Malcolm III, 'Canmore', King of Scots

http://www.friesian.com/perifran.htm#england

Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (Modern Gaelic: Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh), Anglicised Malcolm III, in later centuries nicknamed Canmore, (c.1031[6] - 13 November 1093), King of Scots.

• Parents: Donnchad mac Crínáin & Suthen

Spouses and children:

• Ingebjorg Finnsdóttir
  • 1. Duncan II of Scotland, suceeded his father as King of Scotland
  • 2. Donald
• Margaret 'Ætheling' of England
  • 1. Edward, killed 1093.
  • 2. Edmund of Scotland
  • 3. Ethelred, abbot of Dunkeld
  • 4. King Edgar of Scotland
  • 5. King Alexander I of Scotland
  • 6. King David I of Scotland
  • 7. Eadgyth of Scotland, also called Matilda, married King Henry I of England
  • 8. Mary of Scotland, married Eustace III of Boulogne

LINKS

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_III_of_Scotland
• http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SCOTLAND.htm#MalcolmIIIdied1093B
• http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/dunkeld_2.htm

CAWLEY'S MEDIEVAL LANDS:

King Duncan I & his wife, Sibylla of Northumbria, had:

1. MALCOLM (1031-killed in battle near Alnwick, Northumberland 13 Nov 1093, buried Tynemouth, later transferred to Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, and later still to Escorial, Madrid). He succeeded in 1058 as MALCOLM III "Caennmor/Bighead" King of Scotland. Cawley’s Medlands
The 12th century Cronica Regum Scottorum names "Malcolaim filii Donnchada" in one of its lists[307]. The Chronicon of Marianus Scottus records that "Moelcol…filius Donchael" succeeded Lulach in 1058[308]. [Florence of Worcester records that "dux Northhymbrorum Siwardus" defeated "rege Scottorum Macbeotha" in battle, dated to 1054, and installed "Malcolmum regis Cumbrorum filium" in his place[309]. The Annales Dunelmenses record that "Siwardus" put "Macbeth" to flight in 1054 and installed "Malcolmum rege" in the following year[310]. It is not clear that these two accounts refer to the future King Malcolm III: it is uncertain why King Malcolm would be called "regis Cumbrorum filium".] The Annals of Tigernach record that “Lulach rí Alban” was killed by “Mael-Coluimb, son of Donnchad” in 1058[311]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun records that Malcolm recaptured his kingdom with the help of "Siward Earl of Northumberland" and killed "Machabeus" 5 Dec 1056[312]. He succeeded in 1058 as MALCOLM III "Caennmor/Bighead" King of Scotland, crowned 25 Apr 1058 at Scone Abbey, Perthshire. Duncan cites sources which demonstrate that this nickname was first applied to King Malcolm III in the 13th century[313]. He suggests[314] that it was originally applied to King Malcolm IV who, he asserts, suffered from Paget's disease, involving a deformation of the bones particularly observable in the skull, and was later misapplied to King Malcolm III. King Malcolm supported the claim to the English crown of Edgar ætheling, whose sister he had married, and led plundering raids into England. Florence of Worcester records that he did homage to William I King of England at Abernethy in Aug 1072[315]. The same source records that King Malcolm invaded Northumberland in 1091, but did fealty to Willam II King of England after peace was negotiated between the two kings[316]. Florence of Worcester records that "rex Scottorum Malcolmus et primogenitus filius suus Eadwardus" were killed in battle in Northumbria "die S Bricii" [13 Nov] by the army of "Rotberti Northymbrorum comitis"[317]. William of Malmesbury records that he was killed, with his son Edward, by Morael of Bamborough, steward of Robert Mowbray Earl of Northumberland, while leading a raid into England[318]. The Annals of Ulster record that "Mael Coluim son of Donnchad, over-king of Scotland, and Edward his son, were killed by the French in Inber Alda in England"[319]. Cawley’s Medlands
[m] [firstly] ([before 1058]) Ingiborg. The identity of the mother of King Malcolm's sons Duncan and Donald is uncertain. The absence of any reference to her in Scottish sources is best explained if her relationship with the king ended before his accession in 1058. However, this is not totally consistent with the estimated birth dates of her sons as shown below. It should be noted that King Duncan II, in his charter dated 1093, makes no reference to his mother, which implies that his father's relationship with her may have been short-lived and informal. Orkneyinga Saga records that “Ingibjorg the Earls´-Mother” (Ingibjörg Finnsdatter, widow of Thorfinn "the Black" Jarl of Orkney and Caithness, daughter of Finn Arnisson [later Jarl of Halland in Denmark]) married “Malcolm King of Scots, known as Long-neck” and that “their son was Duncan, King of Scots, father of William”[320]. There must be considerable doubt about whether this can be correct. Ingibjörg's [first] husband died in [1060/65]. King Malcolm's marriage to Queen Margaret is dated to 1070, three years after her arrival at the Scottish court. Although this provides sufficient time after the death of her first husband for the king to have married Ingebjörg, and for Ingebjörg to have died, the chronology for the birth of two sons would be tight. In addition, it is unlikely that either of these sons was born after [1065], as explained further below. If the king had really married Ingibjörg during this time, and if she had given birth to two sons, the absence of any reference to her in either Scottish or English sources is all the more surprising. It is possible that King Malcolm's marriage to Ingibjörg (if it did take place) was more Danico, implying concubinage rather than regular marriage, but this does not change the chronological difficulties. The one puzzle which remains, if the Saga is not correct, is why the author would have fabricated this detail. Cawley’s Medlands
King Malcolm III & Ingiborg had two children:

1. DUNCAN ([1060/65]-murdered Monthechim/Mondynes, Kincardineshire 12 Nov 1094, bur Dunfermline Abbey, Fife). William of Malmesbury names Duncan as illegitimate son of King Malcolm, when recording that he was knighted by William II King of England[327]. There is no indication of the identity of Duncan's mother, as explained above. His birth date is estimated on the assumption that he was a child when given as a hostage in 1072, which precludes his being the son of Queen Margaret. It is possible that he was illegitimate, although there is no indication that he was thereby excluded from succession to the throne. "Dunecanus fili regii Malcolum constans hereditarie rex Scotie" donated property to the monks of St Cuthbert for the souls of his father, "fratri mei, uxore mea et infans mei" (all unnamed), by charter dated 1093, witnessed by "Eadgari, [Etheread], Aceard, Ulf, Malcolub[328], Hormer, Heming, Ælfric, Teodbold, Earnulf"[329]. The copy in Early Scottish Charters lists the witnesses in a different order, and adds "Grentonis…Vinget"[330]. He was given as a hostage to William I King of England at Abernethy in 1072 to guarantee his father's good behaviour[331]. The Annals of Ulster record that the "French went into Scotland and brought away the son of the king of Scotland as hostage" in 1072[332], which presumably refers to Duncan as any of his half-brothers (if then born) would have been infants at the time. He was kept in Normandy. Florence of Worcester records that Robert III "Curthose" Duke of Normandy released "Ulfam Haroldi quondam regis Anglorum filium, Dunechaldumque regis Scottorum Malcolmi filium" from custody after his father's death in Sep 1087, knighted them and allowed them to leave Normandy[333]. He joined William II King of England and remained at his court in England[334]. Florence of Worcester records that Duncan served in the army of King William II, who supported his bid to depose his uncle, and to whom Duncan swore fealty before leaving for Scotland[335]. He deposed his uncle in 1094 and proclaimed himself DUNCAN II King of Scotland[336]. Florence of Worcester records that "Dufenaldum regis Malcolmi fratrem" was elected king after his brother's death but that "filius regis Malcolmi Dunechain" expelled "patruum suum Dufenaldum"[337]. The Annals of Inisfallen record that "Domnall son of Donnchadh” killed “Donnchadh son of Mael Coluim king of Alba” in 1094 and “took the kingship of Alba”[338]. The Annals of Ulster record that "Donnchad son of Mael Coluim, king of Scotland, was treacherously killed by his own brothers Domnall and Edmond" in 1094[339]. William of Malmesbury records that King Duncan was "murdered by the wickedness of his uncle Donald"[340]. Florence of Worcester records that "Scotti regem…Dunechan" was killed in [1094][341]. The Chronicle of the Picts and Scots dated 1251 records that "Donechat mac Malcolm" was killed "a Malpeder Mackcolm comite de Merns in Monacheden" through the treachery of "Donald mac Donehat"[342]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun records that "Duncan, King Malcolm´s illegitimate son" was "slain at Monthechin by the Earl of Mernys…Malpetri, in Scottish, Malpedir, through the wiles of his uncle Donald" as was buried "in the island of Iona"[343]. Cawley’s Medlands
m ([1090]%29 ETHELREDA of Northumberland, daughter of GOSPATRICK Earl of Northumberland & his wife --- (bur Dunfermline Abbey, Fife). The Cronicon Cumbriæ records that “Waldevus filius comitis Cospatricii” enfeoffed “Waldeve filio Gileminii” with property and “Ethreda sorore sua”[344]. The Cronicon Cumbriæ records that “Ethreda sorore Waldevi patris sui” married “Doncani comes de Murrayse” and that their son “Willielmus” succeeded her nephew “Alanus filius Waldevi”[345]. It is assumed that Duncan was Ethelreda´s first husband and Waltheof her second husband. She married secondly Waltheof. Cawley’s Medlands
King Duncan II & his wife had one child:

a) WILLIAM FitzDuncan ([1091/94]-[1153/54]). His parentage is confirmed by the Chronicle of John of Fordun (Continuator - Annals) which records the rebellion of his son "Macwilliam whose real name was Donald Bane…son of William son of Duncan the bastard" against King William[346]. That William was his father's only child is shown by King Duncan's charter dated to 1093 referring to "infans mei". As the actual date of the charter is more likely to be 1094, this leaves little time for the birth of any more children before the king's murder. "…Willelmo nepote comitis…" witnessed the charter dated to [1120] under which "David comes filius Malcolmi Regis Scottorum" founded the abbey of Selkirk[347]. Lord of Skipton and Craven, by right of his [second] wife. Cawley’s Medlands

2. DONALD ([1060/65]-killed in battle 1085). There is no indication of the name of Donald's mother. His birth date is estimated on the assumption that he was an adult when killed, and old enough to have had a son himself at that time, but this precludes his being the son of Queen Margaret. It is possible that he was illegitimate. The Annals of Ulster record that "Domnall son of Mael Coluim, king of Scotland…ended [his] life unhappily" in 1085[348]. Cawley’s Medlands
m ---. The name of Donald's wife is not known.
Donald & his wife had [one possible child]:

a) LADHMANN (-killed in battle 1116). The Annals of Ulster record that "Ladhmann son of Domnall, grandson of the king of Scotland, was killed by the men of Moray"[349]. It is not known with certainty to whom this refers, but a son of Donald, son of King Malcolm, is the most likely possibility.] Cawley’s Medlands

m [secondly] (Dunfermline Abbey 1070) MARGARET of England, daughter of EDWARD Ætheling of England & his wife Agatha --- ([in Hungary] [1046/53]-Edinburgh Castle 16 Nov 1093, bur Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, transferred to Escorial, Madrid, her head bur Jesuit College, Douai). Although Margaret's birth is often placed in [1045/46][321], a later birth would be more consistent with the "German" theory of her mother's origin (as discussed in the document ANGLO-SAXON KINGS). Margaret's birth as late as 1053 would still be consistent with her having given birth to four children before her daughter Edith/Matilda (later wife of Henry I King of England), whose birth is estimated to have taken place in [1079/80]. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Margaret left England with her mother in Summer 1067 and found refuge at the court of Malcolm King of Scotland[322]. Florence of Worcester records that "clitone Eadgaro et matre sua Agatha duabusque sororibus suis Margareta et Christina" left England for Scotland, in a passage which deals with events in mid-1068[323]. Florence of Worcester records that "regina Scottorum Margareta" died from grief after learning of the death of her husband and oldest son[324]. The Annals of Ulster record that "his queen Margaret…died of sorrow for him within nine days" after her husband was killed in battle[325]. She was canonised in 1250, her feast day in Scotland is 16 Nov[326]. Cawley’s Medlands
King Malcolm III & his second wife, Margaret, had eight children[350]:

