Talorgan son of Eanfrith ( sga, Talorcan mac Enfret; died 657) was a

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

of the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from e ...

from 653 to 657. As with his successors Gartnait son of Donuel and Drest son of Donuel, he reigned as a

puppet king A puppet monarch is a majority figurehead who is installed or patronized by an imperial power to provide the appearance of local authority but to allow political and economic control to remain among the dominating nation. A figurehead monarch ...

under the Northumbrian king

Oswiu Oswiu, also known as Oswy or Oswig ( ang, Ōswīg; c. 612 – 15 February 670), was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the chu ...

. Talorgan was the son of

Eanfrith of Bernicia Eanfrith (590–634Bede's dates are usually taken as he gives them, but some historians have treated these dates as being one year earlier, based on the idea that Bede did not start his years at the same time as modern years are started, so by thi ...

, who had fled into exile among the Picts after his father, the Bernician king

Æthelfrith Æthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of Nor ...

, was killed around the year 616. Talorgan's mother is likely to have been a member of a powerful Pictish royal dynasty, and may have been the sister of his predecessor Talorg son of Uuid, as "Talorgan" is a diminutive meaning "Little Talorg". Talorgan may have claimed Pictish kingship through his mother, but his rule may also have been due to the fact that he was the nephew of Oswiu at a time Oswiu was ruling Northumbria. Talorgan was probably imposed upon the southern Picts by Oswiu, as part of his policy of expansion and domination in northern Britain. Talorgan became king in 653, probably with a powerbase within the southern Pictish territory south of the

Mounth The Mounth ( ) is the broad upland in northeast Scotland between the Highland Boundary and the River Dee, at the eastern end of the Grampians. Name and etymology The name ''Mounth'' is ultimately of Pictish origin. The name is derived from ...

, which was also probably the home territory of his predecessor Talorg. In the next year, he defeated and killed

Dúnchad mac Conaing Dúnchad mac Conaing (or Dúnchad mac Dubáin) (died 654) was king of Dál Riata (modern western Scotland). He was joint ruler with Conall Crandomna until he was defeated and killed by Talorcan, king of the Picts, in the battle of Strath Ethairt. ...

, king of the

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is n ...

, at the Battle of Strathyre. This may have been part of a traditional "inaugural raid" against hostile neighbours to mark the beginning of a king's rule. Talorgan's death in 657 may have seen Oswiu launch an offensive against the Picts, as Bede implies that Oswiu's subduing "the greater part of the Picts" took place in 658.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * 657 deaths Pictish monarchs 7th-century Scottish monarchs Year of birth unknown Royal House of Northumbria {{Scotland-hist-stub