Eógan I of Strathclyde

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Eógan I of Strathclyde or Owen I of Strathclyde, (Latin: Eugenius; Modern Gaelic Eòghann; Mod. Welsh: Owain) was ruler of the Kingdom of Strathclyde for some period in the early tenth century.

Symeon of Durham recorded that Eógan, whom he calls "Ouuen, king of the Cumbrians", was defeated by king Æþelstan of England in 934, along with his allies King Olaf III Guthfrithson of Dublin and King Causantín II of Scotland, his overlord.[1] The latter date puts the start of Eógan's reign sometime before, perhaps a long time before, this year.[2] It is possible, as MacQuarrie and others suggest, that Eógan was the son of King Domnall II of Strathclyde,[3] thereby making him the nephew of King Causantín, but this suggestion now carries some controversy.[4] Many historians believe that Eógan was present and died at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937, [5] and indeed Symeon of Durham does mention the presence of the "Cumbrians" at the battle.[6]

The 14th century historian John Fordun wrote that during the reign of Causantín, the Scottish kings turned Strathclyde into an appanage kingdom whereby the designated heir or tanist would rule as a sub-king before becoming in his turn King of Alba upon the death of the designating king. Indeed, Fordun claims that King Causantín gave Eógan his kingdom on this basis.[7] If Eógan was the designated heir of Causantín, as some historians believe,[8] he did not survive to outlive the Scottish king.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Symeon of Durham, Historia Dunelmensis Ecclesiae, in T. Arnold (ed.) Symeonis Dunelmensis Opera Omnia, (Rolls Series, 1882), vol. i, p. 76; translated and quoted in Alan Orr Anderson, Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500–1286, (London, 1908), republished, Marjorie Anderson (ed.) (Stamford, 1991), p. 68.
  2. ^ see Alan MacQuarrie, "The Kings of Strathclyde", in A. Grant & K. Stringer (eds.) Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays Presented to G.W.S. Barrow, (Edinburgh, 1993), p. 14.
  3. ^ Alan MacQuarrie, loc. cit.
  4. ^ e.g. Dauvit Broun, "The Welsh Identity of the Kingdom of Strathclyde", in The Innes Review, Vol. 55, no. 2 (Autumn, 2004), pp. 131-35, following on from Benjamin Hudson, "Elech and the Scots in Strathclyde", in Scottish Gaelic Studies, Vol. XV (Spring, 1988), pp. 143-47. Only the relationship to Causantín is challenged; it is generally accepted that Eógan was the son of Domnall.
  5. ^ e.g. D. P. Kirby, "Strathclyde and Cumbria: A Survey of Historical Development to 1092", in Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, LXII (1962), pp. 77-94; Alfred Smyth, Warlords and Holy Men, (Edinburgh, 1984), p. 222, but also pp. 201-04; Williams, Smyth, and Kirby (eds.), A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain, (London, 1991), s.v. "Owen, King of Strathclyde c. 925-37", p. 199; Kevin Halloran, "The Brunanburh Campaign: A Reappraisal", in The Scottish Historical Review, Volume LXXXIV, No. 2, (October, 2005), p. 133.
  6. ^ Symeon of Durham, Historia Dunelmensis Ecclesiae, in T. Arnold (ed.) Symeonis Dunelmensis Opera Omnia, (Rolls Series, 1882), vol. i, p. 76; translated and quoted in Alan Orr Anderson, Scottish Annals, pp. 70-1.
  7. ^ Fordun, Chronica Gentis Scotorum, i 163-4; see Archibald Duncan, Scotland: The Making of a Kingdom, (Edinburgh, 1975), pp. 91-2, & n. 26, but compare his later Kingship of the Scots, chapters 1–3.
  8. ^ e.g. Archibald Duncan, loc cit.; Alfred Smyth, op. cit., p. 222; other historians, such as Broun op. cit. and MacQuarrie loc. cit. are sceptical of the Fordun model. Duncan's later Kingship of the Scots makes no such claims and likewise rejects the Fordin model.

[edit] References

  • 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)
  • Broun, Dauvit, "The Welsh Identity of the Kingdom of Strathclyde", in The Innes Review, Vol. 55, no. 2 (Autumn, 2004), pp. 111-80
  • Duncan, A.A.M., Scotland: The Making of a Kingdom, (Edinburgh, 1975)
  • Duncan, A.A.M., The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succesion and Independence, (Edinburgh, 2002
  • Halloran, Kevin, "The Brunanburh Campaign: A Reappraisal", in The Scottish Historical Review, Volume LXXXIV, No. 2, (October, 2005), pp. 133-48
  • Hudson, Benjamin T., "Elech and the Scots in Strathclyde", in Scottish Gaelic Studies, Vol. XV (Spring, 1988), pp. 143-47
  • Kirby, D. P., "Strathclyde and Cumbria: A Survey of Historical Development to 1092", in Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, LXII (1962), pp. 77-94.
  • MacQuarrie, Alan, "The Kings of Strathclyde", in A. Grant & K.Stringer (eds.) Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays Presented to G.W.S. Barrow, (Edinburgh, 1993), pp. 1-19
  • Smyth, Alfred, Warlords and Holy Men, (Edinburgh, 1984)
  • Williams, Anne, Smyth, Alfred P., and Kirby, D.P., (eds.), A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain, (London, 1991), s.v. "Owen, King of Strathclyde c. 925-37", p. 199
Preceded by
Domnall II?		 King of Strathclyde
d. 937?		 Succeeded by
?Domnall III
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