Óengus II
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Óengus mac Fergusa (Angus MacFergus; Irish ''Onuist'', Latinised ''Hungus'') was
king of the Picts The list of kings of the Picts is based on the Pictish Chronicle king lists. These are late documents and do not record the dates when the kings reigned. The various surviving lists disagree in places as to the names of kings, and the lengths ...
from 820 until 834. In Scottish historiography, he is associated with the veneration of
Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...
, the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, although this has not been proven.


Life

Óengus succeeded his brother Caustantín to the throne. Previously thought to have been of
Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...
n origin and descended from
Fergus mac Echdach Fergus mac Echdach was king of Dál Riata (modern western Scotland) from about 778 until 781. He succeeded Áed Find. He is stated to have been a son of Eochaid mac Echdach, and thus a brother of Áed. Some much later sources make him a son of � ...
, their family is now assumed to have been that of the first king Óengus mac Fergusa, perhaps originating in
Circin Circin was a Pictish territory recorded in contemporary sources between the 6th and 9th centuries, located north of the Firth of Tay and south of the Grampian mountains within modern-day Scotland. It is associated with the nominative plural for ...
(presumed to correspond with the modern Mearns), a Pictish family with ties to the
Eóganachta The Eóganachta (Modern , ) were an Irish dynasty centred on Rock of Cashel, Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of De ...
of
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. Óengus, along with his brother, son Eogán, and nephew Domnall, is included in the ''
Duan Albanach The Duan Albanach (Song of the Scots) is a Middle Gaelic poem. Written during the reign of Mael Coluim III, who ruled between 1058 and 1093, it is found in a variety of Irish sources, and the usual version comes from the ''Book of Lecan'' and ' ...
'', a praise poem from the reign of Máel Coluim (III) mac Donnchada listing Máel Coluim's predecessors as
kings of Scots The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, Kenneth I MacAlpin () was the founder and first King of the Kingdom of Scotland (although he never held the title historically, being King of th ...
, of
Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...
and of
Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...
from
Fergus Mór Fergus Mór mac Eirc (; English: ''Fergus the Great'') was a possible king of Dál Riata. He was the son of Erc of Dalriada. While his historicity may be debatable, his posthumous importance as the founder of Scotland in the national myth of ...
and his brothers onwards. The inclusion of Pictish kings from Caustantín to Eogán in the ''Duan'' led to the supposition that Dál Riata was ruled by Pictish kings, or rather that Dál Riata kings ruled Pictland, leading to supposition that the
origins of the Kingdom of Alba The origins of the Kingdom of Alba pertain to the origins of the Kingdom of Alba, or the Gaelic Kingdom of Scotland, either as a mythological event or a historical process, during the Early Middle Ages. Origin paradigms Medieval version The ...
lay in a
Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
conquest of Pictland. However, it is now suggested that their inclusion is due to their importance in the religious communities of
Dunkeld Dunkeld (, , from , "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to the geological Highland Boundar ...
and
St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...
, where they were seen as founders and early patrons. However, a modern reconstruction of the later lists of Dál Riata kings presumes that Óengus's nephew Domnall was king of Dál Riata during this time (approximately 811–835). Óengus died in 834, the only event of his reign reported in the
Irish annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over ti ...
and was succeeded by his nephew Drest mac Caustantín. Óengus's son Eogán was later king and was killed with his brother Bran in a battle against
Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
in 839.