3. EDWARD (-Edwardsisle, near Jedburgh 16 Nov 1093, bur Tynemouth St Albans). Florence of Worcester records that "rex Scottorum Malcolmus et primogenitus filius suus Eadwardus" were killed in battle in Northumbria "die S Bricii" [13 Nov] by the army of "Rotberti Northymbrorum comitis"[351]. He is named, and his parentage given, by Roger of Hoveden, who lists him first of the sons[352]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun names "Edward, Edmund, Ethelred, Edgar, Alexander and…David" as the sons of King Malcolm and his wife[353]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun records that, according to "William", "Edmund…was privy to his brother Duncan´s death, having…bargained with his uncle [Donald] for half the kingdom" but was captured and "kept in fetters for ever"[354]. He died from wounds received at the battle of Alnwick during a raid on England led by his father. The Annals of Ulster record that "Mael Coluim son of Donnchad, over-king of Scotland, and Edward his son, were killed by the French in Inber Alda in England"[355]. Matthew Paris reports that the remains of "regis Scotorum Malcolmi et Edwardi filii sui" were found at Tynemouth, commenting that both had been killed fighting "Robertus de Mumbrai"[356]. Cawley’s Medlands
4. EDMUND (-after 1097, bur [Montacute]). He is named, and his parentage given, by Roger of Hoveden, who lists him second of the sons[357]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun names "Edward, Edmund, Ethelred, Edgar, Alexander and…David" as the sons of King Malcolm and his wife, adding in a later passage that Edmund "was buried at Montacute in England"[358]. He succeeded in 1094 as EDMUND joint King of Scotland, jointly with his uncle King Donald III "Bane", ruling south of the Forth/Clyde. He was deposed in 1097 by his brother Edgar, and became a monk at Montacute Abbey. Edmund is not mentioned either by Orderic Vitalis in his brief account of the usurpation of King Donald "Bane"[359], or by Florence of Worcester in his account of the deposition of King Donald in 1097[360]. If Edmund was older than his brother Edgar, it is not clear why their uncle Edgar Ætheling, who led the English army which deposed their uncle, would have supported the accession of Edgar in place of Edmund. The Annals of Ulster record that he was involved in the killing of his half-brother King Duncan[361]. William of Malmesbury records that "Edmund was the only degenerate son of Margaret", that he "[partook] in his uncle Donald's crime and…had been accessory to his brother's death", was "doomed to perpetual imprisonment", and "on his near approach of death, ordered himself to be buried in his chains"[362]. The 12th century Cronica Regum Scottorum records that "Edmundus" was buried "apud Montem Acutum in…cella Cluniacensi"[363]. Cawley’s Medlands
5. EDGAR ([1074]-[Dundee or Edinburgh Castle] 6 Jan 1107, bur Dunfermline Abbey, Fife). He is named, and his parentage given, by Roger of Hoveden, who lists him third of the sons[364]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun names "Edward, Edmund, Ethelred, Edgar, Alexander and…David" as the sons of King Malcolm and his wife[365]. He succeeded in 1097 as EDGAR King of Scotland. Florence of Worcester records that "clitorem Eadgarum" led an army to Scotland in [1097] to place "consobrinum suum Eadgarum Malcolmi regis filium" on the Scottish throne after expelling "patruo suo Dufenaldo"[366]. The reign of Edgar is ignored by Orderic Vitalis, who says that Alexander succeeded when King Donald was deposed[367]. "Edgarus filius Malcolmi Regis Scottorum" made grants for the souls of "fratrum meorum Doncani et Edwardi" by charter dated 30 Aug 1095, subscribed by "Egeri regis, Alexandri fratri eius, Manyanium, Agulfi, filii Doncani, Eyluerti, filii Eghe Omani, Uhtredi, filii Magdufe, Constantini, Rodberti de humet, Ætele, A. gulfi, Alimoldi filii sui, David"[368]. The precise dating of this charter and the unusual list of subscribers suggest that it may be spurious. "Edgarus…Rex Scottorum" made grants for the souls of "Malcolmi patris nostri et Margaretæ matris nostræ…ac Edwardi et Duncani fratrum nostrorum" by charter dated 1095[369]. Robert of Torigny records the death in 1107 of "Edgarus rex Scotiæ"[370]. Florence of Worcester records the death "VIII Id Jan" in [1107] of "Eadgarus rex Scottorum"[371]. The Chronicle of the Picts and Scots dated 1251 records that "Edgar mac Malcolm" reigned for 9 years, died "in Dunedin", and was buried "in Dumferline"[372]. Cawley’s Medlands
6. ALEXANDER ([1077/78]-Stirling Castle 23, 25 or 27 Apr 1124, bur Dunfermline Abbey, Fife). He is named, and his parentage given, by Roger of Hoveden, who lists him fourth of the sons[373]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun names "Edward, Edmund, Ethelred, Edgar, Alexander and…David" as the sons of King Malcolm and his wife[374]. Robert of Torigny records that "Alexander frater eius" succeeded in 1107 on the death of "Edgarus rex Scotiæ"[375]. He succeeded his brother in 1107 as ALEXANDER I "the Fierce" King of Scotland. Florence of Worcester records that "Alexanderfrater eius" succeeded his brother King Edgar in [1107][376]. The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records the marriage "VII Kal Mai" [1124] of "Alexander rex Scottorum"[377]. "Alexander…rex Scottorum filius regis Malcolmi et regine Margerete et…Sibilla regina Scottorum filia Henrici regis Anglie" reformed Scone Abbey by charter dated to [1114/15], witnessed by "Alexander nepos regis Alexandri, Beth comes, Gospatricius Dolfini, Mallus comes, Madach comes, Rothri comes, Gartnach comes, Dufagan comes, Willelmus frater regine, Edwardus constabularius, Gospatricius filius Walthef, Ufieth Alfricus pincerna"[378]. The Chronicle of the Picts and Scots dated 1251 records that "Alexander" reigned for 17 years and 3 months, died "in Crasleth", and was buried "in Dumferline"[379].
m (before [1114/15]%29 SIBYL, illegitimate daughter of HENRY I King of England & his mistress [---/Sibyl Corbet] (-Island of the Women, Loch Tay, Perthshire 12/13 Jul 1122, bur Island of the Women, Loch Tay). William of Malmesbury records the marriage of Alexander to the unnamed illegitimate daughter of King Henry, but adds "there was…some defect about the lady either in correctness of manners or elegance of person"[380], which appears to imply mental retardation. "Alexander…rex Scottorum filius regis Malcolmi et regine Margerete et…Sibilla regina Scottorum filia Henrici regis Anglie" reformed Scone Abbey by charter dated to [1114/15][381]. Her name is confirmed by various charters, including the charter dated to [1120] under which "Alexander…Rex Scottorum filius Regis Malcolmi et Reginæ Margaretæ et…Sibilla regina Scottorum filia Henrici regis Angliæ" made grants[382]. Considering the date of her marriage, it is unlikely that she was born much later than [1095]. The Complete Peerage[383] suggests that she was the daughter of Sibyl Corbet, both because of her name and also because of the possible co-identity between "…Willelmo fratre reginæ…", who witnessed the charter dated 1124 under which "Alexander…Rex Scottorum" granted jurisdiction to the prior of Scone[384], and "…Willielmo fratre meo…" who witnessed the charter dated to [1163/75] under which "Reginaldus, Henrici Regis filius, comes Cornubiæ" granted property to "Willielmo de Boterell, filio Aliziæ Corbet, materteræ meæ"[385]. However, this co-identity is not ideal from a chronological point of view. William, brother of Renaud Earl of Cornwall, died after 1187. If he was the same person as the brother of Sibyl Queen of Scotland, he could only have been a child when he subscribed the Scottish charters in which he is named. In addition, as noted in the document ENGLAND KINGS, it is possible that William, brother of Earl Renaud, may have been his uterine brother, in which case it is unlikely that he would have been chosen to accompany the queen to Scotland. Another factor is that the birth of Herbert FitzHerbert, son of Sibyl Corbet by her marriage, is estimated to [1125/35] (see the document UNTITLED ENGLISH NOBILITY). This means that he could only have been Sibyl´s half-brother if she had been a young girl at the time of her marriage. On the other hand, "Robert Corbet" witnessed charters in Scotland which are dated to late in the reign of King Alexander and the early years of the reign of his brother King David (see UNTITLED ENGLISH NOBILITY). If Robert Corbet was Queen Sibyl´s maternal grandfather or her maternal uncle, this could account for his presence at the Scottish court at the time. The Extracta ex Cronicis Scocie records the death in 1122 "apud Lochtay cellam canonicorum de Scona" of "Sibilla…regine Scocie uxor regis Alexandri, filia Henrici Beuclerk regis Anglie"[386]. Cawley’s Medlands
King Alexander I had one illegitimate son by an unknown mistress:

a) MALCOLM ([1105/15]-after 1158). Orderic Vitalis names Malcolm as bastard son of King Alexander[387]. Robert of Torigny records that "Aragois comes Morefie cum Melcolmo notho filio Alexandri fratri regis David" invaded Scotland in 1130[388]. same person as …? MALCOLM MacHeth (-23 Oct 1168[389]). Duncan suggests that Malcolm, son of King Alexander I, and Malcolm MacHeth were two different persons, the latter being the son of "Aed" or "Heth" who witnessed two charters in the early years of the reign of King David I[390]. He was reconciled with King Malcolm IV in 1157. Malcolm MacHeth was created Earl of Ross in 1162 or before[391]. Cawley’s Medlands

