 Abt 0932 - 0995 (63 years)
-
| Name |
MACALPIN Cináed mac Máel Coluim |
| Birth |
Abt 0932 |
Scotland  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
0995 |
Fettercairn, Kincardineshire, Scotland |
| Notes |
- "An Fionnghalach, The Fratricide," ”Cinadius filius Maelcolaim," "Cináed mac Maíl Coluim," "Cinaet mac Maelcolaim," "Coinneach mac Mhaoil Chaluim," "Kinet filius Malcolin," "Kynat mac Malcolm," "Kynath, rex Scottorum," "Ri Alban," "Rì nan Albannaich"
House of Alpin
Clann Chausantan (Northern Branch)
Birth and Early Life
Cináed mac Máel Coluim MacAlpin was born the son of Malcolm I, King of Scots and Unknown. [1][2][3][4]
Children
The name of his wife is Unknown (Leinster) MacAlpin, possibly a daughter of one of the Uí Dúnlainge kings of Leinster. [1][2][5] "Kenneth II & his wife had one child" [1]
Mael Coluim MacAlpin, b. 954, Glamis Castle, Angus; succeeded in 1005 as Malcolm II, King of Scots; d. 25 Nov 1034; bur. Isle of Iona [1]
Alpinid Dynasty (Clann Chausantan and Clann Áeda)
From about 889, the kingship of Alba (Scotland) rotated between the descendants of Kenneth I (Cináed), King of the Picts and Scots. The children of his two sons, Constantine I, King of the Picts (Clann Chausantan) and Aedh, King of the Picts (Clann Áeda) formed competing branches of the Alpinid Dynasty, Clann Chausantan and Clann Áeda. This practice was probably intended to avoid monopoly of the monarchy by one clan, and it may have originated in the earlier Kingdom of the Picts. [6] However, succession became more intensely competitive and eventually violent after Malcolm I advocated the abdication of Constantine II in 942, [7] and the suspected involvement of Colin I, King of Scots in the killing of Duff I, King of Scots in 966. [8][9][10]
Succession and Reign
He succeeded in 971 as Kenneth II, King of Scots and reigned from 971 to 995 [3] after the death of Colin I, King of Scots, [4] who was killed in Strathclyde by Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal. [1][2]
Soon after becoming king, he laid waste to England as far as Durham, but at the cost of many foot-soldiers killed in battle. About a year later, he again ravaged England, and this time "carried off" the son of "the king of the Saxons." [11]
At King Edgar's council at Chester in 973, he acknowledged Edgar "the Peaceable," King of England as his lord in return for recognition that he held Lothian, which he had seized from the Angles. He was one of the 8 kings at this event, who rowed the boat of King Edgar on the River Dee. [1][12][2] King Edgar died on 8 Jul 975. [13]
"Kenneth killed Olaf MacAlpin, brother of Colin I, King of Scots, in 977, [4] which apparently brought a lull for two decades in the rivalry between the two branches of the House of Alpin—the descendants of Constantine I, King of the Picts (Clann Chausantan), to which Kenneth belonged, and the descendants of Áed, King of the Picts (Clann Áeda), to which Kenneth's predecessor, Culen, had belonged." [2]
Late in his reign, Intending to assure that his son, Mael Coluim MacAlpin, would succeed him, he decreed that,
"thenceforth every king, on his death, should be succeeded by his son or his daughter; his nephew or his niece, or by brother or sister, in the collateral line; or, in short, by whoever was the nearest survivor in blood…”
Enraged at this usurpation of their sucession rights, his 3rd cousin, Constantine MacAlpin, later Constantine III, King of Scots and his nephew, Kenneth MacAlpin, later Kenneth III, King of Scots [14] joined in a murderous conspiracy with Finella, daughter of Cunthar, Earl of Angus. [4] She was seeking to avenge the death of her only son, who had been killed earlier by the order of Kenneth II. [15][2]
Death
In 995, Finella assassinated Kenneth II, King of Scots in Fettercairn, [16][17] and he was buried on the Isle of Iona. [1][4]
However, although Kenneth II was succeeded by Constantine III, King of Scots, [18] his son would ultimately become Malcolm II King of Scots in 1005 by killing the sitting king, Kenneth III King of Scots.
Research Notes
Birth Estimate: known events - child born - 954, succeeded as king - 971, death - abt. 995; other unsourced estimated birth date - 932. This would make him 22 at birth of child and 63 at death. The birth date of 932 is a reasonable estimate.
