history
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Constantin, son of Uurguist/son of Fergus
My recent article, Kings in the North, noted that at the time of the first “Viking” onslaught (see also Arrival of the Northmen), Constantin son of Uurguist was the king of Picts while there was less certainty around what was happening in Dal Riada. A little further south in Northumbria, Aethelred, son of Aethelwald Moll, Continue reading
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Arrival of the Northmen
The portentous weather and astronomical events we looked at in Bad Weather, Bad Omens continued into the last decade of the 8th century with what is perhaps the most infamous of all happening in the year 793. Recounted in a number of sources[1] the gist is that there were flashes of fire in the skies Continue reading
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Kings in the North
The Northern Monarchies in the late 8th Century. In the last article I looked at some of the descriptions of bad weather and bad omens from the second half of the 8th century in northern Britain. This post will look at the political landscape during that time, not an easy task with the Irish Annals Continue reading
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A Very Short Interlude Across the North Sea
In the early 8th century the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark and Sweden did not exist as they do now. The area we refer to as Scandinavia consisted of various groups of people, with perhaps the bulk of then falling into a category which has been labelled as Norse and Danish. The languages they spoke would Continue reading
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“Tearful and Miserable”: The End of the War
The Pictish Civil War Part IV At the start of the year 728, the leader with the most authority in the Pictish nation(s) appears to have been Elpin. As we saw at the end of the last post, the previous King Naiton had retired to a religious life in 724 and the kingship passed to Continue reading
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Did King Naiton jump into the monastery, or was he pushed?
The Pictish Civil War Part III The last post ended with the abdication of Naiton, King of the Picts in 724 and with the question: did he jump or was he pushed? To answer that we need to look at his successor (or successors). First we are introduced to someone known as Drust (or Drest) Continue reading
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Nechtan mac Derilei: King Naiton of the Picts
The Pictish Civil War Part II As set out in last post on here, the figure generally known as Nechtan became in 706 the second of Derilei’s sons to sit on the Pictish throne. Unlike his brother, Bridei, he is described in the sources as king of Picts (not Fortriu)[1]. The name Nechtan is the Continue reading
The Northern Tapestry 