Bethóc ingen Maíl Coluim meic Cináeda was the elder daughter of

Máel Coluim mac Cináeda Máel Coluim mac Cináeda ( gd, Maol Chaluim mac Choinnich, label=Modern Scottish Gaelic; anglicized Malcolm II; c. 954 – 25 November 1034) was King of Scots from 1005 until his death. He was a son of King Kenneth II; but the name of his moth ...

King of Scots The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the sovereign state, state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thoug ...

, and the mother of his successor,

Duncan I Donnchad mac Crinain ( gd, Donnchadh mac Crìonain; anglicised as Duncan I, and nicknamed An t-Ilgarach, "the Diseased" or "the Sick"; c. 1001 – 14 August 1040)Broun, "Duncan I (d. 1040)". was king of Scotland (''Alba'') from 1034 to 1040. H ...

Biography

Bethóc was the eldest daughter and heir of

Malcolm II of Scotland Máel Coluim mac Cináeda ( gd, Maol Chaluim mac Choinnich, label=Modern Scottish Gaelic; anglicized Malcolm II; c. 954 – 25 November 1034) was King of Scots from 1005 until his death. He was a son of King Kenneth II; but the name of his moth ...

, who had no known sons. She married Crínán, Abbot of

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to t ...

, about 1000.McGuigan, Neil (2021), '' Máel Coluim III 'Canmore': An Eleventh Century Scottish King'', John Donald, Edinburgh, pp. 82–85, Together they had an heir, Donnchad I. Crínán has also been assigned other children, that may have been by Bethóc: Maldred, Lord of Allerdale, married Ealdgyth, daughter of

Uhtred the Bold Uhtred of Bamburgh (sometimes Uchtred); died c. 1016), was ruler of Bamburgh and from 1006 to 1016 the ealdorman of Northumbria. He was the son of Waltheof I, ruler of Bamburgh (Bebbanburg), whose family the Eadwulfings had ruled the surrou ...

, and ancestor of the Earls of

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...

; and a daughter (name not known) mother of Moddan, Earl of

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

. Their heir Duncan, also known as Donnchad, succeeded his grandfather Malcolm II to become King of Alba in 1034. Bethóc had 2 younger sisters: Donada, who married Findláech mac Ruaidrí,

Mormaer In early Middle Ages, medieval Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, a mormaer was the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the Kings of Scots, King of Scots, and the senior of a ''Toísech'' (chi ...

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

, and was the mother of

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

and Olith, who married Sigurd Hlodvirsson, Earl of

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

.id=mp4HAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA133&dq=beth%C3%B3c+biography&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEoQ6AEwCTgKahUKEwiTu_bmmfnGAhVKVz4KHZdlBEw#v=onepage&q=beth%C3%B3c%20biography&f=false Knox, James. ''The topography of the basin of the Tay'', Andrew Shorteed, Edinburgh, 1831
/ref> and was the mother of

Thorfinn the Mighty Thorfinn Sigurdsson (1009?– 1065), 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 Sigur ...

. Early writers have asserted that Máel Coluim also designated Donnchad as his successor under the rules of

tanistry Tanistry is a Gaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system the Tanist ( ga, Tánaiste; gd, Tànaiste; gv, Tanishtey) is the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the (royal) Gaelic patrilineal dynasties of Ir ...

because there were other possible claimants to the throne.

References

Sources

*Anderson, Marjorie Ogilvy. ''Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland'', 1973 10th-century births 11th-century deaths House of Dunkeld 11th-century Scottish women 11th-century Scottish people Scottish princesses Gaels Daughters of kings {{Scotland-royal-stub