Discover

The 'Mormaerdom' or 'Kingdom of Moray' (Middle Irish: ''Muireb'' or ''Moreb''; Medieval Latin: ''Muref'' or ''Moravia''; Modern Gaelic:''Moireabh'') was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland that was destroyed by King David I of Scotland in 1130. It did not have the same territory as the modern local government council area of Moray, which is a much small area, around Elgin. The medieval lordship was in fact centered on both the lower Spey valley and around Inverness and the northern parts of the Great Glen, and probably originally included Buchan and Mar, as well as Ross.

Contents

Status of Moray

Origins

Fortriu

Early Rulers of the North

Emergence of Muireb

Morggán

Cellach

Break With Alba

Comparative Moravian and Scottish Genealogies

Book of Deer

Dynasty of Ruaidrí: Findláech to Óengus

List of Mormaers

References

Bibliography

Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links

Status of Moray

Both Scandinavian and Irish sources style the ruler of Moray before the 12th century not merely as ''King'', but as "King of Scotland". This certainly means that the rulers of Moray regarded themselves as the most important ruler of Northern Britain, and casts doubt on the claims of the southern Kings of Alba to monopolize regal lordship north of the Kingdom of England.
Traditional Scottish king-lists which ignore this can be regarded the product of the triumphant southern Kings who finally destroyed their northern rivals under David I. This means that it is misleading to call Moray a mere Mormaerdom. It was evidently more. The ruler of Moray is even called ''Dux'' in one Latin source. This is notable because all Latin sources (except some earlier Gaelic ones which do not bother translating) always translate ''Mormaer'' as ''Comes'' (i.e. ''count''). ''Dux'' (i.e. ''Duke'') signifies a more powerful leader, perhaps a nominal vassal of another king, who had not secured regal status in the larger international scene, but who functioned in practice as a King (c/f Duke of Normandy).

Origins

The origins of the Kingdom of Moray are not clear. The traditional account is that the ''Cenél Loairn'' took Moray by travelling up the Great Glen from northern Dál Riata and conquering Northern Pictavia from the native Picts. Hence, the idea is that the two main kindreds - the Cenél nGabráin and the Cenél Loairn of Dalriada - spawned and replicated themselves in the new kingdom of Alba. The problem of course is that not every historian views the Kingdom of Alba as the product of any kind of Dalriadan conquest, viewing the kingdom's origin as rooted in that of Pictland.

Fortriu

The Kingdom of Fortriu is traditionally seen as a Kingdom centered on central Scotland, equivalent to the Kingdom of the Southern Picts. However, new research by Alex Woolf has destroyed this idea. As Woolf has pointed out, the only basis for it had been that a battle had taken place in Strathearn in which the ''Men of Fortriu'' had taken part. This is obviously an unconvincing reason on its own, because there are two Strathearns - one in the south, and one in the north - and, moreover, every battle has to be fought outside the territory of one of the combatants. By contrast, a northern recension of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle makes it clear that Fortriu was north of the Mounth, in the area visited by Columba. ¹ The Prophecy of Berchan tells us that King Dub was killed in the ''Plain of Fortriu''. ² Another source, the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, tells us that Dub was killed at Forres, a location in Moray. ³ Moreover, additions to the Chronicle of Melrose tell us that Dub was killed by the Moravians at Forres. ⁴ There can be no doubt then that Fortriu centered on northern Scotland, and more specifically, on Moray.

Early Rulers of the North

The Annals of Ulster (s.a. 866) tells us that the ''Gallaib Erenn & Alban'' (i.e. the Vikings of Ireland and Alba) went to Fortriu and "raided all the lands of the Picts."⁵ The ''Chronicle of the Kings of Alba'' confirms this, telling us that it happened in the third year of King Causantín I's reign. ⁶
Scandinavian sources shed some more light on the earlier rulers of Moray. The Heimskringla tells us that, somewhere between 889 and 892, ⁷ Thorstein the Red, allied with Sigurd, conquered Caithness and Sutherland, and killed a Scottish ''Jarl'' named Máel Brigte. This is confirmed by both the Orkneyinga Saga and Landnámabók. The latter names another Scottish ''Jarl'', called Máel Duin. This man fathered a man with the fascinating name of Erp, (otherwise known as a figure in Pictish mythology equivalent to Scottish ''Erc''). ⁸ The Chronicon Scotorum tells us that a man called Áed (written ''Ead''), called ''rí Cruithentuaithe'' (=''King of Pictland'') was killed by the "grandsons of Ivar."⁹ The Annals of Ulster (s.a. 904) adds that Ivar, the grandson of Ivar, was killed by the ''Fír Fortrenn'' (i.e., the ''Men of Fortriu'');¹⁰ the two events are obviously either the same or closely related, and refer to happenings in Moray. These sources give use some names for local rulers, but these are not necessarily rulers of Moray as a whole. We must still presume that Moray (=''Fortriu'') is still the core area of Scotland. Perhaps, we may regard these Viking onslaughts, with perhaps Scottish conquests in the south, as the key explanation for the shift of Alba's power center to the south.

