Ildulb mac Causantín,
anglicised
Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
as Indulf or Indulph, nicknamed An Ionsaighthigh, "the Aggressor" (died 962) was
king of Alba from 954 to 962. He was the son of
Constantine II; his mother may have been a daughter of Earl
Eadulf I of Bernicia, who was an exile in Scotland.
Biography
Indulf was probably baptised in 927. According to
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...
,
Æthelstan
Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ; ; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern histori ...
stood godfather to a son of
Constantine at the
Church of Dacre. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons.
The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...
dates the meeting of Æthelstan with the northern kings at
Eamont to the 12 July 927. So, it is likely that this baptism occurred on, or around, the Feast of
St Hildulf, which Alex Woolf suggests may be the source of his uncommon name.
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 ...
and others supposed that Indulf had been
king of Strathclyde in the reign of his predecessor, based on their understanding that the
kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde (, "valley of the River Clyde, Clyde"), also known as Cumbria, was a Celtic Britons, Brittonic kingdom in northern Britain during the Scotland in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages. It comprised parts of what is now southern Scotland an ...
had become a part of the
kingdom of Alba
The Kingdom of Alba (; ) was the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900 and of Alexander III in 1286. The latter's death led indirectly to an invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England in 1296 and the First War of Scotti ...
in the 940s. This, however, is no longer accepted.
The
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
The ''Chronicle of the Kings of Alba'', or ''Scottish Chronicle'', is a short written chronicle covering the period from the time of Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpín) (d. 858) until the reign of Kenneth II (Cináed mac Maíl Coluim) (r. 971� ...
says: "In his time ''oppidum Eden''", usually identified as
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, "was evacuated, and abandoned to the Scots until the present day." This has been read as indicating that
Lothian
Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...
, or some large part of it, fell to Indulf at this time. However, the conquest of Lothian is likely to have been a process rather than a single event, and the frontier between the lands of the kings of Alba and
Bernicia
Bernicia () was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England.
The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English cou ...
may have lain south and east of Edinburgh many years before Indulf's reign.
Indulf's death is reported by the
Chronicon Scotorum
''Chronicon Scotorum'', also known as ''Chronicum Scotorum'', is a medieval Irish chronicle.
Overview
According to Nollaig Ó Muraíle, it is "a collection of annals belonging to the ' Clonmacnoise group', covering the period from prehistoric ...
in 962, the
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
The ''Chronicle of the Kings of Alba'', or ''Scottish Chronicle'', is a short written chronicle covering the period from the time of Kenneth MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpín) (d. 858) until the reign of Kenneth II (Cináed mac Maíl Coluim) (r. 971� ...
adding that he was killed fighting
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� ...
near
Cullen, at the
Battle of Bauds. The
Prophecy of Berchán
In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain div ...
, however, claims that he died "in the house of the same holy apostle, where his father
ied, that is at the
céli dé monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
of
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 ...
. He was buried on
Iona
Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...
.
[''Early Sources'', pp. 468–471; Duncan, p. 20 follows the Chronicle.]
Indulf was succeeded by
Dub (Dub mac Maíl Coluim), son of his predecessor. His sons
Cuilén and
Amlaíb
Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; ) is a Dutch, Polish, Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" and ''laibaz'' "heirloom, descendant".
Old Eng ...
were later kings. Eochaid, a third son, was killed with Cuilén by the men of
Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath alley
An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...
of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...
in 971.
References
Sources
*
Anderson, Alan Orr; ''Early Sources of Scottish History AD 500–1286'', volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990.
* Duncan, A. A. M.; ''The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence'', Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002.
* Smyth, Alfred P.; ''Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000'', Reprinted, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1998.
* Walker, Ian W.; ''Lords of Alba: The Making of Scotland'', Sutton, Stroud, 2006.
External links
CELT: Corpus of Electronic Textsat
University College Cork
University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork.
The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...
includes the ''Annals of Ulster'', ''Tigernach'', ''the Four Masters'' and ''Innisfallen'', the ''Chronicon Scotorum'', the ''Lebor Bretnach'' (which includes the ''Duan Albanach''), Genealogies, and various Lives of Saints. Most are translated into English or translations are in progress.
(CKA) The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba
Indulfat the official website of the
British monarchy
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 Constitutional monarchy, regula ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indulf Of Scotland
962 deaths
Monarchs killed in action
Scottish pre-union military personnel killed in action
House of Alpin
Burials in Iona
Year of birth unknown
10th-century Scottish monarchs
Gaels