Cináed (MacAlpin) King of the Picts (abt. 810 - 858)

Born about 0810 in Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 8 Feb 0858 at about age 48 in Palace of Forteviot, Perthshire

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Kenneth I (MacAlpin) King of the Picts was a member of Scottish Nobility. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

Kenneth I (MacAlpin) King of the Picts is a member of House of Alpin.

"An Ferbasach (The Conqueror)," "Chionaoith Chruaidh (Kenneth, the Hardy)," "Ciniod son of Elphin," "Kinadius, filius Alpini," "Kynedus filius Alpini," "Reg es Pictogram," "Rex Pictorum," "Rí Alban"

House of Alpin

Clann Chausantan (Northern Branch)

Birth and Parents

Cináed mac Alpin was born, the son of Alpin MacEchdach and an unknown wife. ^[1][2][3]

Children of Kenneth I and Unknown Wife

• Unknown ingen Cináeda, born about 834; married Rhun ab Arthgal), King of Strathclyde; their son was Eoachaid, King of the Picts; ^[2] died about 869.
• Constantine mac Cináeda, born about 836; ^[2] succeeded 13 Apr 862/3, as Constantine I, King of the Picts; ^[4] killed by the Danes about 877; ^[5] buried at Iona. ^[6]
• Áed mac Cináeda, born about 838; ^[2] succeeded 877, as Áed, King of the Picts; in 878, he was mortally wounded in battle at Strathallum, died two months later, and was buried on the Isle of Iona or Maiden Stone, Aberdeenshire. ^[7]
• Máel Muire ingen Cináeda, born about 838; married Áedh Findliath, King of Tara (Ireland); their son was Niall mac Aedo, King of Tara (Ireland). later married the successor to Áedh, Flann Sinna, King of Tara (Ireland); ^[8] died about 913. ^[2]

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. ^[9] However, succession would later become more intensely competitive and eventually violent. ^[10]

Kenneth I, King of the Picts and Scots

The heathens won a battle against the men of Foirtriu, and Eóganán son of Aengus,
Bran son of Óengus, Aed son of Boanta, and others almost innumerable fell there.
— Annals of Ulster, Year 839 ^[11]

In 839, Eóganán mac Óengusa, King of the Picts, and Áed mac Boanta, King of Dál Riata, combined forces of Picts and Scots to confront the Vikings in major battle. However, both were killed in a crushing defeat "alongside large numbers of their warriors," leaving both kingdoms leaderless and exhausted. ^[12]

Although, their misfortune offered opportunity to Kenneth I, he may still have battled the remnants of Pictish opposition for six years before completing his conquest. ^[13] Upon his arrival in Pictland, as Marjorie Anderson notes; Urad's (Uurad, possibly Ferat or Feradach) reign ended, his son and successor, Bred (Bridei VII), died that same year, and only three more Pictish kings reigned from 842 to 848. The last one, Drust (Drest X), was killed at Forteviot, or Scone. The death of Drest X and his nobles has become legendary as "MacAlpin's Treason" or the "Treachery at Scone." (See Research Notes). ^[14]

Cináed mac Alpin was recorded as King of Dál Riata (Scots) from 840 to 858, ^{[15][16][17][14][13][14]} and King of the Picts from 842 to 858. ^[15][18][14] He reigned 16 years as Kenneth I, King of the Picts and Scots, ^[13][2] "generally regarded as the founder of medieval Scotland." ^[1]

His territory came under attack as the Britons of Strathclyde wasted Dunblane, and Danish Vikings raided Iona, ultimately invading as far as Dunkeld and Clunie. ^[13][14] Facing continuous assaults, he transferred a portion of the relics of Columba from Iona in 849, part to his church in Dunkeld and part to Ireland. ^{[13][19][20][14]} He also defensively moved the seat of his kingdom from Argyll and the Isles (Dál Riata) to Scone. ^[21] Despite struggles with the Vikings, he repeatedly attacked the weaker Saxon Kingdom of Northumbia, (Lothian) ^[22] capturing Melrose, and burning Dunbar." ^[13][14][23]

During his turbulent 16-year reign, his main political achievement was "the establishment of a new dynasty which aspired to supremacy over the whole of Scotia, and under which the Scots so dominated Pictland that its native language and institutions rapidly disappeared." ^[14]

