Edgar of Scotland
Encyclopedia
Edgar or Étgar mac Maíl Choluim (Modern Gaelic: Eagar mac Mhaoil Chaluim), nicknamed Probus, "the Valiant" (c. 1074–8 January 1107), was king of Alba from 1097 to 1107. He was the son of Malcolm III
(Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) and Margaret of Wessex
(later Saint Margaret).
Edgar claimed the kingship in early 1095, following the murder of his half-brother Duncan II
(Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim) in late 1094 by Máel Petair of Mearns
, a supporter of Edgar's uncle Donald III
(Domnall Bán mac Donnchada). His older brother Edmund
sided with Donald, presumably in return for an appanage and acknowledgement as the heir of the ageing and son-less Donald.
Edgar received limited support from William II
(William Rufus) as Duncan had before him; however, the English king was occupied with a revolt led by Robert de Mowbray
, 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
. A charter
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 David
— Ethelred
was Abbot of Dunkeld, 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 was less than accurate. In any event, he did attend the court on occasion. 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
.
Edgar was certainly not heir by primogeniture
, as later kings would be, since 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 crisis. Compared with his rise to power, Edgar's reign is obscure. One notable act was his gift of a camel
(or perhaps an elephant
), presumably a 'souvenir' of the First Crusade
, to his fellow Gael Muircheartach Ua Briain
, High King of Ireland
.
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
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
Malcolm III of Scotland
Máel Coluim mac Donnchada , was King of Scots...
(Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) and Margaret of Wessex
Saint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...
(later Saint Margaret).
Edgar claimed the kingship in early 1095, following the murder of his half-brother Duncan II
Duncan II of Scotland
Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim was king of Scots...
(Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim) in late 1094 by Máel Petair of Mearns
Máel Petair of Mearns
Máel Petair of Mearns is the only known Mormaer of the Mearns. His name means "tonsured one of Peter".One source tells us that Máel Petair was the son of a Máel Coluim, but tells us nothing about this. If this weren't bad enough, other sources say that his father was a man called "Loren", and in...
, a supporter of Edgar's uncle Donald III
Donald III of Scotland
Domnall mac Donnchada , anglicised as Donald III, and nicknamed Domnall Bán, "Donald the Fair" , was King of Scots from 1093–1094 and 1094–1097...
(Domnall Bán mac Donnchada). His older brother Edmund
Edmund of Scotland
Edmund or Etmond mac Maíl Coluim was a son of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada and his second wife Margaret. He may be found on some lists of Scottish kings, but there is no evidence that he was king....
sided with Donald, presumably in return for an appanage and acknowledgement as the heir of the ageing and son-less Donald.
Edgar received limited support from William II
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
(William Rufus) as Duncan had before him; however, the English king was occupied with a revolt led by Robert de Mowbray
Robert de Mowbray
Robert de Mowbray , a Norman, was Earl of Northumbria from 1086, until 1095, when he was deposed for rebelling against William Rufus, King of England. He was the son of Roger de Mowbray and nephew of Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances...
, Earl of Northumbria
Earl of Northumbria
Earl of Northumbria was a title in the Anglo-Danish, late Anglo-Saxon, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. The earldom of Northumbria was the successor of the ealdormanry of Bamburgh, itself the successor of an independent Bernicia. Under the Norse kingdom of York, there were earls of...
, 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
Lothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....
. A charter
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...
issued at Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
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
Alexander I of Scotland
Alexander I , also called Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim and nicknamed "The Fierce", was King of the Scots from 1107 to his death.-Life:...
and David
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
— Ethelred
Ethelred of Scotland
Ethelred was the son of King Máel Coluim III and his wife Margaret, the third oldest of the latter and the probable sixth oldest of the former. He took his name, almost certainly, from Margaret's great-grandfather King Æþelræd Unræd, or Ethelred the Unready...
was Abbot of Dunkeld, and Edmund was divided from his siblings by his support of Donald — and his uncle Edgar Ætheling
Edgar Ætheling
Edgar Ætheling , or Edgar II, was the last male member of the royal house of Cerdic of Wessex...
as these witnessed the charter at Durham.
William Rufus spent 1096 in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
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
Geoffrey Gaimar
Geoffrey Gaimar , was an Anglo-Norman chronicler. Gaimar's most significant contribution to medieval literature and history is as a translator from Old English to Anglo-Norman. His L'Estoire des Engles translates extensive portions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as well as using Latin and French...
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 was less than accurate. In any event, he did attend the court on occasion. 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
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
.
Edgar was certainly not heir by primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
, as later kings would be, since Duncan II had a legitimate son and heir in the person of William fitz Duncan
William fitz Duncan
William fitz Duncan was a Scottish prince, a territorial magnate in northern Scotland and northern England, a general and the legitimate son of king Donnchad II of Scotland by Athelreda of Dunbar.In 1094, his father Donnchad II was killed by Mormaer Máel Petair of...
. With Donald and Edmund removed, however, Edgar was uncontested king of Scots, and his reign incurred no major crisis. Compared with his rise to power, Edgar's reign is obscure. One notable act was his gift of a camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
(or perhaps an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
), presumably a 'souvenir' of the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
, to his fellow Gael Muircheartach Ua Briain
Muircheartach Ua Briain
Muircheartach Ua Briain , son of Toirdelbach Ua Briain and great-grandson of Brian Bóruma, was King of Munster and later self declared High King of Ireland.-Background:...
, High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
.
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
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
and Kintyre
Kintyre
Kintyre is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south, to East Loch Tarbert in the north...
to Magnus, Edgar acknowledged the practical realities of the existing situation. Edgar's religious foundations included a priory
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
at Coldingham
Coldingham
Coldingham is a historic village in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders, on Scotland's southeast coastline, north of Eyemouth.As early as AD 660, Coldingham was the site of a religious establishment of high order, when it is recorded that Etheldreda, the queen of Egfrid, became a nun at the Abbey of...
in 1098, associated with the Convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of Durham. At Dunfermline Abbey
Dunfermline Abbey
Dunfermline Abbey is as a Church of Scotland Parish Church located in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. In 2002 the congregation had 806 members. The minister is the Reverend Alastair Jessamine...
he sought support from Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
with his mother's foundation from which the monks of Canterbury
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
may have been expelled by Domnall Bán.
Edgar died in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
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
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
in "Cumbria" (the lands of the former Kingdom of Strathclyde
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde , originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the early medieval kingdoms of the celtic people called the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during the post-Roman period...
), and perhaps also in southern parts of Lothian. David would later be known as Prince of the Cumbrians
David, Prince of the Cumbrians
Before David I of Scotland became King of Scotland in 1124, he was David, Prince of the Cumbrians and earl of a great territory in the middle of England acquired by marriage. This period marks the beginning of his life as a great territorial lord...