Duncan, Thorfinn, and Malcolm

Duncan (I) The Gracious

• Duncan was the son of Bethoc, the daughter of MALCOLM II, and Crinan, mormaer (or earl) of Atholl and abbot of Dunkeld. Although Malcolm had done everything to eliminate all other rival claimants amongst the immediate decendants of KENNETH MACALPIN, he had not squashed the rival Loarn dynasty which ruled Moray. They offered little, if any, allegiance to the kings of Scotland, and certainly had little respect for Duncan. He might have inherited his grandfather's ambition, be he was not his equal as a strategist or commander. Duncan was fortunate in that soon after he inherited the throne, England was in turmoil following the death of CANUTE and an argument over the succession whilst to the north THORFINN, earl of Orkney, was also facing an internal challenge. Had Duncan struck at those moments he might have succeeded in expanding his kingdom along the lines that Malcolm had planned. However, Duncan left it for some years, and instead found himself facing an attack by by Eadulf of Bernicia in 1038, in revenge for the conquest of Durham by Malcolm twenty years earlier. Eadulf was driven back only by the help of Duncan's brother MALDRED. In 1040 Duncan was ready to fight back although he choose to do it on both fronts and, by this time, Thorfinn of Orkney had regained his authority. Early in 1040 Duncan marched on Durham whilst his nephew, Moddan, led an army north to Caithness. Maddan found himself outnumbered and rapidly retreated whilst Duncan's assult on Durham was nothing short of incompetent and his army suffered heavy losses. Duncan now decided, rather late, to concentrate his forces on one front, and set out to encounter Thorfinn. He was out-manoeuvered on every front, narrowly escaping with his life in a sea battle, whilst Maddon was killed at Thurso. Duncan retreated into Moray, where any sensible commander would realise her was in unsafe territory. Although the men of Moray had for years battled against the Norsemen, they had no wish to support Duncan. The mormaer of Moray, MACBETH, allied himself with Thorfinn and slaughtered Duncan's army at Pitgaveny on 15 August 1040. Duncan was killed in the battle. His death is not mourned. The historical Duncan is nothing like the victim portrayed in Shakespeare's Macbeth. He was seen as a ruthless and incapable king. His son, MALCOLM (III) was still an infant and was not considered eligible to inherit the throne. It took the scottish council only a short while to accept Macbeth as king.