7. ETHELRED (-before [1107], bur [St Andrew´s Church, Kilremont]). He is named, and his parentage given, by Roger of Hoveden, who lists him fifth of the sons[392]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun names "Edward, Edmund, Ethelred, Edgar, Alexander and…David" as the sons of King Malcolm and his wife, adding in a later passage that Ethelred "as some assert…lies buried in St Andrew´s church at Kilremont"[393]. Lay abbot of Dunkeld. "Edelradus…filius Malcolmi Regis Scotiæ Abbas de Dunkeldense et insuper Comes de Fyf" made donations to the Keledei of Loch Leven by undated charter, witnessed by "duo fratres Hedelradi…David et Alexander…Constantini comitis de Fyf et Nesse et Cormac filii Macbeath et Malnethte filii Beollani sacerdotum de Abyrnethyn et Mallebride alterius sacerdotis"[394]. Cawley’s Medlands
8. EADGYTH (1079-1 Jun 1118). Orderic Vitalis records that their mother sent Eadgyth and her sister Mary to be brought up by their maternal aunt Christina, nun at Romsey Abbey[395]. Florence of Worcester records the marriage of King Henry and "regis Scottorum Malcolmi et Margaretæ reginæ filiam Mahtildem" and her coronation as queen in a passage dealing with events in late 1100[396]. She adopted the name MATILDA on her marriage. Crowned Queen Consort of England 11 or 14 Nov 1100. The necrology of the abbey of Saint-Denis records the death "Kal Mai" of "MatildisAnglorum regina"[397]. The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records the death "Kal Mai " at Westminster of "Mahthildis regina Anglorum", and her burial at Westminster Abbey[398].
m (11 Nov 1100) as his first wife, HENRY I "Beauclerc" King of England, son of WILLIAM I "the Conqueror" King of England & his wife Mathilde de Flandre (Selby, Yorkshire Sep 1068-Saint-Denis le Ferment, Forêt d’Angers near Rouen 1/2 Dec 1135, bur Reading Abbey, Berkshire). Cawley’s Medlands
9. DAVID ([1080]-Carlisle 24 May 1153, bur Dunfermline Abbey, Fife). He is named, and his parentage given, by Roger of Hoveden, who lists him as the sixth son of his parents[399]. He succeeded his brother in 1124 as DAVID I King of Scotland. Cawley’s Medlands
10. MARY (-31 May 1116 or 18 Apr 1118, bur Bermondsey Priory). Orderic Vitalis records that their mother sent Mary and her sister Eadgyth to be brought up by their maternal aunt Christina, nun at Romsey Abbey[400]. Florence of Worcester records that Henry I King of England arranged the marriage of "Mariam reginæ sororem" and "Eustatio Bononensium comiti" in [1102][401]. Her marriage is also recorded by Orderic Vitalis, who also names her daughter[402]. The Genealogica comitum Buloniensium records that "Eustachius, frater Balduini regis Iheruslame" married "Mariam filiam regis Scotiæ"[403]. The 12th century Cronica Regum Scottorum records the death "II Kal Jun" in 1116 of "Maria…comitissa" and her burial "apud Bermundseiam"[404]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun records that "Mary countess of Bouillon" died in "the third year before her sister´s death"[405].
m (1102) EUSTACHE III Comte de Boulogne, son of EUSTACHE [II] "Gernobadatus" Comte de Boulogne and Lens & his second wife Ida of Lotharingia (-after 1125). Cawley’s Medlands

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Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (Modern Gaelic: Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh),[2] called in most Anglicised regnal lists Malcolm III, and in later centuries nicknamed Canmore, "Big Head"[3] [4] or Long-neck [5] (c.1031[6] - 13 November 1093), was King of Scots. It has also been argued recently that the real "Malcolm Canmore" was this Malcolm's great-grandson Malcolm IV, who is given this name in the contemporary notice of his death.[7] He was the eldest son of King Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crínáin). Malcolm's long reign, lasting 35 years, preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norman age.

Malcolm's Kingdom did not extend over the full territory of modern Scotland: the north and west of Scotland remained in Scandinavian, Norse-Gael and Gaelic control, and the areas under the control of the Kings of Scots would not advance much beyond the limits set by Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda) until the 12th century. Malcolm III fought a succession of wars against the Kingdom of England, which may have had as their goal the conquest of the English earldom of Northumbria. However, these wars did not result in any significant advances southwards. Malcolm's main achievement is to have continued a line which would rule Scotland for many years,[8] although his role as "founder of a dynasty" has more to do with the propaganda of his youngest son David, and his descendants, than with any historical reality.[9]

Malcolm's second wife, Saint Margaret of Scotland, was later beatified and is Scotland's only royal saint. However, Malcolm himself gained no reputation for piety. With the notable exception of Dunfermline Abbey he is not definitely associated with major religious establishments or ecclesiastical reforms.

Background

Malcolm's father Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crínáin) became king in late 1034, on the death of Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda), Duncan's maternal grandfather. According to John of Fordun, whose account is the original source of part at least of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Malcolm's mother was a niece of Siward, Earl of Northumbria,[10][11] but an earlier king-list gives her the Gaelic name Suthen.[12]

Duncan's reign was not successful and he was killed by Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaích) on 15 August 1040. Although Shakespeare's Macbeth presents Malcolm as a grown man and his father as an old one, it appears that Duncan was still young in 1040,[13] and Malcolm and his brother Donalbane (Domnall Bán) were children.[14] Malcolm's family did attempt to overthrow Macbeth in 1045, but Malcolm's grandfather Crínán of Dunkeld was killed in the attempt.[15]

Soon after the death of Duncan his two young sons were sent away for greater safety - exactly where is the subject of debate. According to one version, Malcolm (then aged about 9) was sent to England, and his younger brother Donalbane was sent to the Isles.[16][17] Based on Fordun's account, it was assumed that Malcolm passed most of Macbeth's seventeen year reign in the Kingdom of England at the court of Edward the Confessor.[18] [19]

According to an alternative version, Malcolm's mother took both sons into exile at the court of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney, an enemy of Macbeth's family, and perhaps Duncan's kinsman by marriage.[20]

An English invasion in 1054, with Earl Siward in command, had as its goal the installation of Máel Coluim, "son of the King of the Cumbrians (i.e. of Strathclyde)". This Máel Coluim, perhaps a son of Owen the Bald, disappears from history after this brief mention. He has been confused with King Malcolm III.[21] [22] In 1057 various chroniclers report the death of Macbeth at Malcolm's hand, on 15 August 1057 at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire.[23] [24] Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach, who was crowned at Scone, probably on 8 September 1057. Lulach was killed by Malcolm, "by treachery",[25] near Huntly on 23 April 1058. After this, Malcolm became king, perhaps being inaugurated on 25 April 1058, although only John of Fordun reports this.[26]

Malcolm and Ingibiorg

Late medieval depiction of Máel Coluim III with MacDuib ("MacDuff"), from an MS (Corpus Christi MS 171) of Walter Bower's Scotichronicon.If Orderic Vitalis is to be relied upon, one of Malcolm's earliest actions as King may have been to travel south to the court of Edward the Confessor in 1059 to arrange a marriage with Edward's kinswoman Margaret, who had arrived in England two years before from Hungary.[27] If he did visit the English court, he was the first reigning King of Scots to do so in more than eighty years. If a marriage agreement was made in 1059, however, it was not kept, and this may explain the Scots invasion of Northumbria in 1061 when Lindisfarne was plundered.[28] Equally, Malcolm's raids in Northumbria may have been related to the disputed "Kingdom of the Cumbrians", reestablished by Earl Siward in 1054, which was under Malcolm's control by 1070.[29]

The Orkneyinga saga reports that Malcolm married the widow of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Ingibiorg a daughter of Finn Arnesson.[30] Although Ingibiorg is generally assumed to have died shortly before 1070, it is possible that she died much earlier, around 1058.[31] The Orkneyinga Saga records that Malcolm and Ingibiorg had a son, Duncan II (Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim), who was later king.[32] Some Medieval commentators, following William of Malmesbury, claimed that Duncan was illegitimate, but this claim is propaganda reflecting the need of Malcolm's descendants by Margaret to undermine the claims of Duncan's descendants, the Meic Uilleim.[33] Malcolm's son Domnall, whose death is reported in 1085, is not mentioned by the author of the Orkneyinga Saga. He is assumed to have been born to Ingibiorg.[34]

Malcolm's marriage to Ingibiorg secured him peace in the north and west. The Heimskringla tells that her father Finn had been an adviser to Harald Hardraade and, after falling out with Harald, was then made an Earl by Sweyn Estridsson, King of Denmark, which may have been another recommendation for the match.[35] Malcolm enjoyed a peaceful relationship with the Earldom of Orkney, ruled jointly by his stepsons, Paul and Erlend Thorfinnsson. The Orkneyinga Saga reports strife with Norway but this is probably misplaced as it associates this with Magnus Barefoot, who became king of Norway only in 1093, the year of Malcolm's death.[36]

Malcolm and Margaret

Máel Coluim and Margaret as depicted in a 16th century armorial. Note the coats of arms both bear on their clothing - Malcolm wears the Lion of Scotland, which historically was not used until the time of his great-grandson William the Lion; Margaret wears the supposed arms of Edward the Confessor, her grand-uncle, although the arms were in fact concocted in the later Middle Ages.Although he had given sanctuary to Tostig Godwinson when the Northumbrians drove him out, Malcolm was not directly involved in the ill-fated invasion of England by Harald Hardraade and Tostig in 1066, which ended in defeat and death at the battle of Stamford Bridge.[37] In 1068, he granted asylum to a group of English exiles fleeing from William of Normandy, among them Agatha, widow of Edward the Confessor's nephew Edward the Exile, and her children: Edgar Ætheling and his sisters Margaret and Cristina. They were accompanied by Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria. The exiles were disappointed, however, if they had expected immediate assistance from the Scots.[38]

In 1069 the exiles returned to England, to join a spreading revolt in the north. Even though Gospatric and Siward's son Waltheof submitted by the end of the year, the arrival of a Danish army under Sweyn Estridsson seemed to ensure that William's position remained weak. Malcolm decided on war, and took his army south into Cumbria and across the Pennines, wasting Teesdale and Cleveland then marching north, loaded with loot, to Wearmouth. There Malcolm met Edgar and his family, who were invited to return with him, but did not. As Sweyn had by now been bought off with a large Danegeld, Malcolm took his army home. In reprisal, William sent Gospatric to raid Scotland through Cumbria. In return, the Scots fleet raided the Northumbrian coast where Gospatric's possessions were concentrated.[39] Late in the year, perhaps shipwrecked on their way to a European exile, Edgar and his family again arrived in Scotland, this time to remain. By the end of 1070, Malcolm had married Edgar's sister Margaret, the future Saint Margaret of Scotland.[40]

The naming of their children represented a break with the traditional Scots Regal names such as Malcolm, Cináed and Áed. The point of naming Margaret's sons, Edward after her father Edward the Exile, Edmund for her grandfather Edmund Ironside, Ethelred for her great-grandfather Ethelred the Unready and Edgar for her great-great-grandfather Edgar was unlikely to be missed in England, where William of Normandy's grasp on power was far from secure.[41] Whether the adoption of the classical Alexander for the future Alexander I of Scotland (either for Pope Alexander II or for Alexander the Great) and the biblical David for the future David I of Scotland represented a recognition that William of Normandy would not be easily removed, or was due to the repetition of Anglo-Saxon Royal name—another Edmund had preceded Edgar—is not known.[42] Margaret also gave Malcolm two daughters, Edith, who married Henry I of England, and Mary, who married Eustace III of Boulogne.

