The Battle of Stracathro, also known as the Battle of Inchbare, took place on 16 April 1130 about north of

Brechin Brechin (; gd, Breichin) is a city and former Royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which continues today ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, near the

River North Esk The North Esk ( gd, Easg Thuath) is a river in Angus and Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is formed by the meeting of the Water of Mark (from Glen Mark) and the Water of Lee (from Loch Lee), and enters the North Sea four miles north of Montrose. I ...

Óengus of Moray Óengus of Moray (''Oenghus mac inghine Lulaich, ri Moréb'') was the last king of Moray of the native line, ruling Moray in what is now northeastern Scotland from an unknown date until his death in 1130. Óengus is known to have been the son of ...

and

Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair () was an illegitimate son of Alexander I of Scotland, and was an unsuccessful pretender to the Scottish throne. He is a relatively obscure figure owing primarily to the scarcity of source material, appearing only in pr ...

invaded Scotland with 5,000 warriors according to the Anglo-Norman chronicler Orderic Vitalis. This invasion was launched by the joint forces of Moray and Ross at an opportunistic moment to destabilise

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Mal ...

's control as he was visiting

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. David had spent most of 1130 in England to serve as a judge at

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

's court, as well as to attend the dedication service of Canterbury Cathedral. The rebellion was led by two pretenders to the Scottish crown,

(Malcolm)—the illegitimate son of

Alexander I of Scotland Alexander I ( medieval Gaelic: ''Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim''; modern Gaelic: ''Alasdair mac Mhaol Chaluim''; c. 1078 – 23 April 1124), posthumously nicknamed The Fierce, was the King of Scotland from 1107 to his death. He succeeded his broth ...

—and

(Angus). Angus was the grandson of King

Lulach Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin ( Modern Gaelic: ''Lughlagh mac Gille Chomghain'', known in English simply as Lulach, and nicknamed Tairbith, "the Unfortunate" and Fatuus, "the Simple-minded" or "the Foolish"; before 1033 – 17 March 1058) was King of ...

who had been deposed and killed by David. Details of the invasion are sparse in the historical record; however, it is recognised that the aim was to depose David and replace him with Angus—as a legitimate heir. The forces loyal to

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

were led by Edward,

Constable of Scotland The Lord High Constable is a hereditary, now ceremonial, office of Scotland. In the order of precedence of Scotland, the office traditionally ranks above all titles except those of the Royal Family.p60-61, Bruce, Alistair, Keepers of the King ...

. Edward's army defeated the invading rebellion at Stracathro. Óengus of Moray was killed in the battle. Contemporary reports differ in the scale of the loss of the rebels, with some estimating as many as 4,000 may have been killed but other sources claiming a much smaller battle. Malcolm, having escaped, took up the mantle as the new pretender to the Scottish crown after the death of Angus. He was later betrayed in 1134 and imprisoned in

Roxburgh Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at leas ...

by David for life.

References

{{Authority control 1130 in Scotland Stracathro Stracathro Strathco