Duncan I of Scotland

The ancestry of King Duncan is not certain. In modern texts, he is the son of Crínán, hereditary lay abbot of Dunkeld, and Bethóc, daughter of King Malcolm II. However, in the late 17th century the historian Frederic Van Bossen, after collecting historical accounts throughout Europe, identified King Duncan as the first son of Abonarhl ap crinan (the grandson of Crinan) and princess Beatrice, the eldest daughter to King Malcom II, and Gunnor who was the daughter of the "2nd Duke of Normandy".{{cite book |last1=Van Bossen |first1=Frederic |title=The Royall Cedar |date=1688}}{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Derek |title=The Lost Queens of Scotland: Extracts from Frederic van Bossen's The Royal Cedar |date=2022}}

Unlike the "King Duncan" of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the historical Duncan appears to have been a young man. He followed his grandfather Malcolm as king after the latter's death on 25 November 1034, without apparent opposition. He may have been Malcolm's acknowledged successor or Tánaiste as the succession appears to have been uneventful.Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, p. 33. Earlier histories, following John of Fordun, supposed that Duncan had been king of Strathclyde in his grandfather's lifetime, between 1018 and 1034, ruling the former Kingdom of Strathclyde as an appanage. Modern historians discount this idea,Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, p. 40. although it is supported by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Broun, D. "Duncan I [Donnchad ua Maíl Choluim]", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/8209}}

An earlier source, a variant of the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba (CK-I), gives Duncan's wife the Gaelic name Suthen,Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, p. 37. and John of Fordun suggests that she may have been a relative of Siward, Earl of Northumbria.Marshall, Rosalind K. (2019), Scottish Queens 1034–1714, Birlinn, p. 1. This differs from the review by Frederic van Bossen who wrote in 1688 that King Duncan was twice married, his first wife being Wonfrida (Unfrida) the daughter of Gigurt (Earl Siward?) the Earl of Northumberland and Huntingtoun and "By them was espoused two sons Malcome and Donald". Then, after her decease, he married Astrida the daughter of "Sigfrid, the "King of Dublin".{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Derek |title=Scotland & Shakespeare's Third Prophecy: King Edition |date=2021 |page=13}}

Whatever his wife's name and family connections may have been, Duncan had at least two sons. The eldest, Malcolm III (Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) was king from 1058 to 1093 after assassinating and usurping Lulach, Macbeth's stepson. The second son Donald III (Domnall Bán, or "Donalbane") was king afterwards. Máel Muire, Earl of Atholl is a possible third son of Duncan, although this is uncertain.Oram, David I, p. 233, n. 26: the identification is from the Orkneyinga saga but Máel Muire's grandson Máel Coluim, Earl of Atholl is known to have married Donald III's granddaughter Hextilda.

The early period of Duncan's reign was apparently uneventful, perhaps a consequence of his youth. Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findláich) is recorded as having been his dux, today rendered as "duke" and meaning nothing more than the rank between prince and marquess, but then still having the Roman meaning of "war leader". In context — "dukes of Francia" had half a century before replaced the Carolingian kings of the Franks and in England the over-mighty Godwin of Wessex was called a dux — this suggests that Macbeth may have been the power behind the throne.Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, pp. 33–34.

In 1039, Duncan led a large Scots army south to besiege Durham, but the expedition ended in disaster. Duncan survived, but the following year he led an army north into Moray, Macbeth's domain, apparently on a punitive expedition against Moray.G. W. S. Barrow, Kingship and Unity: Scotland 1000–1306, Edinburgh University Press, 1981, p. 26. There he was killed in action, at the battle of Bothnagowan, now Pitgaveny, near Elgin, by the men of Moray led by Macbeth, probably on 14 August 1040.Broun, "Duncan I (d. 1040)"; the date is from Marianus Scotus and the killing is recorded by the Annals of Tigernach. He is thought to have been buried at Elgin"I Never Knew That About Scotland", Christopher Winn, p. 165. before later relocation to the island of Iona.

The 14th century chronicler John of Fordun would write that Duncan's wife was a kinswoman of the Anglo-Danish Siward, Earl of Northumbria, who would help restore her son Malcolm to the throne. However, this is seemingly belied by a kings list that gives Malcolm's mother the Gaelic name Suthen.Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, p. 37. Duncan had three sons:

• Malcolm III of Scotland, also known as Máel Coluim mac Donnchada and Malcolm Canmore, died 1093;
• Donald III of Scotland, also known as Domnall mac Donnchada and Donalbain, died 1099;
• Máel Muire, Earl of Atholl, also known as Melmare.

File:Donnchad_mac_Crinain,_King_of_Scotland.jpg

Duncan is depicted as an elderly king in the play Macbeth (1606) by William Shakespeare. He is killed in his sleep by the protagonist, Macbeth.

In the historical novel Macbeth the King (1978) by Nigel Tranter, Duncan is portrayed as a schemer who is fearful of Macbeth as a possible rival for the throne. He tries to assassinate Macbeth by poisoning and then when this fails, attacks his home with an army. In self-defence Macbeth meets him in battle and wounds him, and he dies of bleeding, for he is bad-blooded, or Haemophilia C.

In the animated television series Gargoyles he is depicted as a weak and conniving king who assassinates those who he believes threaten his rule.{{cite web |url=http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/archives.php?lid=531&qid=17989&ppp=1 |last=Bishansky |first=Greg |title=Station Eight: Gargoyles: Ask Greg Archive: Duncan |publisher=S8.org |date=13 March 2013 |access-date=18 April 2017 |quote=Duncan: This guy was a jerk. I mean, really. A paranoid tyrant who thought the world was out to get him. Well, not the world so much as his cousin, Macbeth. I suppose I can understand seeing Macbeth as a threat to the throne, but he just seemed to go out of his way to make Macbeth miserable. He reveled in it. When he died, we were all happy to see him bite it.}} He even tries to assassinate Macbeth, forcing Demona to ally with the Moray nobleman, with Duncan's resulting death coming from attempting to strike an enchanted orb of energy that one of the Weird Sisters gave to Macbeth to take Duncan down.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Anderson, Alan Orr; Early Sources of Scottish History AD 500–1286 volume one, Republished with corrections, Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. {{ISBN|1-871615-03-8}}
• Broun, Dauvit; "Duncan I (d. 1040)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8209, accessed 15 May 2007]
• Duncan, A. A. M.; The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7486-1626-8}}
• Oram, Richard; David I: The King Who Made Scotland, Tempus, Stroud, 2004. {{ISBN|0-7524-2825-X}}
• [https://www.royal.uk/duncan-i-r-1034-1040 Duncan I] at the official website of the British monarchy.
• Bernard Burke, Ashworth P. Burke. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage, and Companionage, 1934 https://books.google.com/books?id=vpHySDcAmU8C&hl=en&redir_esc=y#pli=1
• Frederick Lewis Weis, Walter Lee Sheppard, William Ryland Beall, Kaleen E. Beall. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists who Came to America Before 1700: Lineages from Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and Other Historical Individuals, 2004. {{ISBN|0806317523}}, {{ISBN|9780806317526}} https://books.google.ru/books/about/Ancestral_Roots_of_Certain_American_Colo.html?id=3F9nG8aFJ7MC&redir_esc=y

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Category:Monarchs killed in action

Category:House of Dunkeld

Category:1000s births

Category:1040 deaths

Category:Year of birth uncertain

Category:11th-century Scottish monarchs

Category:Burials at Iona Abbey

Category:Scottish pre-union military personnel killed in action

Category:Gaelic monarchs in Scotland