King Duncan I of Scotland [6440] ¹⁵²¹

   FamilySearch ID: K8D7-F5D.

  General Notes:

Duncan I, King of Alba also known as King of Scots, Donnchad mac Crinain, Donnchadh mac Crìonain, Donnchad An t-Ilgarach, Duncan the Diseased, Duncan the Sick; was born about 1001, and died 14 August 1040. He was king of Alba (Scotland) from 1034 to 1040.

He was a son of Crínán, hereditary lay abbot of Dunkeld, and Bethóc, daughter of King Malcolm II.

Unlike the "King Duncan" of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the historical Duncan appears to have been a young man. He followed his grandfather Malcolm as king after the latter's death on 25 November 1034, without apparent opposition. He may have been Malcolm's acknowledged successor or Tànaiste as the succession appears to have been uneventful. Earlier histories, following John of Fordun, supposed that Duncan had been king of Strathclyde in his grandfather's lifetime, between 1018 and 1034, ruling the former Kingdom of Strathclyde as an appanage. Modern historians discount this idea, although it is supported by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

The early period of Duncan's reign was apparently uneventful, perhaps a consequence of his youth. Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findláich) is recorded as having been his dux, today rendered as "duke" and meaning nothing more than the rank between prince and marquess, but then still having the Roman meaning of "war leader". In context\emdash "dukes of Francia" had half a century before replaced the Carolingian kings of the Franks and in England the over-mighty Godwin of Wessex was called a dux\emdash this suggests that Macbeth may have been the power behind the throne.

In 1039, Duncan led a large Scots army south to besiege Durham, but the expedition ended in disaster. Duncan survived, but the following year he led an army north into Moray, Macbeth's domain, apparently on a punitive expedition against Moray. There he was killed in action, at Bothnagowan, now Pitgaveny, near Elgin, by the men of Moray led by Macbeth, probably on 14 August 1040. He is thought to have been buried at Elgin before later relocation to the island of Iona.

MacBeth (MacBethad) was Duncan's cousin, son of his mothers sister Donada.
His other cousin, Thorfinn the Mighty, was the son of his mother's other sister Olith. Thorfinn aligned with MacBeth against Duncan. Cousin against cousin, for rule of Scotland.

Family
An earlier source, a variant of the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba (CK-I), gives Duncan's wife the Gaelic name Suthen, and John of Fordun suggests that she may have been a relative of Siward, Earl of Northumbria. Whatever his wife's name and family connections may have been, Duncan had at least two sons. The eldest, Malcolm III (Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) was king from 1058 to 1093 after assassinating and usurping Lulach, Macbeth's stepson. The second son Donald III (Domnall Bán, or "Donalbane") was king afterwards. Máel Muire, Earl of Atholl is a possible third son of Duncan, although this is uncertain.

The 14th-century chronicler John of Fordun would write that Duncan's wife was a kinswoman of the Anglo-Danish Siward, Earl of Northumbria, who would help restore her son Malcolm to the throne. However, this is seemingly belied by a kings list that gives Malcolm's mother the Gaelic name Suthen. Duncan had 3 sons:

- Malcolm III of Scotland, also known as Máel Coluim mac Donnchada and Malcolm Canmore, died 1093
- Donald III of Scotland, also known as Domnall mac Donnchada and Donalbain, died 1099
- Máel Muire, Earl of Atholl, also known as Melmare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_I_of_Scotland#Family

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Duncan I, (died Aug. 14, 1040, near Elgin, Moray, Scot.), king of the Scots from 1034 to 1040.

Duncan was the grandson of King Malcolm II (ruled 1005\endash 34), who irregularly made him ruler of Strathclyde when that region was absorbed into the Scottish kingdom (probably shortly before 1034). Malcolm violated the established system of succession whereby the kingship alternated between two branches of the royal family. Upon Malcolm's death, Duncan succeeded peacefully, but he soon faced the rivalry of Macbeth, Mormaor (subking) of Moray, who probably had a better claim to the throne. Duncan besieged Durham unsuccessfully in 1039 and in the following year was murdered by Macbeth. Duncan's elder son later killed Macbeth and ruled as King Malcolm III Canmore (1058\endash 93).
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Duncan-I

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For centuries, the clans had been waging war on each other. Viking warriors had been raiding the coasts of Scotland. King Malcolm of Scotia, king of the Scots and Picts, routed the Angles of Lothian in the Battle of Carham in 1018 and became the most powerful man in Scotland.

When King Owen of the Britons of Strathclyde died later that year without issue, Duncan (Malcolm's grandson) became the rightful heir through marriage. Malcolm was therefore able to unite the Four Kingdoms of Scotland under one throne. Scotland in the early 11th century had finally become a single nation.

Duncan \endash King of Scotland 1034 \endash 40
Duncan became King of Scotland upon the death of Malcolm in 1034. He was a much weaker character than Malcolm and a terrible leader. He led a disastrous campaign into Northumbria and was forced to retreat ignominiously back to Scotland.

His cousin MacBeth, chief of the northern Scots, also had a claim to the throne through his mother. MacBeth formed an alliance with his cousin the Earl of Orkney, and they defeated and killed Duncan near Elgin in 1040.

Mac Bethad mac Findláich or MacBeth as he is known in English, the Mormaer of Moray, claimed the throne on his own behalf and that of his wife Grauch, and after the death of Duncan made himself king in his place. Respected for his strong leadership qualities, MacBeth was a wise king who ruled successfully for 17 years. He lived in a fortified castle at Dunsinane north of Perth. His rule was secure enough for him to go on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1050. However the peace was not to last: Duncan's son Malcolm had fled to Northumbria after the defeat of his father and had never given up his claim to the throne. In 1054 with the support of Earl Siward, he led an army against MacBeth, defeating him at the battle of Dunsinnan. MacBeth remained king, restoring Malcolm's lands to him. But in 1057 at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire on 15th August, MacBeth was finally defeated and killed and Malcolm became King.

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Duncan-MacBeth/

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www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk
25 November 1034: Malcolm II is assassinated at Glamis and is succeeded by Duncan I.
15 August 1040: Duncan I tries to impose his will on northern Scotland, but loses to Macbeth of Moray and Earl Thorfinn of Orkney at the Battle of Pitgaveny, near Elgin. Duncan is killed during the battle, and King Macbeth is crowned at Scone later in 1040.

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Duncan was a Haemophiliac and died from the bleeding after battle.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Title Of Nobility: King of Scotland,,.

Duncan married Sybil BEARSSON Queen of Scotland [6441] [MRIN: 5385], daughter of Earl Siward BIORNSSON Northumbria [6451] and Elfreda NORTHUMBRIA [6452], in 1030 in , , , Scotland.¹⁵²³ (Sybil BEARSSON Queen of Scotland [6441] was born in 1009 in , , Northumberland, England ¹⁵²¹, christened about 1010 in , , Northumberland, England,¹⁵²¹ died in 1070 in Edinburgh, , Midlothian, Scotland ¹⁵²¹ and was buried in 1070 in Edinburgh, , Midlothian, Scotland ¹⁵²¹.)