Amdarch

Amdarch was a military leader of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, the probable son of King Dyfnwal III of Strathclyde, and noted in the historical records only as the slayer of King Cuilén of Scotland in 971.

His name occurs in various forms only in the various versions of the Chronicle of the Kings of Scotland, as Amdarch, Andarch, Amdrach, Radharc and Amthar, and as "Radhard" in an insertion to the Chronicle of Melrose [1] although the tendency of some medievalists to Brythonize the names of tenth century Strathclyde kings has meant that he is often referred to as Riderch,[2] or variations thereof, such as Rhiderch[3] or Rhydderch.[4] However, it has never been explained why the actual name should be ignored and the Welsh name is acknowledged as tenuous.[5]

The Chronicle calls Amdarch "Dyfnwal's son",[6] and it is usually presumed that this means he was the son of King Dyfnwal III of Strathclyde,[7] although direct evidence for this is lacking.

Amdarch is mentioned in the Chronicle as the slayer of king Cuilén of Scotland, and the Chronicle recorded that Amdarch killed Cuilén "in Ybandonia, for the sake of his daughter".[8] While Ybandonia has never been firmly identified, additions to the Chronicle of Melrose locate Cuilén's death in Lothian, and repeat the importance of the daughter, "because of the rape of his daughter, whom the king [Cuilén] had carried for himself."[9] The Prophecy of Berchán confirms that Cuilén was killed by the Britons,[10] as does the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, which adds that Cuilén's brother Eochaid was also killed.[11]

Nothing else is known about Amdarch. If Amdarch was ever king, for which there is no evidence, it is known that the man who would have been his successor, Máel Coluim I was king of the Cumbrians by 973, the year for which Florence of Worcester related that the latter had met King Edgar of England at Chester.[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ see Alan Orr Anderson, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286, 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922), , vol. i, p. 476, n. 1.
  2. ↑ e.g. Alfred Smyth, Warlords and Holy Men, (Edinburgh, 1984), pp. 224, 226-7.
  3. ↑ e.g. Archibald Duncan, Scotland: The Making of a Kingdom, (Edinburgh, 1975), pp. 95-6.
  4. ↑ e.g. 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. 16.
  5. ↑ A.O. Anderson, loc. cit.; Alan MacQuarrie, loc. cit.
  6. ↑ Alan Orr Anderson, loc. cit..
  7. ↑ e.g. Alan MacQuarrie, loc. cit. .
  8. ↑ Alan Orr Anderson, Early Sources, vol. i., p. 476.
  9. ↑ loc. cit..
  10. ↑ Alan Orr Anderson, Early Sources, vol. i., pp. 477-8.
  11. ↑ ibid. p. 475; see also, here.
  12. ↑ Alan Orr Anderson, Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500–1286, (London, 1908), republished, Marjorie Anderson (ed.) (Stamford, 1991), p. 76-7.

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