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Kingdom of Strathclyde

Strathclyde (lit. "Strath of the River Clyde", Welsh: Ystrad Clud and Strað-Clota in Old English), was a Brittonic successor state of the Roman Empire and one of the early medieval kingdoms of the Britons, located in the region the Welsh tribes referred to as Yr Hen Ogledd (“the Old North"), which comprised the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during Britain's post-Roman period. It is also known as Alt Clut, a Brittonic term for Dumbarton Castle,[1] the medieval capital of the region. It may have had its origins with the Damnonii people of Ptolemy's Geography.

Kingdom of Strathclyde
Teyrnas Ystrad Clut
5th century–c. 1030
The core of Strathclyde is the strath of the River Clyde. The major sites associated with the kingdom are shown, as is the marker Clach nam Breatann (English: Rock of the Britons), the probable northern extent of the kingdom at an early time. Other areas were added to or subtracted from the kingdom at different times.
CapitalDumbarton and Govan
Common languagesCumbric
GovernmentMonarchy
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
5th century
• Incorporated into the Kingdom of Scotland
c. 1030
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Today part ofScotland
  Dumfries and Galloway
  East Ayrshire

  North Ayrshire
  South Ayrshire
  South Lanarkshire
  North Lanarkshire
  East Renfrewshire
  Renfrewshire
  City of Glasgow
  Inverclyde
  East Dunbartonshire
  West Dunbartonshire
  Argyll and Bute
  Stirling

The language of Strathclyde is known as Cumbric, a language that is closely related to Old Welsh, and, among modern languages, is most closely related to Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. Scottish toponymy and archaeology points to some later settlement by Vikings or Norse–Gaels (see Scandinavian Scotland), although to a lesser degree than in neighbouring Galloway. A small number of Anglian place-names show some limited settlement by Anglo-Saxon incomers from Northumbria prior to the Norse settlement. Owing to the series of language changes in the area, it is not possible to say whether any Goidelic settlement took place before Gaelic was introduced in the High Middle Ages during the 11th century.

After the sack of Dumbarton Rock by a Viking army from Dublin in 870, the name Strathclyde came into use, perhaps reflecting a move of the centre of the kingdom to Govan. In the same period, it was also referred to as Cumbria, and its inhabitants as Cumbrians. During the High Middle Ages, the area was conquered by the Goidelic-speaking Kingdom of Alba in the 11th century, becoming part of the new Kingdom of Scotland.

Origins

 
Looking north at Dumbarton Rock, the chief fort of Strathclyde from the 6th century to 870. The fort of Alt Clut was on the right-hand summit.
 
Dumbarton seen across the estuary of the River Clyde at low tide.
 
Clach nam Breatann, Glen Falloch, perhaps the northern edge of Strathclyde

Ptolemy's Geographia – a sailors' chart, not an ethnographical survey[2] – lists a number of tribes, or groups of tribes, in southern Scotland at around the time of the Roman invasion and the establishment of Roman Britain in the 1st century AD. As well as the Damnonii, Ptolemy lists the Otalini, whose capital appears to have been Traprain Law; to their west, the Selgovae in the Southern Uplands and, further west in Galloway, the Novantae. In addition, a group known as the Maeatae, probably in the area around Stirling, appear in later Roman records. The capital of the Damnonii is believed to have been at Carman, near Dumbarton, but around five miles inland from the River Clyde.

Although the northern frontier appears to have been Hadrian's Wall for most of the history of Roman Britain, the extent of Roman influence north of the Wall is obscure. Certainly, Roman forts existed north of the wall, and forts as far north as Cramond may have been in long-term occupation. Moreover, the formal frontier was three times moved further north. Twice it was advanced to the line of the Antonine Wall, at about the time when Hadrian's Wall was built and again under Septimius Severus, and once further north, beyond the river Tay, during Agricola's campaigns, although, each time, it was soon withdrawn. In addition to these contacts, Roman armies undertook punitive expeditions north of the frontiers. Northern natives also travelled south of the wall, to trade, to raid and to serve in the Roman army. Roman traders may have travelled north, and Roman subsidies, or bribes, were sent to useful tribes and leaders. The extent to which Roman Britain was romanised is debated, and if there are doubts about the areas under close Roman control, then there must be even more doubts over the degree to which the Damnonii were romanised.[3]

