Donald III of Scotland

Macbeth, who probably has a personal claim to the crown of Scotland through royal descent, in about 1031 had succeeded his father, Finlay, as moarmaer (provincial governor) of Moray.

His marriage to As the grandson of King Malcolm II, Macbeth is thus a cousin to Duncan I whom he succeeds, and probably also a cousin to Thorfinn the Mighty, Earl of Orkney and Caithness.

Some historians claim, however, that Macbeth was Thorfinn's half-brother rather than his cousin.

Much depends on whether Malcolm had three daughters or only two (one of whom married twice) - a point which is likely to remain uncertain.

When Cnut the Great came north in 1031 to accept the submission of King Malcolm II, Macbeth too submitted to him.

Some have seen this as a sign of Macbeth's power; others have seen his presence, together with Iehmarc, who may be Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, as proof that Malcolm II was overlord of Moray and of the Kingdom of the Isles.

Whatever the true state of affairs in the early 1030s, it seems more probable that Macbeth was subject to the king of Alba, Malcolm II, who died on November 24, 1034 at Glamis.

The Prophecy of Berchan, apparently alone in near contemporary sources, says Malcolm died a violent death, calling it a "kinslaying" without actually naming his killers.

Malcolm II's grandson Duncan (Donnchad mac Crínáin), later King Duncan I, had been acclaimed as king of Alba on November 30, 1034, apparently without opposition.

Duncan appears to have been tánaise ríg, the king in waiting, so that far from being an abandonment of tanistry, as has sometimes been argued, his kingship was a vindication of the practice.

Previous successions had involved strife between various rígdomna – men of royal blood.

Far from being the aged King Duncan of Shakespeare's play, the real King Duncan was a young man in 1034, and even at his death in 1040 his youthfulness is remarked upon.

Because of his youth, Duncan's early reign was apparently uneventful.

His later reign, in line with his description as "the man of many sorrows" in the Prophecy of Berchán, was not successful.

Strathclyde had been attacked in 1039 by the Northumbrians, and a retaliatory raid led by Duncan against Durham in 1040 turns into a disaster.

Later this year Duncan, leads an army into Moray, where he is killed by Macbeth on August 15, 1040, at Pitgaveny (at this time called Bothnagowan) near Elgin.

On Duncan's death, Macbeth becomes king.

No resistance is known at this time, but it would have been entirely normal if his reign were not universally accepted.

John of Fordun wrote that Duncan's wife fled Scotland, taking her children, including the future kings Malcolm III (Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) and Donald III (Domnall Bán mac Donnchada, or Donalbane) with her.

On the basis of the author's beliefs as to whom Duncan married, various places of exile, Northumbria and Orkney among them, have been proposed.

However, E. William Robertson proposes the safest place for Duncan's widow and her children would be with her or Duncan's kin and supporters in Atholl.

Macbeth defeats an attempt by the supporters of Duncan’s son, Malcolm, to dethrone him when, in 1045, Duncan's father Crínán of Dunkeld (a scion of the Scottish branch of the Cenel Conaill and Hereditary Abbot of Iona) is killed in a battle between two Scottish armies.

After the defeat of Crínán, Macbeth is evidently unchallenged in his reign over Scotland.

Marianus Scotus tells how Macbeth, as King of Scots, made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1050, where, Marianus says, he gave money to the poor as if it were seed.

Macbeth in 1052 is involved indirectly in the strife in the Kingdom of England between Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Edward the Confessor when he receives a number of Norman exiles from England in his court, in so doing perhaps becoming the first king of Scots to introduce feudalism to Scotland.

Edward's Earl of Northumbria, Siward, leads a very large invasion of lowland Scotland in 1054. (Duncan's widow and Malcolm's mother, Suthed, was Northumbrian-born; it is probable but not proven that there was a family tie between Siward and the future Malcolm III).

The origin of Siward's conflict with the Scots is unclear.

According to the Libellus de Exordio, in 1039 or 1040, the Scottish king Donnchad mac Crínáin attacked northern Northumbria and besieged Durham.

Mac Bethad within a year had deposed and killed Donnchad.

The failed siege occurred a year before Siward attacked and killed Earl Eadulf of Bamburgh, and though no connection between the two events is clear it is likely that they were linked.

