortlach-Aberdeen. John of Fordun has a
   peculiar tale to tell, related to the supposed "Laws of Malcom
   MacKenneth", saying that Máel Coluim gave away all of Scotland, except
   for the Moot Hill at Scone, which is unlikely to have the least basis
   in fact.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_II_of_Scotland"
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