Emergence of Muireb

Hudson postulates Giric mac Dúngail and his brother Causantin mac Dúngail as Cenél Loairn rulers (of Moray).¹¹ However, there is little strong evidence for this. Giric was recorded as being killed by the ''Men of Fortriu''. If that is understood to be southern Pictland, then this would fit with Hudson's suggestion. However, Fortriu did not mean that.

Morggán

In the Genelaig Albanensium, a list of early 11th century Scottish genealogies consistently appended to the Senchus fer n-Alban, the name Morggán features prominently in the genealogies of both Mac Bethad mac Findláich and Máel Snechtai mac Lulaich. The Annals of Tigernach (''s.a.'' 976) reports that three Scottish Mormaers were in the warbands of the Leinster kindred called Uí Failge, with the three mormaers each meeting his death.¹² One of these was Donnchad mac Morggáin (''Donnchadh mac Morgaínd''). The Book of Deer records a prominent Buchan kindred called ''Clann Morggáin'' (=''children of Morggán''), indicating that a historical person named Morggán was powerful enough in the 10th century to spawn a clan in the 11th. It is therefore very possible that Morggán is crucial to understanding northern Scotland in the mid-10th century.¹³ It may be that he built up the Moravian Kingdom independent of the south, or took it over, although it should be noted that both Mac Bethad and Lulach descendended from Ruadrí, Morggán's grandson (see genealogical table). Ruadrí is the name of the progenitor of all the known Moravian rulers of the 11th century.

Cellach

The ''Chronicle of the Kings of Alba'' reported that King Máel Coluim (942/3–954) "went into Moray and slew Cellach." The same source tells us that king Máel Coluim was killed by the Moravians.¹⁴ Additions to the ''Chronicle of Melrose'' confirm this. It could be that this Cellach was Mormaer of Moray, but we can not definitely say this, because the source does not attribute this title to him. The ''Annals of Tigernach'' record the names of two Mormaers by the name of Cellach who were killed in Ireland in 976, but unless the ''Chronicle of the Kings of Alba'' is totally wrong, neither can be the same Cellach; and neither is either the son of this Cellach. Cellach evidently ruled some part of northern Scotland, but he was not necessarily King or Mormaer of Moray.

Break With Alba

What is clear above all is that there is somekind of break between Moray and southern Alba. Máel Coluim I's expedition is the first time we here of Albanian-Moravian polarization. Previously, Kings of Alba were pretty much at home in Moray. After all, the kingdom was probably born there. Additions to the ''Chronicle of Melrose'' and the ''Chronicle of the Kings of Alba'' both tell us, for instance, that Domnall II mac Causantín, the first ever king to be called ''ri Alban'', ¹⁵ instead of ''Rex Pictorum'' (i.e. King of the Picts) or ''Ri Fortrenn'' (King of Fortriu), ¹⁶ died - apparently peacefully - at Forres, in Moray. If there was a break, it was later. It certainly did not occur in the reign of Domnall's successor, Causantín. It happened during the reign of Causantín's successor, Máel Coluim I (mentioned above). Máel Coluim was the son of Domnall II. The only conclusion is that Cellach, or his overlord, prevented Máel Coluim taking power in the north; hence the conflict. It probably was not a son descendant of Domnall II or Causantín II, because the genealogy of Máel Snechtai does not trace their lineage back to either. Perhaps it was a member of ''Cenél Loairn'' who had married into the so-called ''Cenél nGabráin''. Máel Snechtai's genealogy (see table) suggests that the man was either Domnall or his father Morggán. Is this why Mac Bethad's genealogy goes no further than Morggán? The answer is probably yes.