Death

Kenneth I, King of the Picts and Scots died from a tumor on 8 Feb 858, ^{[15][13][2][17][24][2]} or possibly 860, ^[25] in Palace of Forteviot, Perthshire ^[15] and was buried at Iona. ^[2][14]

Because Cináed with many troops lives no longer

there is weeping in every house;

there is no king of his worth under heaven

as far as the borders of Rome. ^[26]

Iona Abbey, Burials of Early Scottish Kings

He was succeeded by his brother, Donald I, King of the Picts. ^[14]

Research Notes

1. Estimated birth year, 810. He succeeded as King of Scots in 844 and died in 858. The unsourced birth year of 810 would make him 34 years old at succession and 48 at death; possible and not unlikely.
2. Treachery of Scone (Treason of MacAlpin). The apparent disappearance of the Picts is poorly documented, disputed by modern and ancient historians, “and by the 12th century the idea that the Picts were destroyed by Cináed mac Alpín had arisen. The idea of ethnic destruction is exemplified by the tale of the ‘Treachery of Scone’ in which Pictish nobles were invited to a feast by Cináed and then treacherously massacred by his followers.” ^[27] “So when the English had occupied the island, driving out the Britons, and had established a stable peace with the Picts, the Scots who dwelt with the Picts saw that the Picts (although fewer, because of the [Scots'] relationship with the Irish) were yet far superior in arms and courage, they betook themselves to their innate treachery, in which they excel the other nations. They invited the Pictish magnates as if to a feast ; and taking advantage of their intoxication, they killed them all together. And so of the two peoples the more warlike nation was totally destroyed. And the other, by far inferior in every way, profited somehow by their treachery ; and they possess that whole land to this day, from sea to sea ; and they have called it, from their own name, Scotia.” ^{[28][29][30][31]}
3. Dorvigelda of Galloway (abt.0810-) has been disconnected as a spouse for this profile, as all sources seem to agree that her identity is unknown. Her profile should not be reconnected to this profile without discussion with the Scotland Project. Crawford-15512 20:56, 23 June 2022 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Skene; W.F; Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots and other early memorials of Scottish history; (H. M. General register house; Edinburgh; 1867); clxxxvii.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} Cawley, Charles Medieval Lands: a Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families. (Hereford, UK: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, 2006), chap. 1., KENNETH (Cinaed) MacAlpin,.
3. ↑ Ó Corráin, Professor Donnchadh; Morgan, Dr Hiram, CELT; Corpus of Electronic Texts, (Cork, Ireland: University College, 2023), Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502 (Author: unknown), citing, "Cináed son of Alpín son of Eochaid son of Áed Find son of Domangart son of Domnall Brecc son of Eochaid Buide son of Áedán son of Gabrán son of Domangart son of Fergus Mór...," Section 26, 1696 Genelach Ríg n-Alban
4. ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H, Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625, (Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1899), 280.
5. ↑ 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), 48.
6. ↑ Brown, Dauvit, Constantine I [Causantín mac Cinaeda], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press (2004), Constantine I.
7. ↑ Duncan, A A M, Kingship of the Scots, A.D.842-1292: Succession and Independence, (Edinburgh Classic Editions). Kindle edition. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002), 33.
8. ↑ Woolf, Alex, From Pictland to Alba, AD 789-AD 1070, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Mason, Roger, gen. ed., (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008), 257.
9. ↑ Woolf, Alex. From Pictland to Alba, AD 789-AD 1070. The New Edinburgh History of Scotland. Mason, Roger, gen. ed. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008), 223-224.
10. ↑ Lynch, Michael, editor. The Oxford Companion to Scottish History, (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2011), Kingship, 360-362. [Kindle].
11. ↑ Ó Corráin, Professor Donnchadh; Morgan, Dr Hiram, CELT; Corpus of Electronic Texts, (Cork, Ireland: University College, 2023), The Annals of Ulster, U839.9.
12. ↑ Clarkson, Tim, The Picts: A History, Kindle edition, (Edinburgh: Berlinn, 2010), 212-213. [Kindle]
