Norman Conquest Encyclopedia

Malcolm was about eight years old when his father, Duncan, successor to Malcolm II, was killed in battle at Pitgaveny on 15 August 1040. The boy was smuggled away to England and was brought up in the court of Edward the Confessor and thus was exposed to the Norman culture that prevailed there. In 1054 the young man gained his guardian's support for an attempt to regain what he saw as his rightful position as king of Scotland and with Siward of Northumbria in command, they sailed to the Firth of Tay and went on to defeat Macbeth at Dunsinnan. The victory was incomplete, but Macbeth and his stepson were killed within four years, securing the kingdom for Malcolm. He imposed his will on the land, gaining the nickname Canmore or Bighead. The Gaelic inheritance of Scotland was set at nothing by the Anglo-Norman ways Malcolm brought with him. He wisely made peace with the Vikings to the north, marrying Ingibiorg, widow of Thorfinn the Mighty of Orkney by whom he had three children. When the Norse strength was broken at Stamford Bridge and the Anglo-Saxon power went the same route at Senlac Hill in 1066, Malcolm's policy became uncertain. He gave shelter to Edgar Atheling when he fled William the Conqueror in 1068 and again in 1069, and his second marriage was to the Englishman's sister, Margaret. Continued support of rebels against the Norman led to William's invasion of Scotland in 1072 and the Treaty of Abernathy which subsequent English kings claimed established their suzerainty over the Scottish kings. Margaret bore Malcolm eight children and undertook many good works for the church. She was later canonized and is a patron saint of Scotland. Malcolm continued to harass England and William I had the New Castle built on the River Tyne to contain him, while William II had to upgrade the fort at Carlisle for the same reason. Malcolm and his son Edward were ambushed and killed near Alnwick by Robert Mowbray, earl of Northumberland, on 13 November 1093. Malcolm and Margaret were reburied in the Escorial near Madrid, Spain, during the Reformation.

See also: Anglo-Saxon; Edgar Atheling; Edward the Confessor; King Malcolm II; Norman; Senlac Hill; Stamford Bridge; William the Conqueror; Viking

Related Reading:

• Hastings 1066 (Revised Edition)- The Fall of Saxon England
  (Campaign 13 )