Comparative Moravian and Scottish Genealogies

This table is a comparison of the genealogies apparently used by the Kings of ''Muireb'' and of (southern) ''Alba''. Both trace their descent to Ercc. All three, incidentally, are called ''King of Alba'' in the manuscript.
{| width="85%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 0.5em 1em 0.5em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-''Comparative Genealogies from the ''Genelaig Albanensium'', dating to the early 11th century''. :

Genealogy of Máel Snechtai
Genealogy of Macbethad
Genealogy of Máel Colum II




★ 'Máel Snechtai'

★ 'Lulach'

★ 'Gille Comgáin'

★ 'Máel Brigte'

★ 'Ruadrí'

★ 'Domnall'

★ 'Morggán'

★ 'Cathamal'

★ 'Ruadrí'

★ 'Ailgelach'

★ 'Ferchar'

★ 'Feradach'

★ 'Fergus'

★ 'Nechtan'

★ 'Colmán'

★ 'Báetán'

★ 'Echdach'

★ 'Muiredach'

★ 'Loarn' (hence ''Cenél Loairn'')

★ 'Ercc'

★ 'Echdach Muinremuir'



★ -

★ -

★ 'Macbethad'

★ 'Findláech'

★ 'Ruadrí'

★ 'Domnall'

★ 'Morggán'

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -

★ -


★ -

★ -

★ -

★ 'Máel Coluim'

★ 'Cináed'

★ 'Máel Coluim'

★ 'Domnall'

★ 'Causantín'

★ 'Cináed'

★ 'Alpín'

★ 'Eochaid'

★ 'Áed Find'

★ 'Domangard'

★ 'Domnall Brecc'

★ 'Eochaid Buide'

★ 'Áedan'

★ 'Gabrán' (hence ''Cenél nGabráin'')

★ 'Domangard'

★ 'Fergus (Mór)'

★ 'Ercc'

★ ' Echach Muinremuir'



Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502

Book of Deer

The Book of Deer lists more than half a dozen patrons from the 10th and 11th century. Some are called Mormaers, and some are called Toisechs. Máel Snechtai mac Lulaich and Máel Coluim mac Máil Brigti, who we know from other sources to have been Mormaers of Moray, do not have their rank indicated. The fact that they were listed sheds a lot of tantalizingly dull light on the political structure of the north in this period. It suggests, firstly, that the ruler of Moray controlled Buchan, and perhaps Mar as well. Secondly, it hints that some of the other names were rulers of Moray-Buchan-Mar too.

Dynasty of Ruaidrí: Findláech to Óengus

Njal's Saga mentions Mormaers and Kings in northern Scotland from the later 10th century, namely ''Jarl'' ''Melsnatr'' (=Máel Snechtai) and King ''Melkofr'' (=Máel Coluim) of "Scotland." Both date, in the context of the text, from the period 976 to 995.¹⁷ Suggestively, no king named Máel Coluim reigned in Scotland in this period. It is difficult to conclude much from this, as both names were associated with Moray by the time ''Njal's Saga'' was written, and the text is notoriously unreliable as a historical guide for details outside Iceland or Scandinavia.
The first ruler who can without doubt be called the King/Mormaer of Moray was Findláech mac Ruaidrí. All subsequent rulers of Moray were also descended from his father, this otherwise unknown Ruadrí. Findláech's son, Mac Bethad, became king of Scotland as a whole.
The status of Moray changes through the various reigns. Findláech and Máel Coluim mac Máil Brigti are both called "King of Scotland."¹⁸ This changes with Gille Coemgáin, who is a mere ''Mormaer of Moray''. By the time of Máel Snechtai, the rulers of Moray are being called ''King of Moray''; ¹⁹ that is, Moray 'not' Scotland. Thus by Máel Snechtai's death in 1085, there occurred some kind of identity disassociation between the ''Men of Moray'' and the ''Men of Scotland''. Máel Snechtai seems to have pursued his claim to the Scottish kingship, something relfected in his surviving genealogy. Perhaps war with Máel Coluim III combined with Máel Snechtai's failure to regain his father's crown, and combined (perhaps with other factors) to produce this shift.
Both the Kingdom of Moray and the claims of Scotland as a whole ended when David I defeated and killed King Óengus, although David's half-nephew William fitz Duncan was almost certainly put in charge of the province. The latter's descendants, the Meic Uilleim, as well as the MacHeths, would continue to keep up northern resistance to Scottish control.

