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Malcolm III

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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III. (d. 1093), called Canmore or the "largeheaded," was a son of King Duncan I., and became king after the defeat of the usurper Macbeth in July 1054, being crowned at Scone in April 1057. Having married as his second wife, (St) Margaret, a sister of Edgar lEtheling, who was a fugitive at his court, he invaded England in 1070 to support the claim of Edgar to the English throne, returning to Scotland with many captives after harrying Northumbria. William the Conqueror answered this attack by marching into Scotland in 1072, whereupon Malcolm made peace with the English king at Abernethy and "was his man." However, in spite of this promise he ravaged the north of England again and again, until in 1091 William Rufus invaded Scotland and received his submission. Then in 1092 a fresh dispute arose between the two kings, and William summoned Malcolm to his court at Gloucester. The Scot obeyed, and calling at Durham on his southward journey was present at the foundation of Durham Cathedral. When he reached Gloucester Rufus refused to receive him unless he did homage for his kingdom; he declined and returned home in high dudgeon. Almost at once he invaded Northumbria, and was killed at a place afterwards called Malcolm's Cross, near Alnwick, on the 13th of November 1093. Four of Malcolm's sons, Duncan II., Edgar, Alexander I., and David I., became kings of Scotland; and one of his daughters, Matilda, became the wife of Henry I. of England, a marriage which united the Saxon and the Norman royal houses.