House of Alpin


The House of Alpin is the name given to the kin-group which ruled in Pictland and then the kingdom of Alba from the advent of Cináed mac Ailpín in the 840s until the death of Máel Coluim mac Cináeda in 1034.

Kings traced their descent from Cináed mac Ailpín, and not from his father, and Irish genealogies in the Book of Ballymote and the Book of Lecan refer to the kindred as Clann Cináeda meic Ailpín, prioritising descent from Cináed.[1]

The origins of the family are uncertain. Later genealogies of doubtful reliability make Cináed a descendant of Áed Find. While plausible, such claims are unprovable and appear only in the late tenth century.[2] The associated idea that Cináed had been a king in Dál Riata before contending successfully for power in Pictland in the 840s, following the death of Eóganán mac Óengusa, is supported by near-contemporary evidence.[3]

Early kings of Clann Cináeda meic Ailpín are described as kings of the Picts, and the third king, Constantín mac Cináeda appears to have been regarded as the last of the seventy Pictish kings soon after his death. The descendants of Cináed were ousted in 878 when Áed mac Cináeda was killed by Giric mac Dúngail. They returned in 889 on the death of Giric. Following this, the title king of Alba is used.[4]

During the tenth century, succession alternated between the descendants of Constantín mac Cináeda and those of Áed mac Cináeda. Internecine strife in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries left the descendants of Constantín unchallenged by male-line descendants of Cináed mac Ailpín, but Máel Coluim mac Cináeda left no male heirs. On Máel Coluim's death, the line of kings descended from Cináed came to an end. Future kings, while still tracing their descent from Cináed, were descended from Máel Coluim's daughter Bethóc.[5]

Descent of the Alpínid kings

The tables below set out the relationship between the kings of the House of Alpín. Except for Alpín, only those recorded as kings are shown.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Áed mac Cináeda d. 878
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ildulb mac Constantín d. 962
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Constantín mac Áeda abdicated 943
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cináed mac Ailpín d. 858
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Máel Coluim mac Domnaill d. 954
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Domnall mac Constantín d. 900
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Constantín mac Cináeda d. 876
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Alpín mac Echdach
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Domnall mac Ailpín d. 862
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Amlaíb mac Ilduilb d. 977
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ildulb mac Constantín d. 962
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Constantín mac Cuiléin d. 997
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cuilén mac Ilduilb d. 971
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dub mac Maíl Coluim d. 966
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cináed mac Duib d. 1005
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Máel Coluim mac Domnaill d. 954
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cináed mac Maíl Coluim d. 995
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Máel Coluim mac Cináeda d. 1034
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Notes

  1. ^ Woolf, Pictland to Alba, pp. 222–224; Broun, Irish Identity, pp. 173–174.
  2. ^ Woolf, Pictland to Alba, p. 173.
  3. ^ Woolf, Pictland to Alba, pp. 93–98 & 116–117.
  4. ^ Woolf, Pictland to Alba, pp. 122–126.
  5. ^ Woolf, Pictland to Alba, pp. 225–230.

References

  • Anderson, Alan Orr (1922), Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500 to 1286, I (1990 revised & corrected ed.), Stamford: Paul Watkins, ISBN 1-871615-03-8 
  • Bannerman, John (1999), "The Scottish Takeover of Pictland and the relics of Columba", in Broun, Dauvit; Clancy, Thomas Owen, Spes Scotorum: Hope of Scots. Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, pp. 71–94, ISBN 0-567-08682-8 
  • Broun, Dauvit (1999), "Dunkeld and the origins of Scottish Identity", in Broun, Dauvit; Clancy, Thomas Owen, Spes Scotorum: Hope of Scots. Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, pp. 96–111, ISBN 0-567-08682-8 
  • Broun, Dauvit (1999), The Irish Identity of the Kingdom of the Scots in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, ISBN 0-85115-375-5 
  • Broun, Dauvit; Clancy, Thomas Owen (1999), Spes Scotorum: Hope of Scots. Saint Columba, Iona and Scotland, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, ISBN 0-567-08682-8 
  • Duncan, A. A. M. (2002), The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1626-8 
  • Herbert, Máire (2000), "Ri Éirenn, Ri Alban: kingship and identity in the ninth and tenth centuries", in Taylor, Simon, Kings, clerics and chronicles in Scotland 500–1297, Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 62–72, ISBN 1-85182-516-9 
  • Smyth, Alfred P. (1989) [1984], Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0100-7 
  • Taylor, Simon, ed. (2000), Kings, clerics and chronicles in Scotland 500–1297, Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN 1-85182-516-9 
  • Woolf, Alex (2007), From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1234-5