Bethóc ingen Maíl Coluim (also Beatrice) was the elder daughter of Máel Coluim mac Cináeda,

King of Scots The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British cons ...

, and the mother of his successor, Duncan I.

Biography

Bethóc was the eldest daughter and heir of

Malcolm II of Scotland Máel Coluim mac Cinaeda (; anglicised Malcolm II; c. 954 – 25 November 1034) was King of Alba (Scotland) from 1005 until his death in 1034. He was one of the longest-reigning Scottish Kings of that period. He was a son of Cinaed mac Maíl ...

, who had no known sons. She married Crínán, Abbot 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 ...

, about 1000. This marriage may have been designed to encourage the Dunkeld's clan to remain loyal to Malcolm II. Together, Bethóc and Crínán had an heir, Donnchad I. Crínán has also been assigned other children that may have been by Bethóc: Maldred, Lord of Allerdale, married Ealdgyth, daughter of

Uhtred the Bold Uhtred of Bamburgh (Uhtred the Bold—sometimes Uchtred; died ca. 1016), was ruler of Bamburgh and from 1006 to 1016 the ealdorman of Northumbria. He was the son of Waltheof I, ruler of Bamburgh (Bebbanburg), whose family, the Eadwulfingas, ...

, and ancestor of the Earls of

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

; and a daughter (name not known), mother of Moddan,

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

. Their heir Duncan, also known as Donnchad, succeeded his grandfather Malcolm II to become King of Alba in 1034. Bethóc may have had two younger sisters: the woman (named by Hector Boece as Donada) who married Findláech mac Ruaidrí,

Mormaer In early medieval Scotland, a mormaer was the Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a '' Toísech'' (chieftain). Mormaers were equivalent to English earls or Continenta ...

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

, and was the mother of

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

; and an unnamed woman who according to ''

Orkneyinga saga The ''Orkneyinga saga'' (Old Norse: ; ; also called the ''History of the Earls of Orkney'' and ''Jarls' Saga'') is a narrative of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands and their relationship with other local polities, particularly No ...

'' married Sigurd Hlodvirsson, Earl of

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

and was the mother of

Thorfinn the Mighty Thorfinn Sigurdsson (1009? – 1058?), also known as Thorfinn the Mighty (Old Norse: ''Þorfinnr inn riki''), was an 11th-century Jarl of Orkney. He was the youngest of five sons of Jarl Sigurd Hlodvirsson and the only one resulting from S ...

., pp. 38, 237. Early writers have asserted that Máel Coluim also designated Donnchad as his successor under the rules of

tanistry Tanistry is a Gaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system the Tanist (; ; ) is the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the (royal) Gaelic patrilineal dynasties of Ireland, Scotland and Mann, to succeed to ...

because there were other possible claimants to the throne.

References

Sources

*Anderson, Marjorie Ogilvy. ''Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland'', 1973 10th-century births 11th-century deaths House of Dunkeld 11th-century Scottish women 11th-century Scottish people Scottish princesses Gaels Daughters of kings Mothers of Scottish monarchs {{Scotland-royal-stub