The Annals of Lindisfarne and Durham, written in the early twelfth century, relate under the year 1046 that "Earl Siward with a great army came to Scotland, and expelled king Mac Bethad, and appointed another; but after his departure Mac Bethad recovered his kingdom".Historian William Kapelle thought that this was a genuine event of the 1040s, related to the Annals of Tigernach entry for 1045 that reported a "battle between the Scots" which led to the death of Crínán of Dunkeld, Donnchad's father; Kapelle thought that Siward had tried to place Crínán's son and Donnchad's brother Maldred on the Scottish throne.

Another historian, Alex Woolf, argued that the Annals of Lindisfarne and Durham entry was probably referring to the invasion of Siward in 1054, but misplaced under 1046.

A bloody battle, known variously as the "Battle of the Seven Sleepers" or the "Battle of Dunsinane,” is fought somewhere in Scotland north of the Firth of Forth during the invasion of 1054, a battle The tradition that the battle actually took place at Dunsinane has its origins in later medieval legend.

The earliest mention of Dunsinane as the location of the battle is in the early fifteenth-century by Andrew of Wyntoun.

The Annals of Ulster report three thousand Scots and fifteen hundred English dead, which can be taken as meaning very many on both sides.

Siward’s eldest son, Osbjorn, and a son-in-law are among the dead.

Macbeth, leading the Scottish troops, is himself wounded; Siward retreats to England.

The result of the invasion is that one Máel Coluim, "son of the king of the Cumbrians" (not to be confused with Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, the future Malcolm III of Scotland) is restored to his throne, i.e., as ruler of the kingdom of Strathclyde.

It may be that the events of 1054 are responsible for the idea, which appears in Shakespeare's play, that Malcolm III was put in power by the English.

Malcolm’s death is soon followed by that of his queen, Margaret of Wessex, just days after receiving the news of her husband's death in battle.

The death of Malcolm and his heir means that there is a dispute over the succession between Malcolm’s surviving sons and his younger brother Donald Bane.

Donald's activities during the reign of his elder brother Malcolm III (Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) are not recorded.

It appears that he was not his brother's chosen heir, contrary to earlier custom, but that Malcolm had designated Edward, his eldest son by Margaret of Wessex, as the king to come If this was Malcolm's intent, his death and that of Edward have confounded his plans.

John of Fordun reports that Donald invaded the kingdom after Margaret's death "at the head of a numerous band", and laid siege to Edinburgh with Malcolm's sons by Margaret inside.

Fordun has Edgar Ætheling, concerned for his nephews' well-being, take the sons of Malcolm and Margaret—Edmund and his younger brothers Edgar, Alexander and David—to England.

Andrew of Wyntoun's much simpler account has Donald become king and banish his nephews.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records only that Donald was chosen as king and expelled the English from the court.

The event allows Duncan, the eldest son of Malcolm and his first wife Ingibiorg Finnsdottir, given over as a hostage by his father in 1072, to lay claim to the throne.

In his attempt to depose his uncle, he has the support of William II, in exchange of an oath of fealty to his patron.

Duncan’s father, who had many sons, appears to have made no effort to obtain Duncan's return.

He had been raised in the Anglo-Norman court of William I, becoming familiar with the culture, education, and institutions of his hosts.

Trained as a Norman knight, he had participating in the campaigns of William I.

According to Florence of Worcester, in 1087, when William I died, and his eldest surviving son Robert Curthose succeeded him as Duke of Normandy, Robert released Duncan from custody and had him officially knighted.

Allowed to leave the Duchy of Normandy, Duncan chose to join the court of Robert’s younger brother William Rufus.

Edward, the eldest paternal, half-brother of Duncan had been designated heir in his absence.

Duncan had notably chosen to stay with his adoptive culture, partly due to the influence of fifteen years of Norman life, partly in pursuit of personal wealth and glory.

Donald III has been unable to gain the support of certain landowners and church officials of the Scottish Lowlands, who had ties to the regime of his predecessor.

Duncan takes advantage, negotiating alliances with these disgruntled supporters of his fathers.

Gaining essential military and financial support for his cause.

While William II himself has no intention to join in the campaign, he lends Duncan part of the Norman army.

Duncan is able to recruit further levies from local barons and towns of England, and buys support with promises of land and privilege, estates and title.

Duncan invades in May 1094 at the head of an army of Anglo-Normans and Northumbrians, aided by his half-brother Edmund and his father-in-law Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria.

This invasion succeeds in placing Duncan on the throne as Duncan II, but an uprising defeats his allies and he is compelled to send away his foreign troops.

