Dyfnwal III of Strathclyde

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Dyfnwal III (Gaelic: Domnall mac Eógain, English: "Donald") was ruler of the Kingdom of Strathclyde (died 975) for some period in the mid tenth century, and the son of one of his predecessors as King, Eógan I of Strathclyde.

Dyfnwal is almost certainly the king visited by the continental Gaelic saint Cathróe of Metz. The vita of the latter saint states that Cathróe was Dyfnwal's relative. ^[1] The visit must have happened between 941 and 946 , meaning that Dyfnwal may have been reigning as early as 941.^[2] This fact presents historiographical problems, because the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 945 king Eadmund of England "harried all Cumbria and leased it to Máel Coluim, king of Scots, on the condition that he be his helper both on land and sea". ^[3] The only possibilities are that, firstly, one source is wrong; secondly, that Strathclyde was a divided kingdom; thirdly, that Malcolm I of Scotland (Máel Coluim mac Domnaill) gave the kingdom to Dyfnwal as soon as he received it, with Cathróe visiting the following year; or that Malcolm II (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda) simply became the overlord of Dyfnwal. It is perhaps worthy of note that Edmund I's campaign in Cumbria is associated with the downfall of Dunmail, said to be the "last king of Cumbria".

He is styled Domnall m. Eogain, ri Bretan (king of the Britons) in the Annals of Ulster, which notes his death in 975 on pilgrimage.^[4] The Welsh source known as the Brut y Tywysogion, which calls him Dunguallon, confirms that Dyfnwal did indeed set off on pilgrimage to Rome.^[5] Dyfnwal must have left on pilgrimage a good time before his death, because Florence of Worcester tells us that in 973 the king of the Cumbrians was Máel Coluim I of Strathclyde; moreover, other Scottish sources name the Strathclyde general, possibly king, who killed the Scottish king Cuilén and his brother in 971 as Amdarch,^[6] suggesting the possibility that Dyfnwal may have resigned the kingship sometime before 971.^[7]

[edit] Notes

^ Alan Orr Anderson, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286, 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922), vol. i, p . 441; see also David Dumville, "St Cathróe of Metz and the Hagiography of Exoticism," in Irish Hagiography: Saints and Scholars, ed. John Carey et al. (Dublin, 2001), pp. 172–188.
^ These dates are calculated based on Cathróe's activities in England, which follow his visit to the Cumbrians; see David Dumville, op. cit., p. 172 & n. 2.
^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, MS A, B, C, D, s.a. 945; trs. in Alan Orr Anderson, Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500–1286, (London, 1908), republished, Marjorie Anderson (ed.) (Stamford, 1991), p. 74.
^ Annals of Ulster, s.a. 975.2, here.
^ here (pdf)
^ see Alan Orr Anderson, Early Sources, vol. i, p. 476, n. 1.
^ 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. 15-6.

[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)
Dumville, David N., "St Cathróe of Metz and the Hagiography of Exoticism," in Irish Hagiography: Saints and Scholars, ed. John Carey et al. (Dublin, 2001), pp. 172–188
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