Thorfinn II

• Thorfinn the Black shared part of the earldom of Orkney from 1018, most of it from 1028 and all of it from c1030 except for 1038-1046, when he shared it with RAGNALD II. Thorfinn's inheritance is complicated. He was the son of SIGURD II after his second marriage to Donada, the daughter of MALCOLM II of Scotland, and thus half-brother to MACBETH. When his father died at Clontarf in 1014, Thorfinn was only six or seven and wasleft in the care of the Scottish king. Malcolm confirmed Thorfinn as earl of Caithness, and installed him at Duncansby with a body of advisors and guardians. The leading offical was Thorkel, known as the Fosterer. Malcolm clearly saw this as an opportunity to gain control over Caithness and possibly Orkney itself. It also gave him a powerful ally over the mormaers of Moray. He thus supported Thorfinn as he grew into an intelligent but precocious young man, ambitious for power and wealth. Even at age of eleven, possibly less, he became embroiled in a squabble over inheritance with his half-brothers, following the death of SOMERLED, who had left his territory to EINAR, who was every bit as ambitious as Thorfinn. Thorfinn, no doubt urged by Malcolm, disbuted Einar's share. Einar refused to budge, on the basis that Thorfinn already had Caithness, which was not part of the arrangement. Two years of negotiation ensued, mediated by the third brother BRUSI. Eventually, in 1018, Brusi bequethed Einar his share of the land on the basis that Einar shared a third with Thorfinn. Einar did so, but refused to pay Thorfinn his share of the revenues. To settle the dispute Thorfinn traveled to the court of Olaf, king of Norway, in the summer of 1020. Olaf supported Thorfinn and gave both him and Thorkel a longship each. They returned to Caithness and prepared to embattle Einor until Brusi negotiated a peace. Einar visited Thorkel at Sandwick, where he was promptly murdered. Thorkel was forgiven for this crime by King Olaf himself, so that by 1021, Brusi, Olaf, and Thorfinn each admninistered a third. Thorfinn negotiated to administer Olaf's third as a fief of the king, which was agreed, but Brusi also earned the king's respect and was allowed the greater share of the earldom. From 1021 and 1028 therefore, Brusi was the senior earl and administrater in Orkney, whilst Thorfinn retained one-third of the earldom in Caithness. Brusi eventually handed over the majority of the earldom to Thorfinn in 1028, and all of it in 1030. It was retaining his hold on Caithness that occupied his time from then on. The lands had long been under threat from FINDLAECH, MALCOLM, and GILLECOMGAIN, the mormaers of Moray. It is recorded that Thorfinn was in battle against them for much of his early adult life, though this changed when his half-brother MACBETH succeeded to the stewardship. By then Thorfinn's main adversary was the man sagas call Karl Hundisson, who was probably the Scottish king DUNCAN (I), Thorfinn's cousin. Duncan/Hundisson invaded Caithness in 1040 with a view to conquer but was defeated by Thorfinn twice resulting in Dunan's death. Thorfinn followed up this victory by not only reclaiming Caithness but Sutherland, Moray, and Ross, so that he now dominated all of Northern Scotland. In 1038 Thorfinn was forced to share a third of his earldom with his nephew, RAGNALD, the son of Brusi, who had been confirmed as earl by the king of Norway, Thorfinn tolerated Ragnald at first, in fact they seemed to work well together, and the two of them reconqured the Western Isles, which had been lost to the earldom since Clontarf. Thorfinn also exacted retribution upon Ireland for its support of Hundisson and in 1042 raided as far south as England, probably using the Isle of Man as his base. Thorfinn had no serious ambitions on England it was as much a show of strength, but it confirmed his authority. He and Ragnald now ruled over half of Scotland, including all of the surrounding islands. Unfortunatly by 1045 the relationship between the two
• suffered when Thorfinn demanded Ragnald pay over the revenues from his third to help support the Norse earl, Kalf Arnesson, who had fled from Norway to seek refudge in the Orkneys. Thorfinn had married Kalf's niece, Ingibiorg, some years earlier. Ragnald refused and after a year of argueing, Ragnald went to Norway, recieved the support of King Magus, and returned to the Orkneys with a fighting force. He defeated Thorfinn at first, but then Kalf Arnesson brought his soldiers into the picture and he and Thorfinn drove Ragnald back to Norway. Ragnald was reinforced by King Magus, returned and caught Thorfinn by surprise, burning down his house. Thorfinn escaped to Caithness, but in his turn, came back and burned Ragnald's house. Ragnald was killed while escaping. Thorfinn reconciled himself with King Magus and from then till his death he was the sole earl of Orkney. He now underwent a conversion and, in 1048, went on a tour though the courts of Europe, culminating in a visit to the pope, who forgave him for his past sins. It is not stated that Thorfinn was baptized into the Christian faith, but after 1048 he was a professed Christian and, on his return to Orkney, he established an episcopal church beside his royal household at Birsay, with its first bishop Thorolf. With the help Thorolf, Thorfinn completely reorganized the adminstrative and legal structure of the earldom. Surprisingly the exact date of his death, which followed a long illness, is not known. It is unlikely to be as late as 1065 , as often recorded, because his widow Ingibiorg married MALCOLM III of Scotland and bore three children before 1069. He probably died between 1057 and 1060. Although his territories were always subject to the king of Scotland (on the mainland) and the King of Norway (Orkney and the Western Isles), Thorfinn seems to have governed with almost total autonomy, certainly towards the end of his life, and was ahead of his Scandinavian contemporaries in establishing a bishopric in his lands. Despite his early petulance and ambition, he became a wise and deticated ruler, recognized thoughout Europe, though today he is one of the forgotten great rulers of Britan. After his death his lands were shared between his two sons, PAUL and ERLEND (II).