With no reliable sources, two daughters, Donada Unknown and Dúngal Unknown, were disconnected. [1]
Sources
↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Cawley, Charles Medieval Lands: a Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families. (Hereford, UK: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, 2006), chap. 1, Malcolm, 2. Kenneth.
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Broun, Dauvit. Kenneth II [Cináed mac Maíl Choluim (d. 995). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2004), Kenneth II [Cináed mac Maíl Choluim . [Subscription].
↑ 3.0 3.1 Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. (Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1899), 280.
↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England, Baldwin, Stewart, ed., Farmerie, Todd, ed., Cináed mac Ailpín (Kenneth I, (Online https://fasg.org/projects/henryproject/, 2001), Cináed mac Máel Coluim (Kenneth II)
↑ Anderson, Allan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500 to 1286. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1922), vol. 1, [Berchan’s Prophecy, stanzas 179-184; Skene’s Picts and Scots, pp. 99-100], 573-574.
↑ Woolf, Alex. From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070. The New Edinburgh History of Scotland. Mason, Roger, gen. ed. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008), 223-224.
↑ Broun, Dauvit. Constantine II [Causantín mac Aeda] (d. 952). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2004), Constantine II (Causantín mac Aeda) (d. 952). [Subscription]
↑ Skene, William Forbes. Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient Alba Volume I. History and Ethnology, (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1886), Kindle edition. This edition (Paisley PA: Grian Press, 2014), loc. 4465. [Kindle]
↑ Smyth, Alfred P. Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD80-1000. The New Edinburgh History of Scotland. Mason, Roger, gen. ed. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1984), 223.
↑ Robertson, Eben William. Scotland under her early kings: a history of the kingdom to the close of the thirteenth century. (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1862), 77, 126
↑ Anderson, Allan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500 to 1286. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1922), vol. 1, [Chronicle of the Kings of England, version A; Skene’s “Picts and Scots,” p. 10], 512.
↑ Anderson, Allan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500 to 1286. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1922), vol. 1, [973, Chronicle of Melrose, pp. 34-34], 478.
↑ Williams, Ann. Edgar (called Edgar Pacificus) (943/4–975) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2004), Edgar (called Edgar Pacificus). [Subscription].
↑ Anderson, Allan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500 to 1286. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1922), vol. 1, [Fordun, Chronica, IV, 32-33; i, pp. 174-176], 514-515.
↑ Anderson, Allan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500 to 1286. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1922), vol. 1, [971-995, Chronicle of the Kings of Scotland, versions DFGI; in Skene’s Picts and Scots, pp. 152, 174-175, 302, 289], 512-513.
↑ Ó Corráin, Professor Donnchadh; Morgan, Dr Hiram, CELT; Corpus of Electronic Texts, (Cork, Ireland: University College, 2023), The Annals of Ulster, citing, "Cinaed son of Mael Coluim, king of Scotland, was deceitfully killed."U995.1.
↑ Paisley, Altonvar. The History of Fettercairn. (Muskegon, MI: Electric Scotland, 1899), Chapter IV.
↑ Fordun, John. John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish nation. Skene, William F. (ed). (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1872), bk. iv, 411-412.
See also:
Anderson, Allan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500 to 1286. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd (1922). Volume 1
Cawley, Charles Medieval Lands: a Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families. Hereford, UK: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (2006), Chapter 1. ORIGINS, KINGS of SCOTLAND 834-1034.
Goodey, Emma. Kenneth II (r. 971-995). The Royal Family. (London: The Royal Household, 2016). Kenneth II.
Ó Corráin, Professor Donnchadh; Morgan, Dr Hiram, CELT; Corpus of Electronic Texts, (Cork, Ireland: University College, 2023), Index.
Wikipedia contributors. House of Alpin. Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia, House of Alpin
Wikipedia contributors. Kenneth II of Scotland. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), Kenneth II of Scotland.
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| Person ID |
I59228 |
Freeman-Smith |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
| Family |
LEINSTER Unknown, b. Abt 0936, Caithness, Highland, Scotland d. Aft 0958, Caithness, Highland, Scotland (Age > 23 years) |
| Children |
| | 1. MACALPIN Mael Coluim, b. 0954, Scotland d. Abt 25 Nov 1034, Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland (Age ~ 80 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
|
| Family ID |
F26334 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
|
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