Findláech of Moray (or Findláech mac Ruaidrí, anglicised as ''Findlay of Moray'') was the Thane of Angus and the King or

Mormaer In early medieval Scotland, a mormaer was the Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a ''Toísech'' (chieftain). Mormaers were equivalent to English earls or Continental c ...

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 (council area), ...

, ruling from some point before 1014 until his death in 1020. 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, ...

and in the ''Book of Leinster'', Findláech is called '' rí Alban'', which meant "King of Scotland" in the

Gaelic language The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cànanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historicall ...

. As far as we know from other sources, the only ''rí Alban'' of the time was Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, i.e. Máel Coluim II, so this title can only mean that Findláech, as ruler of Moray, was understood by many to have been the High King of all northern Britain. However, Findláech's main claim to fame these days is as the father of

Mac Bethad Macbeth ( – 15 August 1057) was King of Scots from 1040 until his death. He ruled over the Kingdom of Alba, which covered only a portion of present-day Scotland. Little is known about Macbeth's early life, although he was the son of Find ...

, made famous by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

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 ...

''. Indeed, the Irish historian known in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

Marianus Scotus Marianus Scotus (1028–1082 or 1083) was an Irish monk and chronicler. He authored the ''Chronica Clara'', a history of the world. Name Marianus Scotus is Latin for " Marian the Scot", although that term at the time was still inclusive of ...

calls Macbethad simply ''MacFindlaeg''. Historians are fairly certain that Findláech was ruling before 1014 because the Orkneyinga saga reads that before the

Battle of Clontarf The Battle of Clontarf ( ga, Cath Chluain Tarbh) took place on 23 April 1014 at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland. It pitted an army led by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, against a Norse-Irish alliance comprising the for ...

, Jarl Siguðr of Orkney fought a battle with the Scots, who were led by a ''Jarl Finnlekr'' (i.e. Findláech the

). An Irish princess called Eithne made a

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Als ...

for Siguðr, which had on it a

raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between " crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigne ...

. The saga records that Siguðr later brought the banner to Clontarf, where he was killed. If we believe this, then Findláech would be ruler quite a bit before 1014. His death date, as mentioned above, derives from the ''Annals of Ulster'', which notes ''s.a.'' 1020 ''Finnloech m. Ruaidhri, ri Alban, a suis occisus est'', that is, that Findláech was killed by his own people. No reason for this is given, but the logical thing is to conclude that his successor, his nephew Máel Coluim mac Máil Brigti, had something to do with it. Indeed, the

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' (abbr. AT, ga, Annála Tiarnaigh) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come from the 12th-centur ...

tell us that the sons of Máel Brigte were responsible; the only sons we know of are Máel Coluim and Gille Coemgáin, both of whom evidently benefited from the killing, as both succeeded to the throne.

References

Bibliography

* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286'', 2 vols., (Edinburgh, 1922) * Hudson, Benjamin T., ''Kings of Celtic Scotland'', (Westport, 1994)

External links

Annals of Ulster

Book of Deer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moray, Findlaech of 1020 deaths Findleach People from Moray 11th-century Scottish monarchs Year of birth unknown Orkneyinga saga characters Mormaers of Moray 11th-century mormaers