| Notes |
- Donnchad mac Crinain (Modern Gaelic: Donnchadh mac Crìonain), anglicized as Duncan I, and nicknamed An t-Ilgarach, "the Diseased" or "the Sick" (ca. 1001 – 14 August 1040) was king of Scotland (Alba) from 1034 to 1040. He is the historical basis of the King Duncan in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth". He was son of Crínán, hereditary lay abbot of Dunkeld, and Bethóc, daughter of king Máel Coluim mac Cináeda (Malcolm II). Unlike the "King Duncan" of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the historical Duncan appears to have been a young man. He followed his grandfather Malcolm as king after the latter's death on 25 November 1034. He may have been Malcolm's acknowledged successor, or tánaise, as the succession appears to have been unopposed.
An earlier source, a variant of the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba (CK-I), gives Duncan's wife the Gaelic name Suthen. Whatever his wife's name may have been, Duncan had at least two sons. The eldest, Malcolm III (Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) was king from 1058 to 1093, the second Donald III (Domnall Bán, or "Donalbane") was king afterwards. Máel Muire, Earl of Atholl is a possible third son of Duncan, although this is uncertain.
The early period of Duncan's reign was apparently uneventful, perhaps a consequence of his youth. Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findláich) is recorded as having been his dux, today rendered as "duke" and meaning nothing more than the rank between prince and marquess, but then still having the Roman meaning of "war leader". In context, "dukes of Francia" had half a century before replaced the Carolingian kings of the Franks, and in England the over-mighty Godwin of Wessex was called a dux. This suggests that Macbeth may have been the power behind the throne.
In 1039, Duncan led a large Scots army south to besiege Durham, but the expedition ended in disaster. Duncan survived, but the following year he led an army north into Moray, Macbeth's domain, apparently on a punitive expedition against Moray. There he was killed in action, at Bothnagowan, now Pitgaveny, near Elgin, by the men of Moray led by Macbeth, probably on 14 August 1040. He is thought to have been buried at Elgin before being later relocated to the Isle of Iona.
Duncan I
Anachronistic depiction of Duncan I by Jacob de
Wet, 17th Century
King of Alba
Reign 1034–1040
Predecessor Malcolm II
Successor Macbeth
Born c. 1001
Died 14 August 1040[1]
Pitgaveny, near Elgin
Burial Iona ?
Spouse Suthen
Issue Malcolm III, King of Alba
Donald III, King of Alba
Máel Muire, Earl of Atholl
House Dunkeld
Father Crinan of Dunkeld
Mother Bethoc
Duncan I of Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Donnchad mac Crinain (Modern Gaelic: Donnchadh mac
Crìonain;[2] anglicised as Duncan I, and nicknamed An t-
Ilgarach, "the Diseased" or "the Sick";[3] ca. 1001 – 14
August 1040)[1] was king of Scotland (Alba) from 1034 to
1040. He is the historical basis of the "King Duncan" in
Shakespeare's play Macbeth.
Contents
1 Life
2 Depictions in fiction
3 Ancestry
4 Notes
5 References
Life
He was son of Crínán, hereditary lay abbot of Dunkeld, and
Bethóc, daughter of king Máel Coluim mac Cináeda
(Malcolm II).
Unlike the "King Duncan" of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the
historical Duncan appears to have been a young man. He
followed his grandfather Malcolm as king after the latter's
death on 25 November 1034, without apparent opposition.
He may have been Malcolm's acknowledged successor or
Tànaiste as the succession appears to have been
uneventful.[4] Earlier histories, following John of Fordun,
supposed that Duncan had been king of Strathclyde in his
grandfather's lifetime, between 1018 and 1034, ruling the
former Kingdom of Strathclyde as an appanage. Modern
historians discount this idea.[5]
An earlier source, a variant of the Chronicle of the Kings of
Alba (CK-I), gives Duncan's wife the Gaelic name Suthen.[6]
Whatever his wife's name may have been, Duncan had at
least two sons. The eldest, Malcolm III (Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) was king from 1058 to 1093, the
second Donald III (Domnall Bán, or "Donalbane") was king afterwards. Máel Muire, Earl of Atholl is a
possible third son of Duncan, although this is uncertain.[7]
The early period of Duncan's reign was apparently uneventful, perhaps a consequence of his youth. Macbeth
(Mac Bethad mac Findláich) is recorded as having been his dux, today rendered as "duke" and meaning nothing
more than the rank between prince and marquess, but then still having the Roman meaning of "war leader". In
context — "dukes of Francia" had half a century before replaced the Carolingian kings of the Franks and in
England the over-mighty Godwin of Wessex was called a dux — this suggests that Macbeth may have been the
power behind the throne.[8]
In 1039, Duncan led a large Scots army south to besiege Durham, but the expedition ended in disaster. Duncan
survived, but the following year he led an army north into Moray, Macbeth's domain, apparently on a punitive
expedition against Moray.[9] There he was killed in action, at Bothnagowan, now Pitgaveny, near Elgin, by the
men of Moray led by Macbeth, probably on 14 August 1040.[10] He is thought to have been buried at Elgin[11]
before later relocation to the Isle of Iona.
