Related Research Articles
The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pictish stones. The name Picti appears in written records as an exonym from the late third century AD. They are assumed to have been descendants of the Caledonii and other northern Iron Age tribes. Their territory is referred to as "Pictland" by modern historians. Initially made up of several chiefdoms, it came to be dominated by the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu from the seventh century. During this Verturian hegemony, Picti was adopted as an endonym. This lasted around 160 years until the Pictish kingdom merged with that of Dál Riata to form the Kingdom of Alba, ruled by the House of Alpin. The concept of "Pictish kingship" continued for a few decades until it was abandoned during the reign of Caustantín mac Áeda.
Oswiu, also known as Oswy or Oswig, was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the church in Northumbria into conformity with the wider Catholic Church.
Eochaid ab Rhun was a ninth century King of Strathclyde, who may have also been King of the Picts. He was a son of Rhun ab Arthgal, King of Strathclyde, and descended from a long line of British kings. Eochaid's mother is recorded to have been a daughter of Cináed mac Ailpín, King of the Picts. This maternal descent from the royal Alpínid dynasty may well account for the record of Eochaid reigning over the Pictish realm after the death of Cináed's son, Áed, in 878. According to various sources, Áed was slain by Giric, whose ancestry is uncertain and who then proceeded to usurp the Alban throne.
The Battle of Dun Nechtain or Battle of Nechtansmere was fought between the Picts, led by King Bridei Mac Bili, and the Northumbrians, led by King Ecgfrith, on 20 May 685.
Giric mac Dúngail, in modern English his name is Gregory or Greg MacDougal and nicknamed Mac Rath, was a king of the Picts or the king of Alba. The Irish annals record nothing of Giric's reign, nor do Anglo-Saxon writings add anything, and the meagre information which survives is contradictory. Modern historians disagree as to whether Giric was the sole king or ruled jointly with Eochaid, on his ancestry, and if he should be considered a Pictish king or the first king of Alba.
Eanfrith (590–634) was briefly King of Bernicia from 633 to 634. His father was Æthelfrith, a Bernician king who had also ruled Deira to the south before being killed in battle around 616 against Raedwald of East Anglia, who had given refuge to Edwin, an exiled prince of Deira. His mother was Acha of Deira.
Óengus son of Fergus was king of the Picts from 732 until his death in 761. His reign can be reconstructed in some detail from a variety of sources. The unprecedented territorial gains he made from coast to coast, and the legacy he left, mean Óengus can be considered the first king of what would become Scotland.
The Battle of Two Rivers was fought between the Picts and Northumbrians in the year 671. The exact battle site is unknown. It marked the end of the Pictish rebellion early in the reign of Ecgfrith, with a decisive victory for the Northumbrians. Attestation of the battle is limited to the account in Stephen of Ripon's Vita Sancti Wilfrithi.
Bridei son of Beli, died 692 was king of Fortriu and of the Picts from 671 until 692. His reign marks the start of the period known to historians as the Verturian hegemony, a turning point in the history of Scotland, when the uniting of Pictish provinces under the over-kingship of the kings of Fortriu saw the development of a strong Pictish state and identity encompassing most of the peoples north of the Forth.
Drest was king of the Picts from 724 until 726. He succeeded Nechtan mac Der-Ilei when the latter abdicated and entered a monastery in 724.
Gartnait, son of Domelch, was a king of the Picts from 584 to 595.
Neithon son of Guipno was a 7th-century ruler of Alt Clut, a Brittonic kingdom based on Dumbarton Rock. According to the Harleian genealogies, he was the son of Guipno map Dumnagual Hen. Alfred Smyth suggests he is the same man as King Nechtan the Great of the Picts, and perhaps the Nechtan son of Canu the Annals of Ulster record as having died in 621. The Senchus fer n-Alban indicate that Gartnait, the son of Áedán mac Gabráin, King of Dál Riata, sired a son named Cano, but unless the Harleian genealogies are to be ignored, this would make Gartnait and Dumnagual Hen the same persons, as the respective fathers of Gartnait and Guipno. However, it is possible that either as an Alt Clut Briton ascending the throne of Pictland, or as a Pict ascending the throne of Alt Clut, his genealogy might have been altered, and it is notable that in the Pictish king-lists he is called "Nechtan, nepos Uerb", suggesting that it was a descent from Uerb that mattered in Pictland, and not his unimportant father Guipno/Canu. Alan Orr Anderson pointed out that Uerb is probably the Pictish form of Ferb, a female name. Alan MacQuarrie suggests that Neithon was indeed the Pictish king Nechtan, but does not take any stance on the Guipno/Canu problem.
Rhun ab Arthgal was a ninth-century King of Strathclyde. He is the only known son of Arthgal ap Dyfnwal, King of Alt Clut. In 870, during the latter's reign, the fortress of Alt Clut was captured by Vikings, after which Arthgal and his family may have been amongst the mass of prisoners taken back to Ireland. Two years later Arthgal is recorded to have been slain at the behest of Causantín mac Cináeda, King of the Picts. The circumstances surrounding this regicide are unknown. The fact that Rhun seems to have been Causantín's brother-in-law could account for Causantín's interference in the kingship of Alt Clut.
Gartnait son of Donuel was king of the Picts from 657 until 663.
Drest son of Donuel was king of the Picts from c. 663 until 672. Like his brother and predecessor Gartnait son of Donuel, and Gartnait's predecessor Talorgan son of Eanfrith, he reigned as a puppet king under the Northumbrian king Oswiu. Gartnait and Drest may have been sons of Domnall Brecc, who was king of Dál Riata from c. 629 until he was killed in 642.
Bridei son of Uuid was a king of the Picts from 635 to 641.
Talorg son of Uuid was a king of the Picts from 641 to 653.
Talorg may refer to:
The Battle of Strathyre took place in 654 near Balquhidder in the Scottish Highlands, between the forces of Talorgan son of Eanfrith of the Picts and Dúnchad mac Conaing of Dál Riata.
Gwid son of Peithan was a warband leader allied with the northern Britons fighting against the Angles of Northumbria in the early 7th century, recorded in the Welsh poem Y Gododdin. He is described in Y Gododdin as a "steadfast warrior" and may have been either a southern Pict or a northern British chief.
References
- ↑ Williams, Smyth & Kirby 1991, p. 105.
- 1 2 Fraser 2009, p. 158.
- ↑ Clarkson 2016, p. 109.
- 1 2 Williams, Smyth & Kirby 1991, p. 220.
- ↑ Smyth 1989, p. 66.
- 1 2 Smyth 1989, p. 62.
- ↑ Fraser 2009, p. 184.
- ↑ Duncan 1975, p. 53.