In 1072, with the Harrying of the North completed and his position again secure, William of Normandy came north with an army and a fleet. Malcolm met William at Abernethy and, in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle "became his man" and handed over his eldest son Duncan as a hostage and arranged peace between William and Edgar.[43] Accepting the overlordship of the king of the English was no novelty, previous kings had done so without result. The same was true of Malcolm; his agreement with the English king was followed by further raids into Northumbria, which led to further trouble in the earldom and the killing of Bishop William Walcher at Gateshead. In 1080, William sent his son Robert Curthose north with an army while his brother Odo punished the Northumbrians. Malcolm again made peace, and this time kept it for over a decade.[44]

Malcolm faced little recorded internal opposition, with the exception of Lulach's son Máel Snechtai. In an unusual entry, for the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains little on Scotland, it says that in 1078:

“ Malcholom [M%C3%A1el Coluim] seized the mother of Mælslæhtan [M%C3%A1el Snechtai] ... and all his treasures, and his cattle; and he himself escaped with difficulty.[45] ”

Whatever provoked this strife, Máel Snechtai survived until 1085.[46]

Malcolm and William Rufus

When William Rufus became king of England after his father's death, Malcolm did not intervene in the rebellions by supporters of Robert Curthose which followed. In 1091, however, William Rufus confiscated Edgar Ætheling's lands in England, and Edgar fled north to Scotland. In May, Malcolm marched south, not to raid and take slaves and plunder, but to besiege Newcastle, built by Robert Curthose in 1080. This appears to have been an attempt to advance the frontier south from the River Tweed to the River Tees. The threat was enough to bring the English king back from Normandy, where he had been fighting Robert Curthose. In September, learning of William Rufus's approaching army, Malcolm withdrew north and the English followed. Unlike in 1072, Malcolm was prepared to fight, but a peace was arranged by Edgar Ætheling and Robert Curthose whereby Malcolm again acknowledged the overlordship of the English king.[47]

In 1092, the peace began to break down. Based on the idea that the Scots controlled much of modern Cumbria, it had been supposed that William Rufus's new castle at Carlisle and his settlement of English peasants in the surrounds was the cause. However, it is unlikely that Malcolm did control Cumbria, and the dispute instead concerned the estates granted to Malcolm by William Rufus's father in 1072 for his maintenance when visiting England. Malcolm sent messengers to discuss the question and William Rufus agreed to a meeting. Malcolm travelled south to Gloucester, stopping at Wilton Abbey to visit his daughter Edith and sister-in-law Cristina. Malcolm arrived there on 24 August 1093 to find that William Rufus refused to negotiate, insisting that the dispute be judged by the English barons. This Malcolm refused to accept, and returned immediately to Scotland.[48]

It does not appear that William Rufus intended to provoke a war,[49] but, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports, war came:

“ For this reason therefore they parted with great dissatisfaction, and the King Malcolm returned to Scotland. And soon after he came home, he gathered his army, and came harrowing into England with more hostility than behoved him ... ”

Malcolm was accompanied by Edward, his eldest son by Margaret and probable heir-designate (or tánaiste), and by Edgar.[50] Even by the standards of the time, the ravaging of Northumbria by the Scots was seen as harsh.[51]

Death

While marching north again, Malcolm was ambushed by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, whose lands he had devastated, near Alnwick on 13 November 1093. There he was killed by Arkil Morel, steward of Bamburgh Castle. The conflict became known as the Battle of Alnwick.[52] Edward was mortally wounded in the same fight. Margaret, it is said, died soon after receiving the news of their deaths from Edgar.[53] The Annals of Ulster say:

“ Mael Coluim son of Donnchad, over-king of Scotland, and Edward his son, were killed by the French i.e. in Inber Alda in England. His queen, Margaret, moreover, died of sorrow for him within nine days.[54] ”

Malcolm's body was taken to Tynemouth Priory for burial. It may later have been reburied at Dunfermline Abbey in the reign of his son Alexander or perhaps on Iona.[55]

On 19 June 1250, following the canonisation of Malcolm's wife Margaret by Pope Innocent IV, Margaret's remains were disinterred and placed in a reliquary. Tradition has it that as the reliquary was carried to the high altar of Dunfermline Abbey, past Malcolm's grave, it became too heavy to move. As a result, Malcolm's remains were also disinterred, and buried next to Margaret beside the altar.[56]

Depictions in fiction

Malcolm's accession to the throne, as modified by tradition, is the climax of Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

Notes

^ Ritchie, p.4n

^ Máel Coluim mac Donnchada is the Mediaeval Gaelic form.

^ Ritchie, p. 3

^ Burton, vol. 1, p. 350, states: "Malcolm the son of Duncan is known as Malcolm III., but still better perhaps by his characteristic name of Canmore, said to come from the Celtic 'Caenmohr', meaning 'great head'"

^ Orkneyinga Saga, c. 33.

^ Ritchie, p.4n

^ Duncan, pp. 51–52, 74–75; Oram, p. 17, note 1.

^ The question of what to call this family is an open one. "House of Dunkeld" is all but unknown; "Canmore kings" and "Canmore dynasty" are not universally accepted, nor are Richard Oram's recent coinage "meic Maíl Coluim" or Michael Lynch's "MacMalcolm". For discussions and examples: Duncan, pp. 53–54; McDonald, Outlaws, p. 3; Barrow, Kingship and Unity, Appendix C; Reid. Broun discusses the question of identity at length.

^ Hammond, p. 21. The first genealogy known which traces descent from Malcolm, rather than from Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpín) or Fergus Mór, is dated to the reign of Alexander II, see Broun, pp. 195–200.

^ Fordun, IV, xliv.

^ Young also gives her as a niece of Siward. Young, p. 30.

^ Duncan, p. 37; M.O. Anderson, p. 284.

^ The notice of Duncan's death in the Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 1040, says he was "slain ... at an immature age"; Duncan, p.33.

^ Duncan, p. 33; Oram, David I, p. 18. There may have been a third brother if Máel Muire of Atholl was a son of Duncan. Oram, David I, p. 97, note 26, rejects this identification.

^ Duncan, p. 41; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1045 ; Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 1045.

^ Ritchie, p.3

^ Young, p.30

^ Barrell, p. 13; Barrow, Kingship and Unity, p. 25.

^ Ritchie, p.3, states that it was fourteen years of exile, partly spent at Edward's Court.

^ Duncan, p. 42; Oram, David I, pp. 18–20. Malcolm had ties to Orkney in later life. Earl Thorfinn may have been a grandson of Malcolm II and thus Malcolm's cousin.

^ On Máel Coluim, "son of the King of the Cumbrians", see Duncan, pp. 37–41; Oram, David I, pp.18–20.

^ But see Ritchie, p. 5, who states that Duncan placed his son, the future Malcolm III of Scotland, in possession of Cumbria as its Prince, and states that Siward invaded Scotland in 1054 to restore him to the Scottish throne. Hector Boece also says this (vol.XII p.249), as does Young, p. 30

^ Ritchie, p. 7

^ Anderson, ESSH, pp. 600–602; the Prophecy of Berchán has Macbeth wounded in battle and places his death at Scone.

^ According to the Annals of Tigernach; the Annals of Ulster say Lulach was killed in battle against Malcolm; see Anderson, ESSH, pp. 603–604.

^ Duncan, pp. 50–51 discusses the dating of these events.

^ Duncan, p. 43; Ritchie, pp. 7-8.

^ Duncan, p. 43; Oram, David I, p. 21.

^ Oram, David I, p. 21.

^ Orkneyinga Saga, c. 33, Duncan, pp. 42–43.

^ See Duncan, pp. 42–43, dating Ingibiorg's death to 1058. Oram, David I, pp. 22–23, dates the marriage of Malcolm and Ingibiorg to c. 1065.

^ Orkneyinga Saga, c. 33.

^ Duncan, pp. 54–55; Broun, p. 196; Anderson, SAEC, pp. 117–119.

^ Duncan, p. 55; Oram, David I, p. 23. Domnall's death is reported in the Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1085: "... Domnall son of Máel Coluim, king of Alba, ... ended [his] life unhappily." However, it is not certain that Domnall's father was this Máel Coluim. M.O. Anderson, ESSH, corrigenda p. xxi, presumes Domnall to have been a son of Máel Coluim mac Maíl Brigti, King or Mormaer of Moray, who is called "king of Scotland" in his obituary in 1029.

^ Saga of Harald Sigurðson, cc. 45ff.; Saga of Magnus Erlingsson, c. 30. See also Oram, David I, pp. 22–23.

^ Orkneyinga Saga, cc. 39–41; McDonald, Kingdom of the Isles, pp. 34–37.

^ Adam of Bremen says that he fought at Stamford Bridge, but he is alone in claiming this: Anderson, SAEC, p. 87, n. 3.

^ Oram, David I, p. 23; Anderson, SAEC, pp. 87–90. Orderic Vitalis states that the English asked for Malcolm's assistance.

^ Duncan, pp. 44–45; Oram, David I, pp. 23–24.

^ Oram, David I, p. 24; Clancy, "St. Margaret", dates the marriage to 1072.

^ Malcolm's sons by Ingebiorg were probably expected to succeed to the kingdom of the Scots, Oram, David I, p. 26.

^ Oram, p. 26.

^ Oram, pp. 30–31; Anderson, SAEC, p. 95.

^ Oram, David I, p. 33.

^ Anderson, SAEC, p. 100.

^ His death is reported by the Annals of Ulster amongst clerics and described as "happy", usually a sign that the deceased had entered religion.

^ Oram, David I, pp. 34–35; Anderson, SAEC, pp. 104–108.

^ Duncan, pp. 47–48; Oram, David I, pp. 35–36; Anderson, SAEC, pp. 109–110.

^ Oram, David I, pp.36–37.

^ Duncan, p. 54; Oram, David I, p. 42.

^ Anderson, SAEC, pp. 97–113, contains a number of English chronicles condemning Malcolm's several invasions of Northumbria.

^ The Annals of Innisfallen say he "was slain with his son in an unguarded moment in battle".

^ Oram, pp. 37–38; Anderson, SAEC, pp. 114–115.

^ The notice in the Annals of Innisfallen ends "and Margaréta his wife, died of grief for him."

^ Anderson, SAEC, pp. 111–113. M.O. Anderson reprints three regnal lists, lists F, I and K, which give a place of burial for Malcolm. These say Iona, Dunfermline, and Tynemouth, respectively.

^ Dunlop, p. 93.

References

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

Anderson, Alan Orr, Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers. D. Nutt, London, 1908.

Anderson, Marjorie Ogilvie, Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, revised edition 1980. ISBN 0-7011-1604-8

Anon., Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney, tr. Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards. Penguin, London, 1978. ISBN 0-14-044383-5

Barrell, A.D.M. Medieval Scotland. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000. ISBN 0-521-58602-X

Clancy, Thomas Owen, "St. Margaret" in Michael Lynch (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002. ISBN 0-19-211696-7

Barrow, G.W.S., Kingship and Unity: Scotland, 1000–1306. Reprinted, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1989. ISBN 0-7486-0104-X

Barrow, G.W.S., The Kingdom of the Scots. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2003. ISBN 0-7486-1803-1

Broun, Dauvit, The Irish Identity of the Kingdom of the Scots in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Boydell, Woodbridge, 1999. ISBN 0-85115-375-5

Burton, John Hill, The History of Scotland, New Edition, 8 vols, Edinburgh 1876

Duncan, A.A.M., The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. ISBN 0-7486-1626-8

Dunlop, Eileen, Queen Margaret of Scotland. National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2005. ISBN 1-901663-92-2

John of Fordun, Chronicle of the Scottish Nation, ed. William Forbes Skene, tr. Felix J.H. Skene, 2 vols. Reprinted, Llanerch Press, Lampeter, 1993. ISBN 1-897853-05-X

Hammond, Matthew H., "Ethnicity and Writing of Medieval Scottish History", in The Scottish Historical Review, Vol. 85, April, 2006, pp. 1-27

McDonald, R. Andrew, The Kingdom of the Isles: Scotland's Western Seaboard, c. 1100–c.1336. Tuckwell Press, East Linton, 1997. ISBN 1-898410-85-2

McDonald, R. Andrew, Outlaws of Medieval Scotland: Challenges to the Canmore Kings, 1058–1266. Tuckwell Press, East Linton, 2003. ISBN 1-86232-236-8

Oram, Richard, David I: The King Who Made Scotland. Tempus, Stroud, 2004. ISBN 0-7524-2825-X

Ritchie, R. L. Graeme, The Normans in Scotland, Edinburgh University Press, 1954

Reid, Norman, "Kings and Kingship: Canmore Dynasty" in Michael Lynch (ed.), op. cit.

