Malcolm (Dunkeld) King of Scots (1141 - 1165)

Born 20 Mar 1141 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Died 9 Dec 1165 at age 24 in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland [uncertain]

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Malcolm IV of Scotland

House of Dunkeld

Family and Early Life

Malcolm was the eldest son and heir of Henry Dunkeld, 3rd earl of Northumberland and Huntingdon, and Ada de Warenne, a daughter of William de Warren, earl of Warenne in Normandy and 2nd earl of Surrey, born 20 March 1141.^[1][2][3] As evidenced in several early charters, Malcolm appears to have used his mother's surname of de Warenne.^[4][5]

Malcolm's father, Henry, was the second, but oldest surviving son and heir apparent of David I, King of Scots,^[6] and on his death 12 June 1152 Malcolm became next in line to the throne after his grandfather. King David wasted no time sending the eleven year old boy on a tour throughout the nation, in the care of Duncan, 5th earl of Fife, to acknowledge his status as heir to the throne of Scotland.^[7][8] David I died the following year, 24 May 1153, and Malcolm immediately succeeded him as King of Scots.^[3][9]

King of Scots

Despite the extreme youth of the new king, there was no formal regency established to control the government during his minority. He is said to have been "wise beyond his years," calm during any crisis, and willing to seek out and listen to advice from his grandfather's counselors.^[10] Fordun described him as "shining like a heavenly star in the midst of his people."^[11] Malcolm's youth and inexperience, however, made it difficult for him to deal successfully with Henry, the English king. Although Henry had promised David I that he would return Northumberland and Cumbria to Scotland as soon as he became king of England (which he did), in 1157 he informed Malcolm that he was reclaiming these northern territories and allowing the Scottish king the earldom of Huntingdon instead.^[10] This not only violated the previous agreement, but was a grave affront to Scotland as those two northern territories had been long held hereditarily by the Scottish princes.^[12]

In 1159, to uphold his feudal obligation to Henry for holding the earldom of Huntingdon, Malcolm was forced to accompany the English king to France to participate in a military engagement at Toulouse,^[10] and was knighted by Henry that same year at Tours.^[13]

Neither the loss of the northern territories, their king being made a feudal baron of the English king, or Malcolm's departure for France sat very well with the Scottish nobility and when Malcolm returned home he faced considerable opposition and a rebellion fomented by a group of magnates which included Ferquhard, earl of Strathern.^[14] Malcolm successfully put down this rebellion, and also successfully quashed an uprising in 1164 which was led by Somerled of the Isles.^[10]

Malcolm IV was devoted to the church and an avowed celibate, which may explain how he came to be known as "the Maiden".^[15][10] He founded the Cistercian abbey of Coupar Angus and rebuilt the Augustianian priory of Scone (after it had been damaged by fire) as an abbey.^[16] The last years of his reign were marked by an illness which made it difficult for him to travel. He is said to have suffered severe pains in his head and feet, and modern historians have speculated that he may have suffered fromPaget's disease.^[16]

Death

Malcolm IV, King of Scots, died 9 December 1165 in his castle at Jedburgh at the age of twenty-three.^[17][1] He was buried on the right of his grandfather, King David I, in the middle of the floor in front of the high altar in the church of the Holy Trinity at Dunfermline.^[18][17]

Research Note

• Sir James Balfour Paul indicates that Malcolm, although unmarried, had a natural son whose name is unknown and in whose memory he granted the right of sanctuary to the church of Innerleithen.^[19][20] However, more recent scholarship suggests that the reference in the Registrum de Kelso actually referred to the death of the king's father and not of an alleged natural son.^[21]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 582 SCOTLAND 3.i. Malcolm IV.
2. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgensis (1835), [Anno m.c.xlj.Eclipfis facta eft xxij. kalendas Aprilis [Mar 20] et atus eft rex Melcolmus.], p. 72.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 71.
4. ↑ Page, William (ed). Chartulary of Brinkburn Priory. Surtees Society Publication 90 (1893), pp. 142-143. (Undated charter of Malcolm de Warenne, earl of Northumberland.)
5. ↑ Lawrie, Sir Archibald Campbell. Early Scottish Charters prior to A.D. 1153. Glasgow: J. MacLehose (1905), pp. 215-216. (Charter by Malcolm de Warenne, dated 1153.)
6. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, pp. 580-582 SCOTLAND 3. Henry of Scotland.
7. ↑ Mackay, Aeneas James George. Malcolm IV. Dictionary of National Biography Online Edition, available here.
8. ↑ Barrow, G.W.S. Kingship and Unity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (1961), rv 2003, p. 46
9. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgensis (1835), [Anno. m.c.liij. obiit. David rex Scottorum ix. kal. Junii [Maij 24], et Macolmus nepos ejus xij^cim annorum puer, filii Henrici comitis filius, fucceffit ei.], p. 75
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4} Ashley, Mike. The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc (1998), pp. 405-406.
11. ↑ Skene, William F. John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas (1872), Annals I, p. 249.
12. ↑ Robertson, Eben William. Scotland Under Her Early Kings. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas (1862), pp. 352-353.
13. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgensis (1835), [Anno m.c.lvij. rex Malcolm Scottorum veniens ad regem Anglie Henricum apud ceftram, devenit homo fuus, eo modo quo avus fuus fuerat homo veteris regis Henrici, falvis omnibur dignitatitus fuis.], p. 76.
14. ↑ Robertson, Eben William. Scotland Under Her Early Kings. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas (1862), pp. 354-355.
15. ↑ Skene, William F. John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas (1872), sections V and VI, pp. 252-253
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} Scott, W.W. Malcolm IV. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online Edition (23 Sep 2004), rv 3 Jan 2008, available here by subscription.
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 73.
18. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgensis (1835),[A.D. 1165: ...Obit pie memorie Malcolmus rex Scotorum apud Gedewurt, v. idus Decembris [Dec 9] quod evenit v.^o feria, anno etatis fuae xx^ov^o, regnique ejus anno xij.^k. cujus corpus honorifice ab omnibus perfonis ufque ad Dunfermelin delatum fepelitur; cui fucceffit Willelmus frater ejus, in virgilia natalis Domini [Dec 24] , more regio elevatus in regnum.], p. 80.
19. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 1, p. 5.
20. ↑ Liber S. Marie de Calchou, Registrum Cartarum Abbacie Tironensis de Kelso 1113-1567. Edinburgh (1846), vol. 1, pp. 23-24.
21. ↑ Pryde, E.B. (ed). Handbook of British Chronology. Cambridge: University Press (2003), Royal Historical Society, 3rd ed, p. 57.

See Also:

• Barrow, G.W.S. The Anglo-Norman Era in Scottish History. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1980).

• Barrow, G.W.S. The Kingdom of the Scots. New York: St Martin's Press (1973).

• Duncan, A.A.M. Scotland, The Making of the Kingdom. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd (1975), The Edinburgh History of Scotland, vol. 1.

• Goodey, Emma. Malcolm IV (r. 1153-1165). The Royal Family. London: The Royal Household (2016). Malcolm IV (r. 1153-1165).

• Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families. London: The Bodley Head (1989), p. 196.

• Wikipedia: Malcolm IV.

• Wikipedia: House of Dunkeld

• Wikidata: Item Q122479, en:Wikipedia