The final period of Roman Britain saw an apparent increase in attacks by land and sea, the raiders including the Picts, Scotti and the mysterious Attacotti whose origins are not certain.[4] These raids will have also targeted the tribes of southern Scotland. The supposed final withdrawal of Roman forces around 410 is unlikely to have been of military impact on the Damnonii, although the withdrawal of pay from the residual Wall garrison will have had a very considerable economic effect.

No historical source gives any firm information on the boundaries of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, but suggestions have been offered on the basis of place-names and topography. Near the north end of Loch Lomond, which can be reached by boat from the Clyde, lies Clach nam Breatann, the Rock of the Britains, which is thought to have gained its name as a marker at the northern limit of Alt Clut.[5] The Campsie Fells and the marshes between Loch Lomond and Stirling may have represented another boundary. To the south, the kingdom extended some distance up the strath of the Clyde, and along the coast probably extended south towards Ayr.[6]

History

The Old North

 

The written sources available for the period are largely Irish and Welsh, and very few indeed are contemporary with the period between 400 and 600. Irish sources report events in the kingdom of Dumbarton only when they have an Irish link. Excepting the 6th-century jeremiad by Gildas and the poetry attributed to Taliesin and Aneirin—in particular y Gododdin, thought to have been composed in Scotland in the 6th century—Welsh sources generally date from a much later period. Some are informed by the political attitudes prevalent in Wales in the 9th century and after. Bede, whose prejudice is apparent, rarely mentions Britons, and then usually in uncomplimentary terms.

Two kings are known from near contemporary sources in this early period. The first is Coroticus or Ceretic Guletic (Welsh: Ceredig), known as the recipient of a letter from Saint Patrick, and stated by a 7th-century biographer to have been king of the Height of the Clyde, Dumbarton Rock, placing him in the second half of the 5th century. From Patrick's letter it is clear that Ceretic was a Christian, and it is likely that the ruling class of the area were also Christians, at least in name. His descendant Rhydderch Hael is named in Adomnán's Life of Saint Columba. Rhydderch was a contemporary of Áedán mac Gabráin of Dál Riata and Urien of Rheged, to whom he is linked by various traditions and tales, and also of Æthelfrith of Bernicia.

The Christianisation of southern Scotland, if Patrick's letter to Coroticus was indeed to a king in Strathclyde, had therefore made considerable progress when the first historical sources appear. Further south, at Whithorn, a Christian inscription is known from the second half of the 5th century, perhaps commemorating a new church. How this came about is unknown. Unlike Columba, Kentigern (Welsh: Cyndeyrn Garthwys), the supposed apostle to the Britons of the Clyde, is a shadowy figure and Jocelyn of Furness's 12th century Life is late and of doubtful authenticity though Jackson[7] believed that Jocelyn's version might have been based on an earlier Cumbric-language original.

The Kingdom of Alt Clut

 
Possible language zones in southern Scotland, 7th–8th centuries (after Nicolaisen, Scottish Place-Names and Taylor, "Place Names").

After 600, information on the Britons of Alt Clut becomes slightly more common in the sources. However, historians have disagreed as to how these should be interpreted. Broadly speaking, they have tended to produce theories which place their subject at the centre of the history of north Britain in the Early Historic period. The result is a series of narratives which cannot be reconciled.[8] More recent historiography may have gone some way to addressing this problem.

At the beginning of the 7th century, Áedán mac Gabráin may have been the most powerful king in northern Britain, and Dál Riata was at its height. Áedán's byname in later Welsh poetry, Aeddan Fradawg (Áedán the Treacherous) does not speak to a favourable reputation among the Britons of Alt Clut, and it may be that he seized control of Alt Clut. Áedán's dominance came to an end around 604, when his army, including Irish kings and Bernician exiles, was defeated by Æthelfrith at the battle of Degsastan.

