Crinan Schotten Abt Dunkeld

Crínán of Dunkeld was a hereditary abbot associated with the monastery of Dunkeld and is presented in the supplied notes as an ancestor of the House of Dunkeld. He married Bethóc, daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland, and was the father of King Duncan I. The supplied material says that Crínán died in battle at Dunkeld in 1045, which conflicts with the supplied life dates of 985–1025.

Crínán of Dunkeld is described as the hereditary abbot of the monastery of Dunkeld and, possibly, as Mormaer of Atholl. He is presented as progenitor of the House of Dunkeld, the dynasty that later ruled Scotland until the later thirteenth century. The supplied notes characterize him as both the son-in-law of a king and the father of a king.

In 1000, according to the supplied notes, Crínán married Bethóc, a daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland, whose reign is given as 1005 to 1034. Because Malcolm II reportedly had no surviving son, a hereditary claim to the Scottish throne passed through Crínán and Bethóc to their son Duncan I. Duncan reigned from 1034 to 1040.

Two further children have been attributed to Crínán. One was a daughter said to have been the mother of Moddan, Earl of Caithness. The other was Maldred. De obsessione Dunelmi calls Maldred the son of Crínán, tein or thegn Crínán. Historian W. F. Skene identified this man with Crínán of Dunkeld, but other scholars, including G. W. S. Barrow, have challenged the identification as insufficiently supported or erroneous. The supplied notes state that Maldred married Ealdgyth, daughter of Uhtred the Bold and granddaughter of King Æthelred the Unready, and that they were the parents of Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria.

The notes raise, but do not establish, the possibility that Crínán spent time in exile in England under the patronage of Æthelred and/or Cnut before becoming abbot of Dunkeld. Neil McGuigan has suggested that he may have been the moneyer named Crínán on coinage of Cnut's reign dated between 1017 and 1023. The same notes suggest that the marriage of Maldred and Ealdgyth may have been arranged during that period.

Crínán's position at Dunkeld was hereditary. Although the supplied material explains that the Gaelic hereditary abbot, or coarb, could be a feudal office held in name only, it states that Crínán appears to have acted as abbot in charge of the monastery. He was therefore described as a figure of high standing in both clerical and secular society. Walter Bower and John of Fordun, however, did not call him abbot of Dunkeld; they instead gave him the offices of abbot of Dull and seneschal of the Isles.

In 1045, the supplied notes state that Crínán rebelled against Macbeth in support of the claim of his grandson Malcolm III, then described as fourteen years old. Malcolm III was the elder son of Crínán's son, the late King Duncan. Crínán, said to have been elderly, was killed in a battle at Dunkeld; the notes also state that his son Maldred of Allerdale died there. This reported death in 1045 is inconsistent with the supplied life dates, which give Crínán's death as 1025.

Historical context

The monastery of Saint Columba at Dunkeld stood on the north bank of the River Tay. The supplied notes date its foundation to the sixth or early seventh century, following Columba's expedition into Pictish territory, and state that its hierarchy may have continued to be drawn from the Cenél Conaill of Donegal. Iain Moncreiffe argued that Crínán belonged to a Scottish sept of the Irish Cenél Conaill royal dynasty, while Christopher Cairney proposed a Cenél nEógain descent for the House of Dunkeld.

Dunkeld Cathedral, built in stages between 1260 and 1501, stands on ground once occupied by the monastery. According to the supplied notes, the cathedral preserves a visible course of red stone in the east choir wall that may have been reused from an earlier building, as well as two ninth- or tenth-century stone cross-slabs in the Cathedral Museum.

Sources & research

[1] Citation marker in the supplied notes for the succession claim of Duncan I through Crínán and Bethóc.
[2] Citation marker in the supplied notes for the additional attributed children, Maldred's family, and the deaths of Crínán and Maldred.
[3] Citation marker in the supplied notes for W. F. Skene's identification of Maldred's father and G. W. S. Barrow's challenge to that identification.
[4] Citation marker in the supplied notes for Neil McGuigan's suggestion concerning a moneyer named Crínán during Cnut's reign.
[5] Citation marker in the supplied notes for the reported 1045 rebellion in support of Malcolm III.
[6] Citation marker in the supplied notes for the reported deaths of Crínán and Maldred at Dunkeld.
[7] Citation marker in the supplied notes for the early history and possible Cenél Conaill connections of the monastery of Dunkeld.
[8] Iain Moncreiffe, cited in the supplied notes for the argument that Crínán belonged to a Scottish sept of the Irish Cenél Conaill royal dynasty.
[9] Christopher Cairney, cited in the supplied notes for a proposed Cenél nEógain descent for the House of Dunkeld.
[10] Walter Bower, cited in the supplied notes as identifying Crínán as abbot of Dull and seneschal of the Isles rather than abbot of Dunkeld.
[11] John of Fordun, cited in the supplied notes as identifying Crínán as abbot of Dull and seneschal of the Isles rather than abbot of Dunkeld.
De obsessione Dunelmi, cited in the supplied notes as naming Maldred the son of Crínán, tein or thegn Crínán.