List of Mormaers

The following names and dates are based on people named in sources. All are Moravians named in sources either as King of Scotland or just Mormaer. The beginning and end dates are virtually always based on known death date, and assuming the next named successor actually did succeed, and succeeded immediately:
{| width="60%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 0.5em 1em 0.5em 0; background: #e9e9e9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
|
{| width = "100%" cellpadding = 0 cellspacing = 0
|-
{| border="1" width = "100%" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 0.5em 1em 0.5em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
|colspan = "5" bgcolor = "#D7F7D7" align="left"|'Kings/Mormaers of Moray'
|-
|Findláech mac Ruaidrí
|''before'' 1014-1020)
|-
|Máel Coluim mac Máil Brigti
|1020-1029
|-
|Gille Coemgáin mac Máil Brigti
|1029-1032
|-
|Mac Bethad mac Findláich
|1032-1057
|-
|Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin
|1057-1058
|-
|Máel Snechtai mac Lulaich
|1058-1078/1085
|-
|?
|-
|Óengus
|'?'-1130
|-
|? William fitz Duncan
|1130s-1147
|-
|Annexed to Kingdom of Scotland.
|-
|}
|}

References

# Woolf, "Dun Nechtain, Fortriu and the Geography of the Picts" (Forthcoming)
# A.O. Anderson, ''Early Sources'', Vol. I, p. 474
# ''ibid'', p. 473
# ''ibid'', p. 473-4
# ''ibid'', p. 296
# ''ibid'' n. 4
# ''ibid'', p. 372
# ''ibid'', pp. 335-7, n. 5
# ''ibid'', pp. 397-8
# ''ibid'', pp. 398
# Hudson, ''Kings'', pp. 131-3
# Anderson, ''Early Sources'', Vol. I, p. 480
# For this, and all further references to the ''Book of Deer'', See Gaelic Notes on the Book of Deer
# Anderson, ''Early Sources'', Vol. I, p. 452
# ''Annals of Ulster'', ''s.a.'' 900; Anderson, ''Early Sources'', Vol. I,, p. 395
# e.g. Annals of Ulster, ''s.a.'' 858 noting the death of Cináed mac Ailpín, ''rex Pictorum''; Anderson, ''Early Sources'', Vol. I, p. 287
# Anderson, ''Early Sources'', Vol. I, pp. 495-500
# For Findláech, ''Annals of Ulster'', ''s.a.'' 1020; Anderson, ''Early Sources'', Vol. I, p. 551. For Máel Coluim, ''Annals of Tigernach'', ''s.a.'' 1029; Anderson, ''Early Sources'', Vol. I, p. 571. It might be noted that the ''Annals of Tigernach'' styles Findláech merely ''Mormaer''.
# Death of Gille Coemgáin, ''Annals of Ulster'', ''s.a.'' 1032; Anderson, ''Early Sources'', Vol. I, p. 571

Bibliography

Primary sources

★ Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286'', 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922)

★ Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500-1286'', (London, 1908), republished, Marjorie Anderson (ed.) (Stamford, 1991)

Secondary sources

★ Anderson, Marjorie O., ''Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland'', (Edinburgh, 1973)

★ Grant, Alexander, "The Province of Ross and the Kingdom of Alba" in E.J. Cowan and R.Andrew McDonald (eds.) ''Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era'', (Edinburgh, 2000)

★ Jackson, Kenneth (ed), ''The Gaelic Notes in the Book of Deer'' (The Osborn Bergin
★ Memorial Lecture 1970), (Cambridge (1972)

★ Hudson, Benjamin T., ''Kings of Celtic Scotland'', (Westport, 1994)

★ Roberts, John L., ''Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages'', (Edinburgh, 1997)

★ Woolf, Alex, "Dun Nechtain, Fortriu and the Geography of the Picts", ''Scottish Historical Review'' 85(2006), 182-201.

External links

★ Annals of Tigernach

★ Annals of Ulster

★ Chronicon Scotorum

★ Gaelic Notes on the Book of Deer

★ Genelaig Albanensium in the Genealogies from Rawlinson B 502