| Indulf | |
|---|---|
 1734 imaginary engraving of Indulf by Alexander Bannerman | |
| King of Alba (Scotland) | |
| Reign | 954–962 |
| Predecessor | Malcolm I |
| Successor | Dub |
| Born | c. 927 |
| Died | 962 Cullen? or Monastery ofSt Andrews |
| Burial | |
| Issue | Cuilén, King of Alba Amlaíb, King of Alba Eochaid |
| House | Alpin |
| Father | Constantine II, King of Alba |
Ildulb mac Causantín,anglicised asIndulf orIndulph,[1] nicknamedAn Ionsaighthigh, "the Aggressor"[2] (died 962) wasking of Alba from 954 to 962. He was the son ofConstantine II; his mother may have been a daughter of EarlEadulf I of Bernicia, who was an exile in Scotland.[3]
Indulf was probably baptised in 927. According toWilliam of Malmesbury,Æthelstan stood godfather to a son of Constantine at theChurch of Dacre. TheAnglo-Saxon Chronicle dates the meeting of Æthelstan with the northern kings atEamont to the 12 July 927. So, it is likely that this baptism occurred on, or around, the Feast ofSt Hildulf, which Alex Woolf suggests may be the source of his uncommon name.[4]
John of Fordun and others supposed that Indulf had beenking of Strathclyde in the reign of his predecessor, based on their understanding that thekingdom of Strathclyde had become a part of thekingdom of Alba in the 940s. This, however, is no longer accepted.[5]
TheChronicle of the Kings of Alba says: "In his timeoppidum Eden", usually identified asEdinburgh,[6] "was evacuated, and abandoned to the Scots until the present day." This has been read as indicating thatLothian, or some large part of it, fell to Indulf at this time. However, the conquest of Lothian is likely to have been a process rather than a single event, and the frontier between the lands of the kings of Alba andBernicia may have lain south and east of Edinburgh many years before Indulf's reign.[7]
Indulf's death is reported by theChronicon Scotorum in 962, theChronicle of the Kings of Alba adding that he was killed fightingVikings nearCullen, at theBattle of Bauds. TheProphecy of Berchán, however, claims that he died "in the house of the same holy apostle, where his father [died]", that is at thecéli démonastery ofSt Andrews. He was buried onIona.[8]
Indulf was succeeded byDub (Dub mac Maíl Coluim), son of his predecessor. His sonsCuilén andAmlaíb were later kings. Eochaid, a third son, was killed with Cuilén by the men ofStrathclyde in 971.
Indulf Died: 962 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Alba 954–962 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
