General Notes

King of Scots, 25 Mar 1005 to 1034;
fought a battle in 1008 at Carham with Uchtred (died 1016) son of Waltheof, Earl of the Northumbrians, and overcame the Danes, 1017;
published a code of laws;
was murdered 25 Nov 1034.

Facts about this person:
Note:
King of Scotland from 1005 to 1034, the first to reign over an extent of land roughly corresponding to much of modern Scotland.

Malcolm succeeded to the throne after killing his predecessor, Kenneth III, and allegedly secured his territory by defeating a Northumbrian army at the battle of Carham (c. 1016); he not only confirmed the Scottish hold over the land between the rivers Forth and Tweed but also secured Strathclyde about the same time. Eager to secure the royal succession for his daughter's son Duncan, he tried to eliminate possible rival claimants; but Macbeth, with royal connections to both Kenneth II and Kenneth III, survived to challenge the succession.

The title of 'last of the Alpin rulers' fell to Malcolm II, and thankfully for Scotland Malcolm II had more on his mind than blood and war, and by 1034 a true - and well defined Scottish Kingdom had emerged.
It might seem by this remark that Malcolm II was completely different to his predecessors, but in fact he wasn't in his early days. He had gained the throne by murdering Kenneth III and his son in the town of Perth.

He even tried the usual march south to claim back the southern regions, but was swiftly defeated and forced to return home. So he turned his attention north and tried his hand at the Scandinavians based in Moray. Again he was unsuccessful.

Now rather than war he set about the plans to marry off his daughters to the Scandinavians and at least try and get some kind of foot hold in the north. This was not such a hot idea, and after many 'in-house' fights and battles he once again turned his attentions to the south and Lothian. This time with success.

He regained the lands and struck a bargain with the English that Lothian and south of the Clyde would be his so long as he didn't change the traditions and language of the area. Thus formed the border between Scotland and England again which remains today. As for who was next in line for the crown? Malcolm II sorted that one out for good. He himself had no sons and so he named Duncan - the son of his eldest daughter Bethoc to be king after him, and then proceeded to slaughter the remaining male descendants of Kenneth III.

When Malcolm II finally died in 1035, at the ripe old age of 80 (which was amazing for a king), Duncan was proclaimed King of Alba and inherited the lands from the Tweed in the south, to Moray in the north - and this is where we leave the unflagging efforts of the 'House of Alpin' and what they managed to achieve.

The Scottish Play MacBeth is based loosely on an episode from Scottish history, the death of King Duncan at the hands of his kinsman Macbeth.
King Malcolm II ... reigned from 1005 to 1034 and was the last king in the direct male line to descend from Kenneth MacAlpine, who united the Scots and Picts in 843 A.D. and is considered the founder of Scotland. One of Malcolm's three daughters, Bethoc, married Crinan, the secular hereditary Abbot of Dunkeld. Through her, the Abbot's son [Duncan] was installed by Malcolm as the King of Cumbria in 1018. After Malcolm II's murder by his nobles at Glamis, Duncan killed his opponents and seized the throne as King Duncan I. His first cousins, Macbeth (of Shakespearian fame) and Thorfinn the Raven Feeder, Norwegian Earl of Orkney, united to advance MacBeth's claim to the throne through his mother, another daughter of Malcolm II. Duncan reigned from 1034 until he was defeated in battle by their combined armies and killed by MacBeth in August 1040 at Elgin. Scotland was then ruled by Thorfinn in the northern districts and MacBeth in the southern districts. -- James E. Fargo, FSA Scot., Clan Donnachaidh History.