Matad of Atholl was
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 ...
of
Atholl, 1130s–1153/59.
It is possible that he was granted the Mormaerdom by a
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
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 ...
, as suggested by Roberts, rather than merely inheriting it. However, this is unlikely. If he did inherit it, he inherited it from his father,
Máel Muire. According to the
Orkneyinga Saga, Matad was the son of Máel Muire, who was son of king
Donnchad I and younger brother of King
Máel Coluim III Cenn Mór. It is highly unlikely that the kings of Scotland, with little more claim to the kingship than Matad himself, would have been in a position to "grant" the Mormaerdom. It is much more likely that Matad inherited part of a deal made with Máel Muire by the king in order to alienate Máel Muire and his descendants from the kingship.
Mormaer Matad is most famous for being the father of
Harald Maddadsson, or ''Arailt mac Mataid''. He married Margaret, the daughter of
Haakon Paulsson (the son 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 ...
). Through this marriage, their son Harald would succeed to the
Earldom of Orkney (c. 1139).
He is called ''Maddadr'' in the
Orkneyinga Saga, and some historians follow on from this and call him Maddad. He also features as a witness to charters of the reign of King
David I, where he is called ''Madeth Comes'' and ''Maddoc Comes'' (=''Mormaer Matad'').
[Anderson, ''Early Sources'', V.II, p. 139, n.2] Other names originating from the obvious difficulties encountered by his name are Madach and Maddad.
According to Anderson, he died sometime between 1151 and 1161. He was succeeded by another of his sons,
Máel Coluim.
References
Bibliography
*Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286'', 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922
*Roberts, John L., ''Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages'', (Edinburgh, 1997)
*Topping, Patrick, "Harald Maddadson, Earl of Orkney and Caithness, 1139-1206," in ''The Scottish Historical Review'', 62, 1983.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atholl, Matad, Earl of
1150s deaths
Nobility from Perth and Kinross
Year of birth unknown
Mormaers of Atholl
12th-century mormaers