Depictions in fiction
Duncan is depicted as an elderly King in the play Macbeth (1606) by William Shakespeare. He is killed in his
sleep by the protagonist, Macbeth.
In the historical novel Macbeth the King (1978) by Nigel Tranter, Duncan is portrayed as a schemer who is
fearful of Macbeth as a possible rival for the throne. He tries to assassinate Macbeth by poisoning and then
when this fails, attacks his home with an army. In self-defence Macbeth meets him in battle and kills him in
personal combat.
In the animated television series Gargoyles he is depicted as a weak and conniving king who assassinates those
who he believes threaten his rule.[12] He even tries to assassinate Macbeth, forcing Demona to ally with the
Moray nobleman, with Duncan's resulting death coming from attempting to strike an enchanted orb of energy
that one of the Weird Sisters gave to Macbeth to take Duncan down.
Ancestry
2. Crínán of Dunkeld
1. Duncan I of Scotland
24. Malcolm I of Scotland
12. Kenneth II of Scotland
6. Malcolm II of Scotland
3. Bethóc
Notes
1. Broun, "Duncan I (d. 1040)".
2. Donnchad mac Crínáin is the Mediaeval Gaelic form.
3. Skene, Chronicles, p. 101.
4. Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, p. 33.
5. Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, p. 40.
6. Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, p. 37.
Ancestors of Duncan I of Scotland
References
Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History AD 500 to 1286, volume one. Republished with
corrections, Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
Broun, Dauvit, "Duncan I (d. 1040)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press,
2004 accessed 15 May 2007
Duncan, A. A. M., The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence. Edinburgh
University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. ISBN 0-7486-1626-8
Oram, Richard, David I: The King Who Made Scotland. Tempus, Stroud, 2004. ISBN 0-7524-2825-X
Duncan I of Scotland
House of Dunkeld
Born: unknown 14 August
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Malcolm II
King of Scots
1034–1040
Succeeded by
Macbeth
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duncan_I_of_Scotland&oldid=784258539"
Categories: Monarchs killed in action House of Dunkeld 11th-century births 1040 deaths
11th-century Scottish monarchs Burials at Iona Abbey
Scottish pre-union military personnel killed in action
This page was last edited on 7 June 2017, at 09:36.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
7. Oram, David I, p. 233, n. 26: the identification is from theO rkneyinga saga but Máel Muire's grandsonM áel Coluim,
Earl of Atholl is known to have married Donald III's granddaughter Hextilda.
8. Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, pp. 33–34.
9. G. W. S. Barrow, Kingship and Unity: Scotland 1000–1306, Edinburgh University Press, 1981, p.26.
10. Broun, "Duncan I (d. 1040)"; the date is fromM arianus Scotus and the killing is recorded by theA nnals of Tigernach.
11. "I Never Knew That About Scotland", Christopher Winn, p. 165.
12. Bishansky, Greg (March 13, 2013). "Station Eight : Gargoyles : Ask Greg Archive : Duncan" (http://www.s8.org/gargoy
les/askgreg/archives.php?lid=531&qid=17989&ppp=1. )S8.org. Retrieved April 18, 2017. "Duncan: This guy was a
jerk. I mean, really. A paranoid tyrant who thought the world was out to get him. Well, not the world so much as his
cousin, Macbeth. I suppose I can understand seeing Macbeth as a threat to the throne, but he just seemed to go out of his
way to make Macbeth miserable. He reveled in it. When he died, we were all happy to see him bite" it.
|
1001 - 1040 (39 years)