Duncan is then killed on November 12, 1094 by Máel Petair, Mormaer of Mearns, a supporter of Donald III.

The Annals of Ulster say that Duncan was killed on the orders of Donald (incorrectly called his brother) and Edmund.

Donald resumes power, probably with Edmund as his designated heir.

Donald is an elderly man by the standards of the day, approaching sixty years old, and without any known sons, so that an heir is clearly required.

William of Malmesbury says that Edmund bargained "for half the kingdom", suggesting that Donald granted his nephew an appanage to rule.

Most information about Magnus is gleaned from Norse sagas and chronicles, which will only begin to appear during the twelfth century.

The most important sources still available are the Norwegian chronicles Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium by Theodoric the Monk and the anonymous Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum (or simply Ágrip) from the 1180s and the Icelandic sagas Heimskringla (by Snorri Sturluson), Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna, which date to about the 1220s.

While the later sagas are the most detailed accounts, they are also generally considered the least reliable.

Additional information about Magnus, in particular his campaigns, is found in sources from the British Isles, which include contemporary accounts.

Although sources are unclear about the first year of Magnus Barefoot’s reign, it is apparent that the king’s focus is on the west (towards the British Isles).

Since conditions have been chaotic in Norse-dominated parts of the British Isles since the death of Thorfinn the Mighty, this provides Magnus an opportunity to intervene in local power struggles.

According to some accounts, he made his first expedition west in 1093–94 (or 1091–92), helping Scottish king Donald Bane to conquer Edinburgh and the Scottish throne and possibly gaining control of the Southern Isles (Suðreyjar) in return.

It is unclear if this early expedition took place, since it is not directly referenced in early reliable sources or the sagas.

Haakon has been proclaimed king in the Uplands and at the Øyrating, the thing of Trøndelag (in central Norway).

According to Førsund, Haakon took control of the entire portion of the kingdom once held by his father (also including the Frostating—the thing of Hålogaland in northern Norway—and the Gulating—the thing of western Norway).

Haakon has secured support by relieving farmers of taxes and duties (including taxes dating back to the Danish rule of Sweyn Knutsson during the early 1030s), while Magnus pursues costly policies and demands lengthy military service.

After Magnus settles at the new royal estate in Nidaros for the winter of 1094–95, Haakon also travels to the city and takes up residence at the old royal estate.

Their relationship becomes increasingly tense, culminating when Haakon sees Magnus' longships fully rigged at sea.

Haakon summons the Øyrating in response, leading Magnus to sail southwards.

Haakon attempts to intercept Magnus by traveling south to Viken by land (over the mountains of Dovrefjell), but he dies unexpectedly while hunting in February 1095.

Haakon's foster-father Tore Tordsson ("Steigar-Tore"), who refuses to recognize Magnus as king after Haakon's death had been the strongman behind the monarch.

With Egil Aslaksson and other noblemen, he has the otherwise-unknown Sweyn Haraldsson set up as a pretender.

Although later sagas maintain that Sweyn was Danish, some modern historians have speculated that he may have been a son of Harald Hardrada.

The revolt is based in the Uplands, but also gains support from noblemen elsewhere in the country.

After several weeks of fighting, Magnus captures Tore and his supporters and has them hanged on the island of Vambarholm (outside Hamnøy, Lofoten, in northern Norway).

Magnus was reportedly furious because he could not pardon Egil, a potentially useful, young and resourceful nobleman.

As king, his honor would only allow a pardon if other noblemen pleaded for Egil's life; this did not happen.

Edgar claims the kingship in early 1095.

His older brother Edmund sides with Donald, presumably in return for an appanage and acknowledgment as the heir of the aging and son-less Donald.

Edgar receives limited support from William II as Duncan had before him; however, the English king is occupied with a revolt led by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, who appears to have had the support of Donald and Edmund.

Rufus campaigns in northern England for much of 1095, and during this time Edgar gains control only of Lothian.

A charter issued at Durham at this time names Edgar "... son of Máel Coluim King of Scots ... possessing the whole land of Lothian and the kingship of the Scots by the gift of my lord William, king of the English, and by paternal heritage."

Edgar's claims have the support of his brothers Alexander and David—Ethelred is Abbot of Dunkeld, and Edmund is divided from his siblings by his support of Donald—and his uncle Edgar Ætheling as these witness the charter at Durham.