Sturluson, Snorri, Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, tr. Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin, 1992. ISBN 0-292-73061-6

Young, James, ed., Historical References to the Scottish Family of Lauder, Glasgow, 1884

Malcolm III Canmore, King of Scotland (1057-93), aka Malcolm Ceann Mor or Bighead, was born 1031. In 1057 he avenged his family and assumed the crown for himself by defeating and slaying King Macbeth, who had killed his father, King Duncan.

Malcolm's rule was marked by many changes when bringing the culture and civilization of England to Scotland. In 1071 however, his reign overcome when Scotland was invaded by William the Conqeror of England who forced Malcolm to pay him homage at Abernethy in Perthshire.

King Malcolm III was killed on 13 Nov 1093 during an attack on Alnwidk in Northumberland. It is said that the the attack was to prevent an upcoming Norman invasion, but he was ambushed by one of his Norman friends named Morel. His wife died three days after. It is assumed that they were both buried at the Monastery of Iona.

The story of Dunfermline Abbey began in the spring of 1070 with the marriage in Dunfermline of King Malcolm III to the Saxon princess Margaret. She had come to Scotland as a refugee because of the Norman Conquest.

At that time, the Celtic Church was in decline and Christian witness in the community was maintained largely by secular clerics called Culdees, a name derived from two Gaelic words meaning devotees or servants of God. These men usually lived under a superior in a common enclosure attached to a settled community. Their manner of life was simple, their habits abstemious and they were required to support themselves by their own labours. They helped the sick and poor. They led public worship. One such settlement was at Dunfermline and its Church was situated almost certainly where the Abbey now stands, for we are told by Margaret's confessor and biographer that she resolved immediately after her marriage to found a church " in that place where her nuptials were celebrated." This is believed to have been the Culdee Church.

Malcolm was then 47. He was a man of powerful energies and intrepid courage, a good linguist but otherwise " illiterate and of no distinguished abilities." He was devoted to Margaret and accepted her judgement on ceremonial and religious matters. It was his second marriage.

Margaret was about 24, civilised, intelligent, given to good works and deeply religious. She was anxious to bring the church in Scotland into the main stream of catholic tradition and she approached this task with rare discretion, always working through her royal husband who, " being equally well acquainted with the Anglic language and his native Gaelic," acted as her interpreter in her encounters with the Culdee clergy. She so blended " severity of manners with an obliging civility that she was equally revered and loved by all who approached her. In her presence nothing unseemly was done or uttered." She died in 1093, on hearing of the death of her husband in battle and was interred in the church they had founded. She was canonised in 1250.

Malcolm III Canmore, King Of Scotland was crowned at Scone, 17 March 1057/8 was slain while besieging Alnwick Castle.

Buried Holy Trinity Church, Dumferline, Fifeshire, Scotland

Source: 'Ancestrial Roots of Sixty Colonists Who Came to New England between 1623 and 1650', 1969, Frederick Lewis Weis, p 111. 'Royalty for Commoners', Roderick W. Stuart, 1993, p 2.

Malcolm III of Scotland

Malcolm III

(Máel Coluim mac Donnchada)

King of Scots

Reign 1058–1093

Coronation 1057?/25 April 1058?, Scone

Born unclear

Birthplace Scotland

Died 13 November 1093

Place of death Alnwick, Northumberland, England

Buried Tynemouth

Predecessor Lulach (Lulach mac Gille Comgaín)

Edward

Successor Donald III (Domnall Bán mac Donnchada)

Consort Ingebjorg Finnsdotter

Margaret of Wessex

Offspring Duncan II (Donnchad mac Máel Coluim)

Edward, Edmund, Edgar,

Alexander I, David I

Royal House Dunkeld

Father Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crínáin)

Mother Suthen

Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (Modern Gaelic: Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh),[1] called in most Anglicised regnal lists Malcolm III, and in later centuries nicknamed Canmore, "Big Head"[2][3] or Long-neck [4] (died 13 November 1093), was King of Scots. It has also been argued recently that the real "Malcolm Canmore" was this Malcolm's great-grandson Malcolm IV, who is given this name in the contemporary notice of his death.[5] He was the eldest son of King Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crínáin). Malcolm's long reign, lasting 35 years, preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norman age.

Malcolm's Kingdom did not extend over the full territory of modern Scotland: the north and west of Scotland remained in Scandinavian, Norse-Gael and Gaelic control, and the areas under the control of the Kings of Scots would not advance much beyond the limits set by Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda) until the 12th century. Malcolm III fought a succession of wars against the Kingdom of England, which may have had as their goal the conquest of the English earldom of Northumbria. However, these wars did not result in any significant advances southwards. Malcolm's main achievement is to have continued a line which would rule Scotland for many years,[6] although his role as "founder of a dynasty" has more to do with the propaganda of his youngest son David, and his descendants, than with any historical reality.[7]

Malcolm's second wife, Saint Margaret of Scotland, was later beatified and is Scotland's only royal saint. However, Malcolm himself gained no reputation for piety. With the notable exception of Dunfermline Abbey he is not definitely associated with major religious establishments or ecclesiastical reforms.

Background

Malcolm's father Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crínáin) became king in late 1034, on the death of Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda), Duncan's maternal grandfather. According to John of Fordun, whose account is the original source of part at least of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Malcolm's mother was a niece of Siward, Earl of Northumbria,[8][9] but an earlier king-list gives her the Gaelic name Suthen.[10]

Duncan's reign was not successful and he was killed by Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaích) on 15 August 1040. Although Shakespeare's Macbeth presents Malcolm as a grown man and his father as an old one, it appears that Duncan was still young in 1040,[11] and Malcolm and his brother Donalbane (Domnall Bán) were children.[12] Malcolm's family did attempt to overthrow Macbeth in 1045, but Malcolm's grandfather Crínán of Dunkeld was killed in the attempt.[13]

Soon after the death of Duncan his two young sons were sent away for greater safety - exactly where is the subject of debate. According to one version, Malcolm (then aged about 9) was sent to England, and his younger brother Donalbane was sent to the Isles.[14][15] Based on Fordun's account, it was assumed that Malcolm passed most of Macbeth's seventeen year reign in the Kingdom of England at the court of Edward the Confessor.[16][17]

According to an alternative version, Malcolm's mother took both sons into exile at the court of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney, an enemy of Macbeth's family, and perhaps Duncan's kinsman by marriage.[18]

An English invasion in 1054, with Earl Siward in command, had as its goal the installation of Máel Coluim, "son of the King of the Cumbrians (i.e. of Strathclyde)". This Máel Coluim, perhaps a son of Owen the Bald, disappears from history after this brief mention. He has been confused with King Malcolm III.[19][20] In 1057 various chroniclers report the death of Macbeth at Malcolm's hand, on 15 August 1057 at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire.[21][22] Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach, who was crowned at Scone, probably on 8 September 1057. Lulach was killed by Malcolm, "by treachery",[23] near Huntly on 23 April 1058. After this, Malcolm became king, perhaps being inaugurated on 25 April 1058, although only John of Fordun reports this.[24]

Malcolm and Ingibiorg (The following texts are a repetition of the information already given above. Sylvia Bain)

Late medieval depiction of Máel Coluim III with MacDuib ("MacDuff"), from an MS (Corpus Christi MS 171) of Walter Bower's Scotichronicon.

If Orderic Vitalis is to be relied upon, one of Malcolm's earliest actions as King may have been to travel south to the court of Edward the Confessor in 1059 to arrange a marriage with Edward's kinswoman Margaret, who had arrived in England two years before from Hungary.[25] If he did visit the English court, he was the first reigning King of Scots to do so in more than eighty years. If a marriage agreement was made in 1059, however, it was not kept, and this may explain the Scots invasion of Northumbria in 1061 when Lindisfarne was plundered.[26] Equally, Malcolm's raids in Northumbria may have been related to the disputed "Kingdom of the Cumbrians", reestablished by Earl Siward in 1054, which was under Malcolm's control by 1070.[27]

The Orkneyinga saga reports that Malcolm married the widow of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Ingibiorg, a daughter of Finn Arnesson.[28] Although Ingibiorg is generally assumed to have died shortly before 1070, it is possible that she died much earlier, around 1058.[29] The Orkneyinga Saga records that Malcolm and Ingibiorg had a son, Duncan II (Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim), who was later king.[4] Some Medieval commentators, following William of Malmesbury, claimed that Duncan was illegitimate, but this claim is propaganda reflecting the need of Malcolm's descendants by Margaret to undermine the claims of Duncan's descendants, the Meic Uilleim.[30] Malcolm's son Domnall, whose death is reported in 1085, is not mentioned by the author of the Orkneyinga Saga. He is assumed to have been born to Ingibiorg.[31]

Malcolm's marriage to Ingibiorg secured him peace in the north and west. The Heimskringla tells that her father Finn had been an adviser to Harald Hardraade and, after falling out with Harald, was then made an Earl by Sweyn Estridsson, King of Denmark, which may have been another recommendation for the match.[32] Malcolm enjoyed a peaceful relationship with the Earldom of Orkney, ruled jointly by his stepsons, Paul and Erlend Thorfinnsson. The Orkneyinga Saga reports strife with Norway but this is probably misplaced as it associates this with Magnus Barefoot, who became king of Norway only in 1093, the year of Malcolm's death.[33]

Malcolm and Margaret

Máel Coluim and Margaret as depicted in a 16th century armorial. Note the coats of arms both bear on their clothing - Malcolm wears the Lion of Scotland, which historically was not used until the time of his great-grandson William the Lion; Margaret wears the supposed arms of Edward the Confessor, her grand-uncle, although the arms were in fact concocted in the later Middle Ages.