Association with Saint Andrew

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotl ...
in his ''
Scotichronicon The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century chronicle by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest John of Fordun's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of Ireland and thereby ...
'' (1440s) supplies a legend according to which Saint Andrew appears to Óengus II in 832, on the eve of a battle against the
Angles Angles most commonly refers to: *Angles (tribe), a Germanic-speaking people that took their name from the Angeln cultural region in Germany *Angle, a geometric figure formed by two rays meeting at a common point Angles may also refer to: Places ...
. The saint advises the king to watch for the "sign of the Cross of Christ in the air". Bower's account has precedents in earlier chroniclers
John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ...
(IV, xiii-xiv) and
Andrew of Wyntoun Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun (), was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and, later, a canon of St. Andrews. Andrew Wyntoun is most famous for his completion of an eight-syllabled metre entitled, ...
. A still earlier reference of the 12th century simply states that "King Hungus" won a victory aided by Saint Andrew, in gratitude for which the Picts agreed to venerate the Saint. Skene, in his notes to Fordun IV, xiii-xiv, states that the episode is placed in the 4th century, making the entire tale anachronistic in the extreme. The three kings whom the legend has been tied to are Athelstan of England and Athelstan of East Anglia, as well as Guthrum the Old (whose baptismal name was Athelstan). The "Cross of Christ" vision in Bower's account (itself a reminiscence of the Milvian Bridge episode) is turned into the white on blue
Saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...
in the narrative by
George Buchanan George Buchanan (; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth-century Scotland produced." His ideology of re ...
(1506–1582), who has such a saltire appear in the sky in the form of a cloud formation during the battle. The religious site at St Andrews, originally Cennrígmonaid, long predates this Óengus. Túathalán, first known Abbot of Cennrígmonaid, died in 747, and it is thought likely that the establishment is due to the earlier Óengus (king from 729; died 761) or to
Nechtan mac Der-Ilei Naiton son of Der-Ilei (; died 732), also called Naiton son of Dargart (), was king of the Picts between 706–724 and between 728–729. He succeeded his brother Bridei IV in 706. He is associated with significant religious reforms in Pictlan ...
(king 706–724 and ?728–729; died 732). The St Andrews Sarcophagus is assumed to have been made for the remains of Nechtan or the first Óengus. The later St Andrews tradition recounting the supposed arrival of
Saint Regulus Saint Regulus or Saint Rule (Old Irish: ''Riagal'') was a legendary 4th century monk or bishop of Patras, Greece who in AD 345 is said to have fled to Scotland with the bones of Saint Andrew, and deposited them at St Andrews. His feast day in ...
(or Saint Rule) at St Andrews, with relics of St Andrew, has him met at
Forteviot Forteviot () (Ordnance Survey ) is a village in Strathearn, Perth and Kinross on the south bank of the River Earn between Dunning and Perth. It lies in the council area of Perth and Kinross. The population in 1991 was 160. The present village ...
by three sons of Óengus: Eogán, Nechtan and Finguine.Broun, "Pictish Kings", p. 81, note 27. Broun notes that, apart from Eogán, the names may be fictitious. However, Nechtan mac Der-Ilei's paternal grandfather was named Finguine, so that some person of that name could have been linked with the earliest history of Cennrígmonaid.


See also

* House of Óengus


References


Sources

*
Anderson, Alan Orr Alan Orr Anderson (1879–1958) was a Scottish historian and compiler. The son of Rev. John Anderson and Ann Masson, he was born in 1879. He was educated at Royal High School, Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh. In 1908, after fiv ...
; ''Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500–1286'', volume 1. Reprinted with corrections, Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1990. * Bannerman, John; "The Scottish Takeover of Pictland and the relics of Columba" in
Dauvit Broun Dauvit Broun (; born 1961) is a Scottish historian and academic. He is the chair of Scottish history at the University of Glasgow. A specialist in medieval Scottish and Celtic studies, he concentrates primarily on early medieval Scotland, and has ...
and
Thomas Owen Clancy Thomas Owen Clancy is an American academic and historian who specializes in medieval Celtic literature, especially that of Scotland. He did his undergraduate work at New York University, and his Ph.D at the University of Edinburgh. He is currentl ...
(eds.) ''Spes Scotorum: Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland'', Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1999 * Dauvit Broun; "Dunkeld and the origins of Scottish Identity" in Dauvit Broun and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds), op. cit. * Broun, Dauvit; "Pictish Kings 761-839: Integration with Dál Riata or Separate Development" in Sally Foster (ed.), ''The St Andrews Sarcophagus: A Pictish masterpiece and its international connections'', Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998. * Broun, Dauvit; "The church of St Andrews and its foundation legend in the early twelfth century" in Simon Taylor (ed.) ''Kings, clerics and chronicles in Scotland, 500–1297: essays in honour of Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson on the occasion of her ninetieth birthday'', Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000. * Clancy, Thomas Owen; "Caustantín son of Fergus (Uurgust)" in M. Lynch (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'', Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. *
John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ...
; ''Chronicle of the Scottish Nation'', ed.
William Forbes Skene William Forbes Skene Writer to the Signet, WS FRSE Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, FSA(Scot) Doctor of Civil Law, DCL Legum Doctor, LLD (7 June 1809 – 29 August 1892), was a Scotland, Scottish lawyer, historian and antiquary. He co-found ...
, tr. Felix J. H. Skene, 2 vols. Reprinted, Lampeter: Llanerch Press, 1993. * Foster, Sally M.; ''Picts, Gaels and Scots: Early Historic Scotland'', London: Batsford, * Henderson, Isabel; "''Primus inter Pares'': the St Andrews Sarcophagus and Pictish Sculpture" in Simon Taylor (ed.) op. cit. * Smyth, Alfred P.; ''Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000'', Reprinted, Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1998.


External links


Annals of Ulster, part 1, at CELT




Pictish monarchs 8th-century births 834 deaths 9th-century Scottish monarchs {{Scotland-royal-stub