General Notes

Name Prefix:<NPFX> King
Birth: unknown , in Scotland.

His reign was marked by wars and internal difficulties. He succeeded his grand-
father, King Malcolm II to the throne. Duncan had also inherited the Crown of
Strathclyde, thereby greatly increasing the size of the Scottish domains, and after
that the land was known as Scotland. His reign ended in 1040, when he was assassinated by Macbeth, Great Steward of Ross and Moray, and the subject of William Shakespeare's tragedy, "Macbeth." Macbeth ruled Scotland until 1057, when he was defeated and killed by Duncan's son, Malcolm, who became King Malcolm III.

Death: 1040, Scotland.

Married to the daughter or sister of Siward, Earl of Northumberland.
Killed by MacBeth, his successor.
King of Strathclyde.

Duncan I of Scotland was an impetuous and spoiled young man whose six years of kingship brought glory neither to Scotland nor his family. Against wise advice, Duncan invaded Northumbria and attacked Durham. The campaign was a disaster for the Scots and Duncan was compelled to withdraw. News of his disastrous and humiliating defeat had preceded his return to Scotland and he soon was faced with a revolt among his lords, particularly from his cousin Macbeth, Lord of Moray. In a skirmish at Bothgouanan, Duncan was slain by MacBeth.

Duncan, son of Bethoc or Beatrice, daughter of Malcolm II, succeeded his grandfather in the year 1033. "In the extreme north, dominions more extensive than any Jarl of the Orkneys had hitherto acquired, were united under the rule of Thorfinn, Sigurd's son, whose character and appearance have been thus described: - 'He was stout and strong, but very ugly, severe and cruel, but a very clever man'. The extensive districts then dependant upon the Moray Maormors were in possession of the celebrated Macbeth". Duncan, in 1033, desiring to extend his dominions southwards, attacked Durham, but was forced to retire with considerable loss. His principal struggles, however, were with his powerful kinsman, Thorfinn, whose success was so great that he extended his conquests as far as the Tay. "His men spread over the whole conquered country", says the Orkneyinga Saga, "and burnt every hamlet and farm, so that not a cot remained. Every man that they found they slew; but the old men and women fled to the deserts and woods, and filled the country with lamentation. Some were driven before the Norwegians and made slaves. After the Earl Thorfinn returned to his ships, subjugating the country everywhere in his progress". Duncan's last battle, in which he was defeated, was in the neighbourhood of Burghead, near the Moray Firth; and shortly after this, on the 14th August, 1040, he was assassinated n Bothgowanan, - which in Gaelic, is said to mean "the smith's hut", - by his kinsman the Maormor Macbeda or Macbeth. Duncan had reigned only five years when he was assassinated by Macbeth, leaving two infant sons, Malcolm and Donal, by a sister of Siward, the Earl of Northumberland. The former fled to Cumberland, and the latter took refuge in the Hebrides, on the death of their father.

DUNCAN I (r. 1034-40)

Duncan was the son of Malcolm II's eldest daughter Bethoc and her husband Crinan, Lay Abbot of Dunkeld. He was about 33 when he succeeded his grandfather. Married to a cousin of Siward, Earl of Northumberland, he may have favoured southern ways and this is perhaps why he became unpopular with his subjects. In 1039 he did march south to besiege Durham but he was beaten off, with heavy losses. Duncan attempted to impose his overlordship over Moray (an independent dynasty) by military force. He was then twice defeated by the Earl of Orkney's son, Thorfinn, before being killed in battle by Macbeth, one of his commanders, near Elgin, Morayshire on 14 August 1040.

Source http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page94.asp


Duncan I Cean-Mohr King of Scots

His marriage to Sybilla of Northumbria is identified as 1030 by Susan Shannon; however, to be the parent of Ma