Although he had given sanctuary to Tostig Godwinson when the Northumbrians drove him out, Malcolm was not directly involved in the ill-fated invasion of England by Harald Hardraade and Tostig in 1066, which ended in defeat and death at the battle of Stamford Bridge.[34] In 1068, he granted asylum to a group of English exiles fleeing from William of Normandy, among them Agatha, widow of Edward the Confessor's nephew Edward the Exile, and her children: Edgar Ætheling and his sisters Margaret and Cristina. They were accompanied by Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria. The exiles were disappointed, however, if they had expected immediate assistance from the Scots.[35]

In 1069 the exiles returned to England, to join a spreading revolt in the north. Even though Gospatric and Siward's son Waltheof submitted by the end of the year, the arrival of a Danish army under Sweyn Estridsson seemed to ensure that William's position remained weak. Malcolm decided on war, and took his army south into Cumbria and across the Pennines, wasting Teesdale and Cleveland then marching north, loaded with loot, to Wearmouth. There Malcolm met Edgar and his family, who were invited to return with him, but did not. As Sweyn had by now been bought off with a large Danegeld, Malcolm took his army home. In reprisal, William sent Gospatric to raid Scotland through Cumbria. In return, the Scots fleet raided the Northumbrian coast where Gospatric's possessions were concentrated.[36] Late in the year, perhaps shipwrecked on their way to a European exile, Edgar and his family again arrived in Scotland, this time to remain. By the end of 1070, Malcolm had married Edgar's sister Margaret, the future Saint Margaret of Scotland.[37]

The naming of their children represented a break with the traditional Scots Regal names such as Malcolm, Cináed and Áed. The point of naming Margaret's sons, Edward after her father Edward the Exile, Edmund for her grandfather Edmund Ironside, Ethelred for her great-grandfather Ethelred the Unready and Edgar for her great-great-grandfather Edgar was unlikely to be missed in England, where William of Normandy's grasp on power was far from secure.[38] Whether the adoption of the classical Alexander for the future Alexander I of Scotland (either for Pope Alexander II or for Alexander the Great) and the biblical David for the future David I of Scotland represented a recognition that William of Normandy would not be easily removed, or was due to the repetition of Anglo-Saxon Royal name—another Edmund had preceded Edgar—is not known.[39] Margaret also gave Malcolm two daughters, Edith, who married Henry I of England, and Mary, who married Eustace III of Boulogne.

In 1072, with the Harrying of the North completed and his position again secure, William of Normandy came north with an army and a fleet. Malcolm met William at Abernethy and, in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle "became his man" and handed over his eldest son Duncan as a hostage and arranged peace between William and Edgar.[40] Accepting the overlordship of the king of the English was no novelty, previous kings had done so without result. The same was true of Malcolm; his agreement with the English king was followed by further raids into Northumbria, which led to further trouble in the earldom and the killing of Bishop William Walcher at Gateshead. In 1080, William sent his son Robert Curthose north with an army while his brother Odo punished the Northumbrians. Malcolm again made peace, and this time kept it for over a decade.[41]

Malcolm faced little recorded internal opposition, with the exception of Lulach's son Máel Snechtai. In an unusual entry, for the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains little on Scotland, it says that in 1078:

“ Malcholom [M%C3%A1el Coluim] seized the mother of Mælslæhtan [M%C3%A1el Snechtai] ... and all his treasures, and his cattle; and he himself escaped with difficulty.[42] ”

Whatever provoked this strife, Máel Snechtai survived until 1085.[43]

Malcolm and William Rufus

William Rufus, "the Red", King of the English (1087-1100).

When William Rufus became king of England after his father's death, Malcolm did not intervene in the rebellions by supporters of Robert Curthose which followed. In 1091, however, William Rufus confiscated Edgar Ætheling's lands in England, and Edgar fled north to Scotland. In May, Malcolm marched south, not to raid and take slaves and plunder, but to besiege Newcastle, built by Robert Curthose in 1080. This appears to have been an attempt to advance the frontier south from the River Tweed to the River Tees. The threat was enough to bring the English king back from Normandy, where he had been fighting Robert Curthose. In September, learning of William Rufus's approaching army, Malcolm withdrew north and the English followed. Unlike in 1072, Malcolm was prepared to fight, but a peace was arranged by Edgar Ætheling and Robert Curthose whereby Malcolm again acknowledged the overlordship of the English king.[44]

In 1092, the peace began to break down. Based on the idea that the Scots controlled much of modern Cumbria, it had been supposed that William Rufus's new castle at Carlisle and his settlement of English peasants in the surrounds was the cause. However, it is unlikely that Malcolm did control Cumbria, and the dispute instead concerned the estates granted to Malcolm by William Rufus's father in 1072 for his maintenance when visiting England. Malcolm sent messengers to discuss the question and William Rufus agreed to a meeting. Malcolm travelled south to Gloucester, stopping at Wilton Abbey to visit his daughter Edith and sister-in-law Cristina. Malcolm arrived there on 24 August 1093 to find that William Rufus refused to negotiate, insisting that the dispute be judged by the English barons. This Malcolm refused to accept, and returned immediately to Scotland.[45]

It does not appear that William Rufus intended to provoke a war,[46] but, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports, war came:

“ For this reason therefore they parted with great dissatisfaction, and the King Malcolm returned to Scotland. And soon after he came home, he gathered his army, and came harrowing into England with more hostility than behoved him ... ”

Malcolm was accompanied by Edward, his eldest son by Margaret and probable heir-designate (or tánaiste), and by Edgar.[47] Even by the standards of the time, the ravaging of Northumbria by the Scots was seen as harsh.[48]

Death

While marching north again, Malcolm was ambushed by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, whose lands he had devastated, near Alnwick on 13 November 1093. There he was killed by Arkil Morel, steward of Bamburgh Castle. The conflict became known as the Battle of Alnwick.[49] Edward was mortally wounded in the same fight. Margaret, it is said, died soon after receiving the news of their deaths from Edgar.[50] The Annals of Ulster say:

“ Mael Coluim son of Donnchad, over-king of Scotland, and Edward his son, were killed by the French i.e. in Inber Alda in England. His queen, Margaret, moreover, died of sorrow for him within nine days.[51] ”

Malcolm's body was taken to Tynemouth Priory for burial, where it remains to this day. A body of a local farmer was sent north for burial in Dunfermline Abbey in the reign of his son Alexander or perhaps on Iona.[52]

On 19 June 1250, following the canonisation of Malcolm's wife Margaret by Pope Innocent IV, Margaret's remains were disinterred and placed in a reliquary. Tradition has it that as the reliquary was carried to the high altar of Dunfermline Abbey, past Malcolm's grave, it became too heavy to move. As a result, Malcolm's remains were also disinterred, and buried next to Margaret beside the altar.[53]

Issue

Malcolm and Ingebjorg had a son:

Duncan II of Scotland, suceeded his father as King of Scotland

Malcolm and Margaret had eight children, six sons and two daughters:

Edward, killed 1093.

Edmund of Scotland

Ethelred, abbot of Dunkeld

King Edgar of Scotland

King Alexander I of Scotland

King David I of Scotland

Edith of Scotland, also called Matilda, married King Henry I of England

Mary of Scotland, married Eustace III of Boulogne

Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (anglicised Malcolm III) (1030x1038–13 November 1093) was King of Scots. He was the eldest son of Donnchad mac Crínáin. While often known as Malcolm Canmore or Malcolm Ceanmor[2], the earliest epithet applied to him is Long-Neck.[3] It appears that the real "Malcolm Canmore" was this Máel Coluim's great-grandson Máel Coluim IV.[4]

Máel Coluim's long reign, spanning five decades, did not mark the beginning of the Scoto-Norman age, nor can Máel Coluim's reign be seen as extending the authority of Alba's kings over the Scandinavian, Norse-Gael and Gaelic north and west of Scotland. The areas under the control of the Kings of Scots did not advance much beyond the limits set by Máel Coluim mac Cináeda until the 12th century and 13th century. Máel Coluim's wars against the kingdom of England, which may have had as their goal the conquest of the rump of the earldom of Northumbria which remained under direct English rule, did not result in any significant advances southwards. Máel Coluim's main achievement is often thought to match that of Cináed mac Ailpín, in continuing a line which would rule Scotland for many years,[5] although his role as "founder of a dynasty" has more to do with the propaganda of his youngest son David, and his descendants, than with any historical reality.[6]

While Máel Coluim's second wife, Saint Margaret of Scotland, was beatified, Máel Coluim himself is not regarded as being of notable piety, which distinguishes him from his predecessors and successors. [citation needed] Few, if any, religious reforms can be dated to his reign, and he is not definitely associated with major religious establishments except Dunfermline Abbey.

-------------------------------

"Malcolm III "Canmore" was the 19th King of Scotland and reigned from 1058 until 1093. Even when Macbeth was dead, Malcolm was not properly King of Scotland. Some people preferred Lulach, Macbeth's stepson. So Malcolm had Lulach ambushed and killed. Only then could he truly call himself King. Malcolm's nickname was Canmore, which meas 'the big-headed.' Though he spoke English, Latin and Gaelic, he could not read or write. He was a warrior, and he wanted to enlarge his kingdom.

"Malcolm invaded Northumberland in England and killed those whom he could not bring back as slaves. In return the English King, William the Conqueror, came north, made Malcolm submit to him, and took Malcolm's eldest son Duncan back with him as a hostage. Malcolm still would not keep the peace. Twice more he invaded England, killing and plundering; each time the English returned and forced him to make peace. Yet in 1093 Malcolm tried again. In an attack upon England, with his son Edward, he was ambushed and killed by the Earl of Northumberland. Two Englishmen buried Malcolm: twenty years later his body was dug up and brought back to Dunfermline Abbey to lie beside that of his Queen Margaret.

"Margaret (she later became St. Margaret) was Malcolm's second wife. She was a princess of the old royal line of England which had been pushed aside by William the Conqueror. She was a very religious person, who persuaded Malcolm that many of the old customs of the Church in Scotland should be changed to make them like Christian practices elsewhere. She built churches and monasteries. She and Malcolm turned the fort on the rock at Edinburgh into a royal castle, filled with rich hangings and furniture, and made there the tiny chapel which today still bears her name. She was lying ill when her eldest son Edgar came to tell her that Malcolm and Edward were dead. She died four days later. As her body lay in her chapel, Malcolm's brother Donald Bane was proclaiming himslef the new King of Scotland and was laying siege to the Castle. Under cover of mist, Margaret's servants stole out with the coffin and ferried it across the Forth to Dunfermline." (KINGS AND QUEENS OF SCOTLAND by Eileen Dunlop and Anthony Kamm, 1984, pages 4 and 8.)

Malcolm Canmore III was a King of the Scots. "Canmore" means "Great Head." Soon after his father's death, he was entrusted to the care of Siward, Earl of Bernicia since 1038 and Earl of Northumbria from 1041. In the court of Edward he learned to speak both English and French as well as his native Gaelic and thus did his own interpretations in his own court. He was Prince of Cumbria and de facto ruler in Lothian many years before before becoming ruler of all Scotland. He became king upon slaying Lulach in 1058. In 1061 he invaded Northumbria while Tostig was in Rome - a dispute settled amicably by Edward. His Celtic and English connections aided in his 36-year reign of little opposition. In becoming Earl Tostig's "sworn brother," he effectively joined the Norman "Conquest family." He was slain at the end of his successful siege of Alnwick by Mowbray, a Norman knight, who when delivering atop his spear the keys to the castle, shoved the spear through Malcolm's eye. (William Greer.)

He was married to Margaret St. (daughter of Edward and Agatha Princess) about 1069 in Dunfermlin Abbey, Fife, Scotland. Margaret St. was born about 1046 in Hungary. She died on 16 Nov 1093 in Edinburgh Castle, Scotland. She was buried in Dunfermlin Abbey, Fifeshire, Scotland. Margaret was a Queen Consort. She was named in honor of Saint Margaret of Antioch and, likewise, was occasionally referred to as "the

Malcolm III 'Canmore'

1057-1093

Malcolm III, nicknamed 'Canmore'. which translates from Gaelic as ' big head.' was born in 1031, he was the eldest son of the ill-fated King Duncan. When his father was killed in battle at Bothganowan by Macbeth, who then usurped Scotland's throne, Malcolm escaped south and took refuge at the court of the English King Hardicanute. He remained an exile in England until in 1053. Hardicanute's successor, the devout Saxon king Edward the Confessor, agreed to render assistance to regain Malcolm's lost throne. Malcolm marched into Scotland with Siward, Earl of Northumbria. He became King after slaying Macbeth at Lumphanan in Mar and was crowned at Scone Abbey on 25th April, 1058.

