| Relationship to me: | Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather | Gen -29 |
| Born: | c. 1031 | |
| Died: | 1093 | Alnwick Castle |
| Age: | ~62 | |
| Father: | King Duncan I, the Gracious | c. 1001 - 1040 |
| Mother: | Sybilla - sister (or daughter) of Siward, Earl of Northumbria | |
| Brothers: | Donald | c. 1033 - 1097 |
| Maelmuir | b. c. 1035 | |
| Sisters: | Margaret | |
| Married: | (1) Ingiborg, widow of Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney (m. c. 1060) | d. c. 1069 |
| (2) Margaret, daughter of Edward Atheling, son of Edmund II of England (m. c. 1068) | 1045 - 1093 | |
| Children: | (1) 3 Children (Duncan, Malcolm and Donald) | |
| (2) Matilda (formerly Edith) | c. 1079 - 1118 | |
| (2) 6 Sons (Edward, Edmund, Ethelred, Edgar, Alexander and David) + 1 other daughter (Mary) | ||
Further Information:
According to information passed on to me by Ian Caldwell, in Dec 2001: "Malcolm III Canmore (Bighead) son of Duncan and Sybilla. Sub-king of Cumbria & Strathclyde 1045-58; King of Scotland 1058-1093. Born c.1031, died Alnwick 13/11/1093 aged 62. Married (1)c.1060 Ingiborg (d.c.1069), widow of Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney, 3 children; (2)Margaret (d.c.1093) daughter of Edward Atheling, son of Edmund II of England: at least 8 children.
Duncan was killed when Malcolm was 8 or 9, and the young boy and his brother were hurriedly smuggled out of Scotland for fear of their lives. Malcolm was raised in the Anglo-Norman court of Edward the Confessor, so was influenced by their ways. When Malcolm was 23 he decided to try to retake his throne and was supported by Edward the Confessor who placed Siward of Northumbria in charge of the invasion, who was Malcolm¹s uncle by marriage. The battle of Dunsinnan was fought on 27th July 1054 and although Macbeth was defeated he was not deposed though the battle had caused sufficient casualties on both sides to force Siward¹s army to retire. Over the following three years Malcolm¹s strength grew, and Macbeth was pushed back. Eventually, at Lumphanan, west of Aberdeen, Macbeth was ambushed by Malcolm¹s forces. Macbeth and his bodyguard became detached from main force and found themselves fighting for their lives. Macbeth made his last stand in the stone circle known as the Peel Ring. His stepson, Lulach, who reigned briefly after him, was killed the following March, when he was ambushed by Malcolm at Strathbogie. Five weeks later Malcolm was crowned King of Scotland.
His support was not total as many of the Highlanders did not like his southern ways and he was a swaggering bully which earned him his nickname of Bighead. Malcolm married Thorfinn¹s widow, Ingiborg, probably around 1060. She bore Malcolm three children before she died, probably around 1069.
After the Norman conquest of 1066 Malcolm initially sympathised with the Saxons and joined the unsuccessful rebellion against William in 1068. After this Edgar the Atheling and his sister, Margaret, sought refuge at Malcolm¹s court and he married Margaret the following year after the death of Ingiborg. The further consolidated the Saxon alliance, making an enemy of William the Conqueror and not pleasing the Highlanders, who were already unhappy and Malcolm¹s southern ways.
Malcolm supported Edgar¹s unsuccessful, attempt to regain his throne in 1069, along with Swein of Denmark and over the next two or three years Malcolm carried out raids on northern England. This enraged William who invaded Scotland in 1072, forcing Malcolm to submit at Abernathy. The terms of the treaty meant that Malcolm could no longer give shelter to any of William¹s enemies, so Edgar was exiled. William also forced Malcolm to recognise him as overlord, and took his son, Duncan, as hostage. Margaret had been well educated in Hungary and England and was a devout Christian. She directed the building of the abbey at Dunfermline in 1072 to rival the one completed at Westminster seven years earlier and she restored the monastery at Iona.
After the death of William I Duncan was released and once more Malcolm joined Edgar and continued to attack across the border, but without much success. In 1091 William Rufus invaded Scotland, forcing Malcolm to submit. In 1092 a fresh dispute arose and William summoned Malcolm to his court at Gloucester. Malcolm obeyed but when he reached Gloucester Rufus refused to meet him unless he did homage for his kingdom. Malcolm declined and almost at once invaded Northumbria. He and his son Edward were killed when they were ambushed by Robert Mowbray, earl of Northumberland at a place afterwards called Malcolm¹s Cross, near Alnwick on 13th November 1093. When Margaret, who was ill, heard the news she pined away, dying soon afterwards".
Last Updated: 23 July 2002