Malcolm I

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Malcolm I (d. 954), son of Donald II, was king of ‘Scotland’, but the sources are confused whether he became king in 940, 943, or 945. This may simply be due to copying errors, or may also reflect a period of political uncertainty as Malcolm attempted to oust the aged Constantine II, who resigned the kingship and retired to monastic life. Malcolm was evidently aggressive and ambitious, and succeeded in extending the power (if not necessarily the territory) of his kingdom both north and south. He led a victorious army into Moray, raided northern England as far as the Tees, and in 945 won Edmund, king of Wessex's recognition that the kingdom of Strathclyde/Cumbria lay within his sphere of influence. His only recorded set-back outside his kingdom was as part of an alliance with Britons and Saxons (probably against Erik Bloodaxe in York) defeated in 952 by a Scandinavian force. He was killed by the men of the Mearns at Fetteresso (south of Aberdeen).

Dauvit Broun

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