The Family of Malcolm III

Malcolm was married firstly to Ingeborg of Halland, widow or daughter of the Earl of Orkney, it remains unsure which. The marriage produced three sons:-

(1) DUNCAN, KING OF SCOTS d. 1094

(2) Donald d. 1086

(3) Malcolm d. after 1094

After the death of Ingeborg, he took as his second wife Margaret, the niece of Edward the Confessor, of the Atheling Royal House. They had issue:-

(1) Edward killed 1093

(2) EDMUND, KING OF SCOTS d. 1097

(3) Ethelred, Abbot of Dunkeld

(4) EDGAR, KING OF SCOTS d. 1107

(5) ALEXANDER, KING OF SCOTS d.1124

(6) DAVID I, KING OF SCOTS d. 1153

(7) Edith of Scotland d. 1118 m. Henry I of England

(8) Mary of Scotland m. Eustace, Count of Boulogne

The ancient Saxon House of Wessex had been displaced by the Norman invader William the Conqueror. Margaret Atheling, a dispossessed princess of the royal Saxon line, arrived in Scotland in 1068, where she sought refuge with her brother, Edgar Atheling. Margaret was said to be a beautiful and highly pious woman and Malcolm was besotted by her. Although preferring a religious life, she eventually consented to become the wife of the King of Scots.

Disputes concerning the boundaries of Cumbria and Lothian arose with the new King of England, the formidable William the Conqueror. The Conqueror, not a man to do things by halves, marched north to the Tay, where his large army was met by a great English fleet. Malcolm responded with alacrity, he agreed to meet William for talks at Abernethy. he then paid homage to the English King and agreed to surrender his eldest son by his first marriage, Duncan, as security for his future obedience.

The new Queen of Scots held considerable influence with her indulgent husband. She was highly religious and humane and exceedingly generous to the poor. She frequently washed the feet of beggars and performed many similar acts of charity for which she gained the lasting respect of her subjects.

The Queen attempted to get women admitted into places of worship, a curious prohibition that then existed in the Gaelic Church. She also campaigned to forbid men to marry their step mothers. Margaret is said to have secured the observance of the Sabbath by banning all work on Sundays and re-introduced the practice of saying grace after meals to Scotland.

The Conqueror's successor, William Rufus, after driving the Scots north of the Solway, invited their King for talks. On the Scottish King's arrival at Gloucester, William delivered a stinging snub to Malcolm by refusing to receive him. Enraged at the insult to his dignity, Malcolm returned to Scotland and retaliated by riding with an army into Northumbria.

On 13th November, 1093, on accepting the surrender of the Castle of Alnwick, Malcolm leaned forward from his horse to receive the keys from the point of the lance of its keeper, when the lance was treacherously thrust into his eye. He died in agony, his eldest son by Margaret, Edward, was also killed. The throne of Scotland was seized by Malcolm's brother Donald Bane.

The disastrous news was carried to Margaret at Edinburgh Castle, the Queen was already mortally ill and the castle was under siege by her brother-in-law. She died three days later and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey. Her descendant, King Alexander II, petitioned Pope Innocent IV to canonize his devout ancestress. By Papal Bull of 1249 she was formally declared a saint in the Catholic church.

On 19th June, 1250, her body and that of her spouse, Malcolm III, were exhumed and removed to a magnificent shrine. 19th June was thereafter celebrated in Scotland as the feast of St. Margaret. Her remains, along with those of her husband, were not allowed to rest in peace however. In 1560 St. Margaret's shrine was desecrated by Scots Calvinist iconoclasts. Mary, Queen of Scots had St. Margaret's head removed as a reliquary to Edinburgh Castle, as she hoped to call on the assistance of the saint in childbirth.

In 1597 Margaret's earthly peregrinations continued, when her head was taken home by a pivate gentleman, it then embarked upon further journeyings, arriving in Antwerp and finally reaching the Scot's College at Douai, France. It disappeared completely during the French Revolution. Phillip II of Spain had the remains of Margaret and Malcolm Canmore translated to a shrine at El Escorial, seat of the Catholic Kings of Spain.

• Malcolm III "Ceanmor" (Longneck) I King of Scotland

born about 1033 Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland

died 13 November 1093 Alnwick, Northumberland, England

buried Holy Trinity Church, Dumferline, Fifeshire, Scotland

father:

• Duncan I King of Scotland

born about 1013 Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland

died 14 August 1040 Iona, near Elgin, Scotland (killed By Macbeth)

buried Iona, near Elgin, Scotland

mother:

• Sibyl Fitzsiward of Northumberland

born about 1014 Northumberland, England

died 1070

married 1030 Scotland

siblings:

• Melmare (Maelmuire) (Melkofr) Earl of Atholl

born about 1040 Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland

• Donald III "Bane" King of Scotland born about 1033/34 Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland

died after 1097 Rescobie, Angusshire, Scotland buried Iona, Argyllshire, Scotland

Duncan Earl of Moray born about 1038 Morayshire, Scotland

spouse (1st):

• Ingibiorg "Earl's Mother" Finnsdottir

born about 1021 Osteraat, Yrje, Norway

died about 1066

married 1059

children (from 1st marriage):

• Duncan II King of Scotland born 1060 died 12 November 1094 Mondynes, Scotland

Malcolm Prince of Scotland born 1062 died 1085

Donald MacCalum born 1064 died 1085

spouse (2nd):

• St. Margaret "Atheling" Queen of Scotland

born about 1042/45 Wessex, England

died 16 November 1093 Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Mid-Lothian, Scotland

buried Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland

married 1067/69 Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland

children (from 2nd marriage):

• Matilda "Atheling" Princess of Scotland

born about 1079/80 Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland

died 1 May 1118 Westminster, Middlesex, England

buried June 1118 Church of St. Peter, Westminster, Middlesex, England

• Alexander I "The Fierce" King of Scotland born about 1077/78 Scotland

died 23 April 1124 Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland

buried 25 April 1124 Dunfermline Abbey, Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland

• David I "The Saint" King of Scotland born about 1080/82 Scotland

died 24 May 1153 Carlisle, Cumberland, England

buried Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland

Edmund Prince of Scotland born about 1070 Scotland died Montague, Somersetshire, England

Edward Prince of Scotland born about 1068 Scotland died 16 November 1093 Edwards Isle, Scotland

• Æthelred Earl of Fife Prince of Scotland born about 1072 Scotland

died 13 November 1093 Scotland buried Kilremont Church

• Mary Princess of Scotland born about 1084 Scotland

died 31 May 1116 St. Saviors Monastery, Bermondsey, Middlesex, England

buried Bermondsey, Middlesex, England

Edgar King of Scotland born about 1074/75 Scotland

died 8 Jan 1106/07 Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Mid-Lothian, Scotland buried Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland

unnamed Prince of Scotland born about 1074 Scotland

unnamed Prince of Scotland born about 1076 Scotland

biographical and/or anecdotal:

Malcolm III Ceanmor, King Of Scotland was crowned at Scone, 17 March 1057/8

and was slain while besieging Alnwick Castle.

Buried Holy Trinity Church, Dumferline, Fifeshire, Scotland

Macbeth siezed the throne of Scotland in 1040 after defeating and killing Duncan I near Elgin.

He based his claim to the crown on his wife's royal descent (Duncan's former wife Sibyl).

Malcolm III, (son of Duncan I), and Earl Siward of Northumberland defeated Macbeth at

Dunsinane in 1054, but they did not dethrone him. Three years later, Malcolm III killed

Macbeth at Lumphanan. Macbeth's stepson Lulach reigned for a few months,

and then Malcolm III succeeded him as king.

William Shakespeare based his play, Macbeth, one of his greatest tragedies,

upon a distorted version of these events which he found in

Raphael Holinshed's 'Chronicle of Scottish History.'

The only kernel of historical truth in the play is Duncan's death at the hand of Macbeth.

From this fact, Shakespeare drew his portrait of ambition leading to a violent and tragic end.

---------------------------------------------------------

King MALCOLM III Canmore "Longneck" of Scotland

ABT 1033 - 13 Nov 1093

ID Number: I3023

TITLE: King

OCCUPATION: Reigned 1057-1093; 25 Apr 1058, Scone Abbey, Perthshire

RESIDENCE: Scotland

BIRTH: ABT 1033, Of Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland

DEATH: 13 Nov 1093, Killed In Battle At Alnwick, Northumberland, Scotland

BURIAL: Holy Trinity Chu, Dumferline, Fifeshire, Scotland

RESOURCES: See: [S11] [S443] [S590] [S604] [S790] [S1570] [S1905] [S2142] [S3107] [S2016] [S3753]

Father: DUNCAN III "The Gracious" of Scotland

Mother: SYBIL FITZ_SIWARD of Northumbria

Family 1 : INGIBORG FINNSDATTER

MARRIAGE: 1059

+DUNCAN II of Scotland

MALCOLM of Scotland 

DONALD CAENNMOR of Scotland
Family 2 : MARGARET "Atheling" Saint of Scotland

MARRIAGE: 1068, Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, Scotland [S443]

EDWARD of Scotland 

ETHRELRED of Scotland
EDGAR of Scotland
ALEXANDER I "the Fierce" of Scotland
+MATILDA "Atheling" of Scotland

+DAVID I "The Saint" of Scotland

+MARY CAENNMOR of Scotland

Notes

"Scotland was then ruled by Thorfinn in the northern districts and MacBeth in the southern districts. Malcolm, Duncan's eldest son, rebelled twice against MacBeth in an effort to gain the throne. His grandfather, Crinan, was slain in 1045 near Dunkeld "with nine times twenty heroes" as he led an aborted attempt to put his grandson on the throne. The second attempt was more successful as Malcolm, at the head of an English Saxon army defeated and killed MacBeth while his Norwegian allies were engaged elsewhere and Malcolm ascended the throne in 1057 as King Malcolm III Ceann Mor (Canmore).

In 1068, Malcolm took as his second wife, Margaret, later known and revered as St. Margaret of Scotland. She had fled England with her brother Edgar Aetheling after the Norman Conquest. During Malcolm's 37 year reign, the first events now known as Highland Games were held on the Braes of Mar to choose the best available men to serve as his servants and soldiers. His death in battle in December 1093 and the death of his wife, several days later brought on a turbulent time which saw Malcolm's eldest son, King Duncan II murdered by Malcolm's brother Donald Bane, Lord of the Isles, in order to become king.

Another son, Edgar, finally secured the throne in 1097 with the help of another English army of Saxons and Normans led by his mother's brother, Edgar Aetheling. King Malcolm III's hereditary possessions devolved on his youngest brother, Maelmare, the first celtic Earl of Atholl and on his death, the earldom passed to Malcolm III's namesake, the second son of his first marriage.