Malcolm Canmore

• Many lists of Scottish kings begin with Malcolm III, even though he was fifty-eighth in line since FERGUS established the kingdom of Dal Riata in Agrgyll, and the twenty-second since KENNETH MACALPIN had united the Scots and the Picts. The main reason for Malcolm's apparant status is that under his rule Scotland shifted dramatically away from its Gaelic past and moved toward the Anglo-Norman world of sourthern Britan. Malcolm had been raised in the Anglo-Norman court of EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. His father DUNCAN, had been killed in battle against MACBETH in 1040, when Malcolm was eight or nine, and the young boy and his brother were hurriedly smuggled out of Scotland in fear of their lifes. Macbeth was eventually killed in August 1057, and his stepson Lulach, the following March. Five weeks later Malcolm was crowned king of Scotland. His support was not total, with many, especially the Highlanders, preferring thier old ways and customs and not seeking to follow Malcolm. Nevertheless they accepted him as overlord because of his sheer physical power and menace. He was a swaggering bully who rabidly earned him the nickname of Canmore, or Bighead. Malcolm began his reign by establishing alliances. Amongst his father's former enimies was Thorfinn, the earl of Orkney. It is not clear when Thorfinn died, but it is evident that he had not helped Macbeth in his fight for the monarchy, not because he did not support Macbeth (they were half brothers and allies) but because he was probably already very ill. He may have died as early as 1057 and was almost certainly dead by 1060. Malcolm married Thorfinn's widow Ingibiorg, probably around the year 1060, and established an alliance with her sons PAUL and ERLAND who became the new earls of Orkney. Ingibiorg must by then have been in her late thirties, but she bore Malcolm three more children before she died, probably around 1069. Malcolm's alliance with Orkney brought him into closer contact with Harold Haadraada, the king of Norway, and overlord of Orkney and the Western Isles. Malcolm was thus seen as an ally of Norway when in 1066, Tostig, the brother of HAROLD Godwinson of Wessex, gained Haadraa's support for an invasion of England. The invasion force landed first at Orkney and sailed down the eastern coast of Scotland to the Humber estuary. Malcolm's motives are uncertain in this campaign. He was clearly a Saxon sympathizer, but evidently not a supporter of Harold Godwinson, whom he may have seen an usurper in the south. His support for Tostig, who was nothing short of a rebellious thug, does not seem a wise choice and Malcolm gained little from a Norse victory beyond the possible annexation of Northumbria. He was more likely to have become a vassel of the Norwegian king. However , Harold and Totig were killed at Stamford bridge, and a few weeks later Harold Godwinson was killed at Senlac hill by WILLIAM, duke of Normandy. At Christmas 1066 William was crowned king of England. Although Malcolm knew the Norman world - Edward the Confessor was Pro-Norman and there were many Normans at his court where Malcolm grew up as well as Norman soldiers in Malcolm's army - he was unsure what an alliance with the Normans would achive. His initial sympathies were with the Saxons. EDGAR Atheling, the Saxon heir joined in the unsuccessful rebellion against William in 1068, and subsequently fled to Malcolm's court to seek refudge. He was accompained by his sister Margaret whom Malcolm married the following year. This further consolidated the Scottish-Saxon alliance, but alienated Malcolm all the more from his Highland subjects, and made an enemy of William the Conqueror. It should be remembered, however, that in 1069 William's hold on England was far from secure and many believed he would eventually be overthrown. Edgar was almost certainly convinced he would someday regain the throne of England, and Malcolm's move was part of his framework of alliances with neighboring powers. Malcolm supported Edgar's
• unsuccessful attempt to regain England in 1069 along with Swein of Denmark. The next two to three years saw Malcolm supporting a series of raids thoughout northern England, coming as far south as Cleveland. William was enraged, and in 1072 he invaded Scotland and sought the submission of Malcolm at Abernathy. The terms of the treaty meant that Malcolm could no longer harbour any of William's enimies, and Edgar Atheling again became an exile. William also forced Malcolm to recognize him as his overlord, and took his son DUNCAN as hostage. Later English kings would regard Treaty of Abernathy as the date of their conquest of Scotland, though it is unlikely it was viewed as that at the time. Certainly it did not stop Malcolm from raiding England in 1079, though this proved equally fruitless. William sent his son Robert to negotiate with Malcolm. This achieved little, though Robert decided to add to the fortifications of the north and built the New Castle at the estuary of the Tyne. William regarded Malcolm as an irritant at this time and certainly did not view him as a ruler of equal status. Malcolm, on the other hand, living up to his nickname, believed he was just as powerful. Under the influence of his wife Margaret, to whom he was devoted, Malcolm changed steadily from the coarse ruffian of his youth to a mature individual who had strong respect for his wife's religious and cultural beliefs and interests. Margaret who had been well educated in Hungary and England was an avid Christian. It was under her direction that the abby at Dunfermline was commissoned in 1072, to equal the one Edward the Confessor had completed at Westminster just seven years earlier. Margaret also restored the monastery on Iona, and did much to bring the Celtic church in line with the Roman. Records suggest that in 1072 the archbishop of York was given authority over the church of Scotland. Malcolm, who was not especially religious himself, seemed content to allow Margaret to undertake these reforms, surprisingly ignorant of their long-term effect. It is probably another example of his belief in his authority as absolute, but it is also a reminder that Malcom truely loved Margaret and that their marriage was strong and happy. Malcolm had evidently forshaken his designs upon England. After the death of William I in 1087, Duncan was released and Malcolm again begun planning an expansion of his territories. He was soon joined by Edgar Atheling, who recognized the opportunity, and in 1090 Malcolm invaded Northumbria. He was defeated by WILLIAM RUFUS and the terms of the Treaty of Abernathy were re-invoked. William continued to defend the north and in 1092 invaded Cumbria and built a fort at Carlisle. Malcolm and his son Edward came to meet William but were rebuffed. As they were returning north they were ambushed by Robert Mowbroy, earl of Northumberland, near Alnwick and both Malcolm and Edward were killed. When Margaret, who was already extremly ill, heard the news four days later she pined away. It is ironic that Malcolm had replaced the old rule of tanasity by that primogeniture, only to have his oldest son and heir die with him. The Scottish Magnates had no idea what to do in such circumstances and civil unrest broke out. Five of his nine sons would eventually succeed him as king, though his immediate successor was his brother DONALD (III). Malcolm had been temporially buried near Tynemouth. Shortly afterward he and his wife were buired at the new Dunfermline Abbey. Following a pubic inquiry in 1250 into the life and possible miracles of Magaret, she was canonized. During the Reformation thier bodies were reburied at a specially built tomb in Escorial, Madrid. In 1673 Margaret was named as one of the patron saints of Scotland. Malcolm's reign was a clear transition from the Gaelic traditon to the acceptance of new values and beliefs. Although he was not supported in this by many of his countrymen he established a momentum that could not be stopped.