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Edgar or Étgar mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern Gaelic: ''Eagar mac Mhaoil Chaluim''), nicknamed Probus, "the Valiant" (c. 1074 – 8 January 1107), was
King of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...
from 1097 to 1107. He was the fourth son of
Malcolm III Malcolm III ( mga, Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, label=Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh; died 13 November 1093) was King of Scotland from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" ("ceann mòr", Gaelic, literally "big head" ...
and Margaret of Wessex but the first to be considered eligible for the throne after the death of his father.


Reign

Edgar claimed the kingship in early 1095, following the murder of his half-brother Duncan II in late 1094 by
Máel Petair of Mearns Máel Petair of Mearns is the only known Mormaer of the Kincardineshire, Mearns. His name means "tonsured one of (Saint) Saint Peter, Peter". Professor Dauvit Broun of the University of Glasgow identifies his father as a man called Loren. Little i ...
, a supporter of Edgar's uncle
Donald III Donald III (Medieval Gaelic: Domnall mac Donnchada; Modern Gaelic: ''Dòmhnall mac Dhonnchaidh''), and nicknamed "Donald the Fair" or "Donald the White" (Medieval Gaelic:"Domnall Bán", anglicised as Donald Bane/Bain or Donalbane/Donalbain) (c. ...
. His older brother
Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...
sided with Donald, presumably in return for an appanage and acknowledgement as the heir of the aged and son-less Donald. Edgar received limited support from William II of England as Duncan had before him; however, the English king was occupied with a revolt led by
Robert de Mowbray Robert de Mowbray (died 1125), a Norman, was Earl of Northumbria from 1086 until 1095. Robert joined the 1088 rebellion against King William II on behalf of Robert Curthose, but was pardoned and later led the army that killed Malcolm III of Scotl ...
, Earl of Northumbria, who appears to have had the support of Donald and Edmund. Rufus campaigned in northern England for much of 1095, and during this time Edgar gained control only of
Lothian Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sco ...
. A
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
issued at Durham at this time names him "... son of Máel Coluim King of Scots ... possessing the whole land of Lothian and the kingship of the Scots by the gift of my lord William, king of the English, and by paternal heritage." Edgar's claims had the support of his brothers Alexander and DavidEthelred was
Abbot of Dunkeld The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the first k ...
, and Edmund was divided from his siblings by his support of Donald — and his uncle Edgar Ætheling as these witnessed the charter at Durham. William Rufus spent 1096 in Normandy which he bought from his brother Robert Curthose, and it was not until 1097 that Edgar received the further support which led to the defeat of Donald and Edmund in a hard-fought campaign led by Edgar Ætheling. Although Geoffrey Gaimar claimed that Edgar owed feudal service to William Rufus, it is clear from Rufus's agreement to pay Edgar 40 or 60 shillings a day maintenance when in attendance at the English court that this is untrue. In any event, he did attend the court on a few occasions. On 29 May 1099, for example, Edgar served as sword-bearer at the great feast to inaugurate Westminster Hall. After William Rufus's death, however, Edgar ceased to appear at the English court. He was not present at the coronation of Henry I. The inheritance of the Scottish crown was not
primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
as Duncan II had a legitimate son and heir in the person of William fitz Duncan. With Donald and Edmund removed, however, Edgar was uncontested king of Scots, and his reign incurred no major crises. Compared with his rise to power, Edgar's reign is obscure. One notable act was his gift of a
camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
(or perhaps an elephant), presumably a 'souvenir' of the First Crusade, to his fellow Gael Muircheartach Ua Briain,
High King of Ireland High King of Ireland ( ga, Ardrí na hÉireann ) was a royal title in Gaelic Ireland held by those who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over all of Ireland. The title was held by historical kings and later sometimes assigned ana ...
. In 1098, Edgar signed a treaty with Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, setting the boundary between Scots and Norwegian claims in the west. By ceding claims to the Hebrides and Kintyre to Magnus, Edgar acknowledged the practical realities of the existing situation. Edgar's religious foundations included a priory at Coldingham in 1098, associated with the Convent of Durham. At Dunfermline Abbey he sought support from
Anselm of Canterbury Anselm of Canterbury, OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also called ( it, Anselmo d'Aosta, link=no) after his birthplace and (french: Anselme du Bec, link=no) after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of th ...
with his mother's foundation from which the monks of Canterbury may have been expelled by Domnall Bán. Edgar died in Edinburgh on 8 January 1107 and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey. Unmarried and childless, he acknowledged his brother Alexander as his successor. Edgar's will also granted David an appanage in "Cumbria" (the lands of the former Kingdom of Strathclyde), and perhaps also in southern parts of Lothian. David would later be known as
Prince of the Cumbrians The list of the kings of Strathclyde concerns the kings of Alt Clut, later Strathclyde, a Brythonic kingdom in what is now western Scotland. The kingdom was ruled from Dumbarton Rock, ''Alt Clut'', the Brythonic name of the rock, until around ...


