| Malcolm I | |
|---|---|
 Malcolm I in theScottish National Gallery | |
| King of Alba (Scotland) | |
| Reign | 943–954 |
| Predecessor | Constantine II |
| Successor | Indulf |
| Born | 5 October 897 |
| Died | 954 possiblyFetteresso |
| Issue | Dub, King of Alba Kenneth II, King of Alba |
| House | Alpin |
| Father | Donald II, King of Alba |
Máel Coluim mac Domnaill (anglicisedMalcolm I; 5 October 897 – 954) wasking of Alba (before 943–954), becoming king when his cousinConstantine II abdicated to become a monk. He was the son ofDonald II.
Malcolm was born in 897, the son of Donald II, who had reigned from 889 until 900.[1] By the 940s, he was no longer a young man, and may have become impatient in awaiting the throne. Willingly or not—the 11th centuryThe Prophecy of Berchán, a verse history in the form of a supposed prophecy, states that it was not a voluntary decision that Constantine II abdicated in 943 and entered a monastery, leaving the kingdom to Máel Coluim.[2]
Seven years later, theChronicle of the Kings of Alba says:
[Malcolm I] plundered the English as far as theRiver Tees, and he seized a multitude of people and many herds of cattle: and the Scots called this the raid of Albidosorum, that is, Nainndisi. But others say that Constantine made this raid, asking of the king, Malcolm, that the kingship should be given to him for a week's time, so that he could visit the English. In fact, it was Malcolm who made the raid, but Constantine incited him, as I have said.[3]
Woolf suggests that the association of Constantine with the raid is a late addition, one derived from a now-lost saga or poem.[4]
Máel Coluim was the third in his immediate family to die violently, his fatherDonald II and grandfatherConstantine I both having met similar fates 54 years earlier in 900 and 77 years earlier in 877, respectively.
In 945,Edmund I of England, having expelledAmlaíb Cuarán (Olaf Sihtricsson) fromNorthumbria, devastatedCumbria and blinded two sons ofDomnall mac Eógain, king ofStrathclyde. It is said that he then "let" or "commended" Strathclyde to Máel Coluim in return for an alliance.[5] What is to be understood by "let" or "commended" is unclear, but it may well mean that Máel Coluim had been the overlord of Strathclyde and that Edmund recognised this while taking lands in southern Cumbria for himself.[6]
TheChronicle of the Kings of Alba says that Máel Coluim took an army intoMoray "and slew Cellach". Cellach is not named in the surviving genealogies of therulers of Moray, and his identity is unknown.[7]
Máel Coluim appears to have kept his agreement with the late English king, which may have been renewed with the new king, Edmund having been murdered in 946 and succeeded by his brotherEadred. Eric Haraldsson tookYork in 948, before being driven out by Eadred, and whenAmlaíb Cuarán again tookYork in 949–950, Máel Coluim raided Northumbria as far south as theTees taking "a multitude of people and many herds of cattle" according to the Chronicle.[8] TheAnnals of Ulster for 952 report a battle between "the men of Alba and the Britons [of Strathclyde] and the English" against the foreigners,i.e., the Northmen or theNorse–Gaels. This battle is not reported by theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, and it is unclear whether it should be related to the expulsion of Amlaíb Cuarán from York or the return of Eric.[9]
TheAnnals of Ulster report that Máel Coluim was killed in 954. Other sources place this most probably in theMearns, either atFetteresso following the Chronicle, or atDunnottar followingThe Prophecy of Berchán. He was buried onIona. Some versions of theChronicle, and theChronicle of Melrose, are read as placing Máel Coluim's death atBlervie, nearForres.[10]
The name of Máel Coluim's wife is not known; however, it is known he had 2 sons:
For primary sources see alsoExternal linksbelow.
| Preceded by | King of Alba 943–954 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
