King Malcom III

King Malcolm III marks a crucial stage in Scottish history. After two centuries of upheaval following the Viking onslaught of the early ninth century the previous House of Alpin was replaced by King Malcolm III Canmore (1058-1093). Known as Canmore or ‘Ceann Mòr’ in Gaelic meaning ‘Big Head’ or ‘Big Chief’. In 1057 Malcolm III had overthrown and killed Macbeth of Shakespeare fame at Lumphanan. Macbeth’s stepson Lulach then seized the throne before being killed by King Malcolm the following year. Malcolm III then avoided major conflict with the new English king William the Conqueror after 1066 but there remained a simmering tension between the two rulers. This was further heightened by Malcolm’s welcoming of prominent Anglo-Saxon refugees from England.

                             The Marriage of Malcolm and Margaret

One of the newcomers was Margaret, sister of Edgar Aetheling, the uncrowned King of England.   In 1070 Malcolm III married Margaret later to become Saint Margaret. Continuing tensions with the Normans in England resulted in William the Conqueror invading Scotland in 1072 with a large army and fleet. At a meeting at Abernethy Malcolm III was forced to acknowledge King William as his overlord and to hand over his son Duncan as a hostage. However, King Malcolm after an interval began raiding into the North of England again leading to a further Norman invasion of Scotland in 1080. This again led Malcolm III to make peace which he kept until 1093. However, in 1093 he again invaded England and in a minor engagement was killed at Alnwick.

                      The Immediate Successors of Malcolm III Canmore

After a short period of conflict successive sons of Malcolm III ruled Scotland. The first being King Edgar (1097-1107) who was succeeded by Malcolm III’s fourth son Alexander I (1107 – 1124) while his younger brother the future David I was given the lands of Cumbria and the Lothians under the title Prince of the Cumbrians.