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6} Skene, William Forbes, ed., Chronicles of the Picts, chronicles of the Scots, and other early memorials of Scottish history, (Edinburgh: H. M. General register house, 1867), citing, (translation) “Kinadius, the son of Alpinus, the first of the Scots, ruled this country successfully for sixteen years. Pictavia was named by the Picts; whom, as we have said, Cinnadus destroyed…But this man, two years before he came to Pictavia, took the kingdom of Dalriete. In the seventh year of his reign, he transported the remains of St. Columba to the church he had built, and invaded Saxony six times; and cremated Dunbarre and usurped Marius. But the Britons burned Dubblain, and the Danes ravaged Pictavia, as far as Cluanan and Duncalden. He died at last of [tumor], on the third of February, in the palace of Fothuirtabaicht.” 8.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 14.8 14.9} Anderson, Marjorie O., Kenneth I [Cináed mac Alpin, Kenneth Macalpine] (d. 858), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press (2004), Kenneth I (Cináed mac Alpin, Kenneth Macalpine)
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3} 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 Ailpín (Kenneth I)
16. ↑ Anderson, Alan Orr; Early Sources of Scottish History...; (Oliver and Boyd; Edinburgh, 1922); cxii and cxiii - Table of Succession
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} Skene; W.F; Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots and other early memorials of Scottish history; (H. M. General register house; Edinburgh; 1867); clxxxviii
18. ↑ Chalmers, George. Caledonia, Or an Account, Historical and Topographic, of North Britain, from the Most Ancient to the Present Times, Vol. 1 (Paisley: A. Gardner, 1887), citing: 843 as the year he gained the Pictish throne., 213
19. ↑ Anderson, Allan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500 to 1286. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1922), vol. 1, [Chronicle of the Kings], citing, "in the seventh year of his reign [Kenneth] transported the relics of St Columba to a church that he had built; that is, to Dunkeld." 279.
20. ↑ Anderson, Allan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500 to 1286. (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1922), vol. 1, [Annals of Ulster, vol. i, p. 356, s.a. 848 = 849], citing, "Indrechtach, abbot of lona, came to Ireland with the relics of Columcille," 279.
21. ↑ Stephen, Leslie, ed., Dictionary of National Biography, (United Kingdom: Macmillan, 1892), vol. 30, 437-439.
22. ↑ Chalmers, George. Caledonia, Or an Account, Historical and Topographic, of North Britain, from the Most Ancient to the Present Times, Vol. 1 (Paisley: A. Gardner, 1887), 376
23. ↑ 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), vol. 1, 40-41.
24. ↑ 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 Ailpín, king of the Picts, and Ethelwulf, king of the Saxons, died. U858.2.
25. ↑ Skene; W.F; Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots and other early memorials of Scottish history; (H. M. General register house; Edinburgh; 1867); clxxxviii.
26. ↑ Ó Corráin, Professor Donnchadh; Morgan, Dr Hiram, CELT; Corpus of Electronic Texts, (Cork, Ireland: University College, 2023), Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, FA 285.
27. ↑ Noble, Gordon; Evans, Nicholas, The King in the North: The Pictish Realms of Fortriu and Ce, (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2019, 30.
28. ↑ Anderson, Allan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500 to 1286, (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1922), vol. 1, citing, Chronicle of Kings, 272.
29. ↑ Cambrensis, Giraldus; Brewer, John Sherren, Cambrensis Giraldus, De instructione principum (Education of princes), Libri III, (London: Londini, impensis Societatis, 1846), 188-189.
30. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, Braflang Scóine, (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), Braflang Scóine.
31. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, MacAlpin's treason, (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), MacAlpin's treason.

See also:

• Wikipedia contributors, Kenneth MacAlpin, (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), Kenneth MacAlpin.
• Wikipedia contributors, List of Scottish monarchs, (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), List of Scottish monarchs (Kenneth I MacAlpin).
• Wikipedia contributors, List of kings of the Picts, (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), List of kings of the Picts (Ciniod son of Elphin).
• Wikipedia contributors, List of kings of Dál Riata, (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), List of kings of Dál Riata (Cináed mac Ailpín).
• Wikipedia contributors, Cenél nGabráin, (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2023), Cenél nGabráin.