Malcolm III., called Canmore (Ceanmohr, or Great-head), King of Scotland, was eldest son of Duncan, who was murdered by Macbeth in 1039. After Duncan's death Malcolm fled for safety to his kinsman, Siward, Danish Earl of Northumberland, and continued to live for many years in England. In 1054 Siward, with the sanction of Edward the Confessor, led an army into Scotland, encountered Macbeth near Dunsinane, defeated him, and left Malcolm in possession. Macbeth retired into the North, and the contest was only ended in 1056, by his defeat and death at Lumphanan.

Malcolm remained at peace with England during the reign of Edward the Confessor, but on the accession of Harold he favoured the attempt of Tostig. After the battle of Hastings he welcomed to his court Edgar the Atheling, with his mother and two sisters, and soon married one of them, the Princess Margaret.

In 1070 he invaded England, ravaged Durham, and carried off so many prisoners that for years after English slaves were found in every hamlet of Scotland. This raid was avenged by a more savage and destructive devastation of Northumbria by William the Conqueror. Malcolm agreed to do homage, and Edgar left his court, but he continued to give his protection to the English exiles. Disputes arose with William Rufus, and in 1091 Malcolm again invaded England, but retired without fighting.

William invaded Scotland the next year, but peace was made by the mediation of Duke Robert and Edgar. In 1093 Malcolm once more made an incursion into England and besieged Alnwick Castle. He was attacked by Roger de Mowbray and killed in the battle, November 13th of that year. His queen, Margaret, heard the tidings, and died three days later.

Malcolm III Caennmor of Scotland, King of Scotland Born: ABT 1031 Acceded: 25 APR 1058, Scone Abbey, Perthshire Died: 13 NOV 1093, Alnwick Castle Interred: Escorial, Madrid, Spain. Some say died 1098. Slew Macbeth 1057. King of Strathclyde.

Malcolm III (nickname Malcolm Canmore ("Big Head') DT1a c.)1031-1093

King of Scots (1058--93), the son of Duncan I, who was slain by Macbeth in 1040. He returned from exile in 1054, and conquered S Scotland; but he did not become king until he had defeated and killed Macbeth (1057) and disposed of Macbeth's stepson, Lulach (1058). He married as his second wife the English Princess Margaret (later St Margaret), sister of Edgar the Ætheling, and launched five invasions of England between 1061 and his death in a skirmish near Alnwick, Northumberland."

Children:

Edward, Prince of SCOTLAND b. ABT 1068 Scotland, d. 16 NOV 1093 Edwards Isle, SCT Edmund, Prince of SCOTLAND b. ABT 1070 Scotland

Ethelred, Prince of SCOTLAND b. ABT 1072 Scotland, d. 13 NOV 1093 Scotland

Prince of SCOTLAND, b. ABT 1074 Scotland

Edgar, King of Scotland b. ABT 1074/75 Scotland, d. 8 JAN 1106/7 Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Mid-Lothian, Scotland

Prince of SCOTLAND, b. ABT 1076 Scotland

Alexander I, King of SCOTLAND b. ABT 1077/78 Scotland. d. 23 APR 1124 Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland

Matilda "Atheling", Princess of Scotland

David I "the Saint", King of SCOTLAND

Mary, Princess of SCOTLAND b. ABT 1084 Scotland, d. 31 MAY 1116 St. Saviors Monastery, Bermondsey, Middlesex, England

"p.266]that year he formed an alliance with Tostig, who was the son of Earl Godwin and successor to Siward as ruler of Northumberland. Then taking advantage of the death of Thorfinn, Macbeth's most powerful coadjutor, the allies again entered the domain of the latter and on the 15th of August, 1057, Malcolm killed Macbeth in battle at Lumphanan.10

Malcolm then ascended the throne. Having married Ingiborg, widow of Thorfinn, he seems soon afterwards to have united the different states of the north into the single kingdom of Scotia. Within a few years he became so powerful as to attempt the invasion of England.11 In 1068-9, Ingiborg apparently having died in the meantime, he married Margaret,12 sister of Edgar AEtheling, the Saxon heir to the English crown, who with his family and followers, had been driven out of England after the coming of the Normans in 1066, and had taken refuge in Scotland.

This King Malcolm is known in history as Malcolm Canmore, so named from the size of his head, the Celtic words "cean mohr" meaning "head big." The possession of the Anglian province of Northumbria known as Lothian, which had been ceded to his great-grandfather, Malcolm mac Kenneth, after the battle of Carham in 1018, in Malcolm Canmore, became definitely confirmed to the crown of Scotland.13 This union resulted in bringing under one government the Teutonic races of the eastern, northern, and western coasts, and the Celtic Gaels and Cymri of Galloway, Strathclyde, and Scotia proper. Malcolm's marriages, first with Ingiborg the Norse jarl's widow, and secondly, with Margaret, daughter of the Saxon royal family, may be taken as presaging the union of races that was to follow in Scotland?14 As the most substantial and enduring attributes of Scottish civilization owe their origin to this amalgamation, and are in a great measure due to the infusion of Teutonic blood into the veins of the Celt, we cannot do better in this connection than to consider at length the nature and extent of the English elements entering into the composition of the feudal Scotchman."

"Malcolm then ascended the throne. Having married Ingiborg, widow of Thorfinn, he seems soon afterwards to have united the different states of the north into the single kingdom of Scotia. Within a few years he became so powerful as to attempt the invasion of England.11 In 1068-9, Ingiborg apparently having died in the meantime, he married Margaret,12 sister of Edgar AEtheling, the Saxon heir to the English crown, who with his family and followers, had been driven out of England after the coming of the Normans in 1066, and had taken refuge in Scotland.

This King Malcolm is known in history as Malcolm Canmore, so named from the size of his head, the Celtic words "cean mohr" meaning "head big." The possession of the Anglian province of Northumbria known as Lothian, which had been ceded to his great-grandfather, Malcolm mac Kenneth, after the battle of Carham in 1018, in Malcolm Canmore, became definitely confirmed to the crown of Scotland. This union resulted in bringing under one government the Teutonic races of the eastern, northern, and western coasts, and the Celtic Gaels and Cymri of Galloway, Strathclyde, and Scotia proper. Malcolm's marriages, first with Ingiborg the Norse jarl's widow, and secondly, with Margaret, daughter of the Saxon royal family, may be taken as presaging the union of races that was to follow in Scotland?14 As the most substantial and enduring attributes of Scottish civilization owe their origin to this amalgamation, and are in a great measure due to the infusion of Teutonic blood into the veins of the Celt, we cannot do better in this connection than to consider at length the nature and extent of the English elements entering into the composition of the feudal Scotchman."

Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (Modern Gaelic: Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh),[1] called in most Anglicised regnal lists Malcolm III, and in later centuries nicknamed Canmore, "Big Head"[2] [3] or Long-neck [4] (died 13 November 1093), was King of Scots. It has also been argued recently that the real "Malcolm Canmore" was this Malcolm's great-grandson Malcolm IV, who is given this name in the contemporary notice of his death.[5] He was the eldest son of King Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crínáin). Malcolm's long reign, lasting 35 years, preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norman age.

Malcolm's Kingdom did not extend over the full territory of modern Scotland: the north and west of Scotland remained in Scandinavian, Norse-Gael and Gaelic control, and the areas under the control of the Kings of Scots would not advance much beyond the limits set by Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda) until the 12th century. Malcolm III fought a succession of wars against the Kingdom of England, which may have had as their goal the conquest of the English earldom of Northumbria. However, these wars did not result in any significant advances southwards. Malcolm's main achievement is to have continued a line which would rule Scotland for many years,[6] although his role as "founder of a dynasty" has more to do with the propaganda of his youngest son David, and his descendants, than with any historical reality.[7]

Malcolm's second wife, Saint Margaret of Scotland, was later beatified and is Scotland's only royal saint. However, Malcolm himself gained no reputation for piety. With the notable exception of Dunfermline Abbey he is not definitely associated with major religious establishments or ecclesiastical reforms.

Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (Modern Gaelic: Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh,[1] called in most Anglicised regnal lists Malcolm III, and in later centuries nicknamed Canmore, "Big Head"[2][3] or Long-neck [4]; died 13 November 1093), was King of Scots. It has also been argued recently that the real "Malcolm Canmore" was this Malcolm's great-grandson Malcolm IV, who is given this name in the contemporary notice of his death.[5] He was the eldest son of King Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crínáin). Malcolm's long reign, lasting 35 years, preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norman age.

Malcolm's Kingdom did not extend over the full territory of modern Scotland: the north and west of Scotland remained in Scandinavian, Norse-Gael and Gaelic control, and the areas under the control of the Kings of Scots would not advance much beyond the limits set by Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda) until the 12th century. Malcolm III fought a succession of wars against the Kingdom of England, which may have had as their goal the conquest of the English earldom of Northumbria. However, these wars did not result in any significant advances southwards. Malcolm's main achievement is to have continued a line which would rule Scotland for many years,[6] although his role as "founder of a dynasty" has more to do with the propaganda of his youngest son David, and his descendants, than with any historical reality.[7]

Malcolm's second wife, Saint Margaret of Scotland, was later beatified and is Scotland's only royal saint. However, Malcolm himself gained no reputation for piety. With the notable exception of Dunfermline Abbey he is not definitely associated with major religious establishments or ecclesiastical reforms.

Malcolm's father Duncan I (Donnchad mac Crínáin) became king in late 1034, on the death of Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda), Duncan's maternal grandfather. According to John of Fordun, whose account is the original source of part at least of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Malcolm's mother was a niece of Siward, Earl of Northumbria,[8][9] but an earlier king-list gives her the Gaelic name Suthen.[10]

Duncan's reign was not successful and he was killed by Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaích) on 15 August 1040. Although Shakespeare's Macbeth presents Malcolm as a grown man and his father as an old one, it appears that Duncan was still young in 1040,[11] and Malcolm and his brother Donalbane (Domnall Bán) were children.[12] Malcolm's family did attempt to overthrow Macbeth in 1045, but Malcolm's grandfather Crínán of Dunkeld was killed in the attempt.[13]

Soon after the death of Duncan his two young sons were sent away for greater safety - exactly where is the subject of debate. According to one version, Malcolm (then aged about 9) was sent to England, and his younger brother Donalbane was sent to the Isles.[14][15] Based on Fordun's account, it was assumed that Malcolm passed most of Macbeth's seventeen year reign in the Kingdom of England at the court of Edward the Confessor.[16][17]

According to an alternative version, Malcolm's mother took both sons into exile at the court of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney, an enemy of Macbeth's family, and perhaps Duncan's kinsman by marriage.[18]

An English invasion in 1054, with Earl Siward in command, had as its goal the installation of Máel Coluim, "son of the King of the Cumbrians (i.e. of Strathclyde)". This Máel Coluim, perhaps a son of Owen the Bald, disappears from history after this brief mention. He has been confused with King Malcolm III.[19][20] In 1057 various chroniclers report the death of Macbeth at Malcolm's hand, on 15 August 1057 at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire.[21][22] Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach, who was crowned at Scone, probably on 8 September 1057. Lulach was killed by Malcolm, "by treachery",[23] near Huntly on 23 April 1058. After this, Malcolm became king, perhaps being inaugurated on 25 April 1058, although only John of Fordun reports this.

If Orderic Vitalis is to be relied upon, one of Malcolm's earliest actions as King may have been to travel south to the court of Edward the Confessor in 1059 to arrange a marriage with Edward'