Contradictory account of his death

There is a contradictory account of his death, recorded by
Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern historia ...
(12th century). According to this account, Edgar was killed by his uncle Donald III, while Donald III was killed by Alexander I. This account reports: "On the death of Malcolm II king of the Scots, great divisions rose among them, in reference to the succession to the crown. Edgar, the king's eldest son, assumed it as his lawful right, but Donald, King Malcolm's brother, having usurped authority, opposed him with great cruelty, and at length the brave youth dgarwas murdered by his uncle. Alexander however, his brother, slew Donald, and ascended the throne; being thus the avenger as well as the successor of his brother...".
Benjamin Hudson Benjamin T. Hudson is an American medievalist based at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree at Pennsylvania State University, received his Masters at University College, Dublin, an ...
dismisses the story as "completely false". But its existence points to the circulation of "incorrect" tales about the monarchs of the late 11th century. Verses of '' The Prophecy of Berchán'' allude to the murder of another Scottish king: "Alas a king will take sovereignty for four nights and one month; I think it is grievous that the Gaels will boast, woe to him who celebrates him. ... A son of the woman of the English... I think it is wretched, that his brother will kill him." The English woman is obviously Saint Margaret, the consort of Malcolm III. But none of her children, male or female, are known to have been killed by one of their own siblings. The confusion probably derives from the murder of their half-sibling Duncan II of Scotland, son of Malcolm III and his first wife Ingibiorg Finnsdottir. A note in the
Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...
claims that Duncan II was murdered by his brothers Donmall onaldand Edmund. As Duncan had no brothers by these names, the text probably points to his uncle Donald III and half-brother Edmund of Scotland, though later texts identify a noble by the name of
Máel Petair of Mearns Máel Petair of Mearns is the only known Mormaer of the Kincardineshire, Mearns. His name means "tonsured one of (Saint) Saint Peter, Peter". Professor Dauvit Broun of the University of Glasgow identifies his father as a man called Loren. Little i ...
as the actual murderer.Hudson, p. 92.


Notes


References

* Barrow, G. W. S., ''The Kingdom of the Scots.'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2003. * Duncan, A. A. M., ''The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence.'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. * Hudson, Benjamin T., ''The Prophecy of Berchán: Irish and Scottish Highkings in the early Middle Ages.'' Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996. * Oram, Richard, ''David I: The King Who Made Scotland.'' Tempus, Stroud, 2004. *
Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern historia ...
, ''The ecclesiastical history of England and Normandy''. 1853 translation by Thomas Forester, Francois Guizot, and Leopold Victor Delisle. Volume 3, page 14.


External links


Annals of Innisfallen
a
CELT

Orderic Vitalis, the 1853 translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar Of Scotland 1070s births 1107 deaths House of Dunkeld 11th-century Scottish monarchs 12th-century Scottish monarchs Burials at Dunfermline Abbey Gaelic monarchs in Scotland