Óengus of Moray

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Óengus of Moray is the last King of Moray of the native line, ruling Moray from some unknown date until his death in 1130.

Óengus is known to have been the son of the daughter of Lulach.¹ This was perhaps how he attained the Kingship of the Men of Moray. There is a large temporal gap between Óengus and his last known predecessor, Máel Snechtai (d. 1085). It does not seem likely that Óengus had been ruling since that point, but of course it remains a possibility. If he were ruling during this whole period, then he would have been the one who incurred the wrath of King Alexander I, when the Moravians murdered Ladhmunn, the son of Domnall, the son of King Máel Coluim III Cenn Mór by Ingibjorg (i.e. Alexander's nephew).

Orderic Vitalis wrote that in the year 1130, Óengus with Máel Coluim mac Áeda (or MacHeth) invaded Scotia with 5000 warriors. The Moravians were met by David's general, an old Anglo-Saxon noble named Edward Siwardsson. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reported "a great slaughter" .² The Annals of Ulster tells that 4000 Moravians were killed, and only 1000 Albanians.³ The Annals of Innisfallen makes clear what Orderic Vitalis said, that the battle took place in "Scotland", and was hence an invasion. ⁴ Siward defeated the Moravians and Óengus was killed. The royal Scottish army invaded Moray, which, as Orderic Vitalis puts it, "lacked a defender and lord."⁵

Why did Óengus invade? Was he pursuing his own claim against David, or was he pursuing a MacHeth claim? We simply do not know. What we do know is that the 1130 invasion led to the (re-)incorporation of the Moravian kingdom into Alba. It was probably regranted to William fitz Duncan, and after his death in 1147, was colonized by David's French, Flemish and English followers, although in the longer term, most of these were Gaelicized.

[edit] References

1. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1130; Anderson, Early Sources, p. 173
2. Anderson, Scottish Annals, p. 166
3. Anderson, Early Sources., p. 173
4.' 'ibid., p. 173
5. Anderson, Scottish Annals, pp. 166-7

[edit] Bibliography

Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286, 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922)
Anderson, Alan Orr, Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500-1286, (London, 1908), republished, Marjorie Anderson (ed.) (Stamford, 1991)
Roberts, John L., Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages, (Edinburgh, 1997)