King of the Scots who succeeded to the crown after the murder of his
cousin, Kenneth II, son of Malcolm I. After a brief reign of two years he
was himself killed in 997, perhaps by an illegitimate son (named Kenneth)
of Malcolm I or by his successor, Kenneth III.
King of the Scots, (from 997), son of Dub and grandson of Malcolm I. He
succeeded to the throne perhaps after killing his cousin Constantine III.
He was himself killed at Monzievaird by Malcolm (son of Kenneth II), who
became Malcolm II. Gruoch, wife of the future King Macbeth, was apparently
a granddaughter of Kenneth III.
The first to reign over an extent of land roughly corresponding to much of modern Scotland.
Malcolm succeeded to the throne after killing his predecessor, Kenneth
III, and allegedly secured his territory by defeating a Northumbrian army
at the Battle of Carham (1016). He not only confirmed the Scottish hold
over the land between the rivers Forth and Tweed but also secured
Strathclyde about the same time. Eager to secure the royal succession for
his daughter's son Duncan, he tried to eliminate possible rival claimants,
but Macbeth, with royal connections to both Kenneth II and Kenneth III,
survived to challenge the succession.
Duncan was the grandson of King Malcolm II , who irregularly made him
ruler of Strathclyde when that region was absorbed into the Scottish
kingdom (probably shortly before 1034). Malcolm violated the established
system of succession whereby the kingship alternated between two branches
of the royal family. Upon Malcolm's death, Duncan succeeded peacefully,
but he soon faced the rivalry of Macbeth, Mormaor (subking) of Moray, who
probably had a better claim to the throne. Duncan besieged Durham
unsuccessfully in 1039 and in the following year was murdered by Macbeth
near Elgin, Moray. Duncan's elder son later killed Macbeth and ruled as
King Malcolm III Canmore.