It is supposed, on rather weak evidence, that Æthelfrith, his successor Edwin and Bernician and Northumbrian kings after them expanded into southern Scotland. Such evidence as there is, such as the conquest of Elmet, the wars in north Wales and with Mercia, would argue for a more southerly focus of Northumbrian activity in the first half of the 7th century. The report in the Annals of Ulster for 638, "the battle of Glenn Muiresan and the besieging of Eten" (Eidyn, later Edinburgh), has been taken to represent the capture of Eidyn by the Northumbrian king Oswald, son of Æthelfrith, but the Annals mention neither capture, nor Northumbrians, so this is rather a tenuous identification.[9]

In 642, the Annals of Ulster report that the Britons of Alt Clut led by Eugein son of Beli defeated the men of Dál Riata and killed Domnall Brecc, grandson of Áedán, at Strathcarron, and this victory is also recorded in an addition to Y Gododdin. The site of this battle lies in the area known in later Welsh sources as Bannawg—the name Bannockburn is presumed to be related—which is thought to have meant the very extensive marshes and bogs between Loch Lomond and the river Forth, and the hills and lochs to the north, which separated the lands of the Britons from those of Dál Riata and the Picts, and this land was not worth fighting over. However, the lands to the south and east of this waste were controlled by smaller, nameless British kingdoms. Powerful neighbouring kings, whether in Alt Clut, Dál Riata, Pictland or Bernicia, would have imposed tribute on these petty kings, and wars for the overlordship of this area seem to have been regular events in the 6th to 8th centuries.

There are few definite reports of Alt Clut in the remainder of the 7th century, although it is possible that the Irish annals contain entries which may be related to Alt Clut. In the last quarter of the 7th century, a number of battles in Ireland, largely in areas along the Irish Sea coast, are reported where Britons take part. It is usually assumed that these Britons are mercenaries, or exiles dispossessed by some Anglo-Saxon conquest in northern Britain. However, it may be that these represent campaigns by kings of Alt Clut, whose kingdom was certainly part of the region linked by the Irish Sea. All of Alt Clut's neighbours, Northumbria, Pictland and Dál Riata, are known to have sent armies to Ireland on occasions.[10]

The Annals of Ulster in the early 8th century report two battles between Alt Clut and Dál Riata, at "Lorg Ecclet" (unknown) in 711, and at "the rock called Minuirc" in 717. Whether their appearance in the record has any significance or whether it is just happenstance is unclear. Later in the 8th century, it appears that the Pictish king Óengus made at least three campaigns against Alt Clut, none successful. In 744 the Picts acted alone, and in 750 Óengus may have cooperated with Eadberht of Northumbria in a campaign in which Talorgan, brother of Óengus, was killed in a heavy Pictish defeat at the hands of Teudebur of Alt Clut, perhaps at Mugdock, near Milngavie. Eadberht is said to have taken the plain of Kyle in 750, around modern Ayr, presumably from Alt Clut.

Teudebur died around 752, and it was probably his son Dumnagual who faced a joint effort by Óengus and Eadberht in 756. The Picts and Northumbrians laid siege to Dumbarton Rock, and extracted a submission from Dumnagual. It is doubtful whether the agreement, whatever it may have been, was kept, for Eadberht's army was all but wiped out—whether by their supposed allies or by recent enemies is unclear—on its way back to Northumbria.

After this, little is heard of Alt Clut or its kings until the 9th century. The "burning", the usual term for capture, of Alt Clut is reported in 780, although by whom and in what circumstances is not known. Thereafter Dunblane was burned by the men of Alt Clut in 849, perhaps in the reign of Artgal.

The Viking Age

 
Kingdom of Strathclyde at its largest extent, circa 940 A.D.

An army, led by the Viking chiefs known in Irish as Amlaíb Conung and Ímar, laid siege in 870 to Alt Clut, a siege which lasted some four months and led to the destruction of the citadel and the taking of a very large number of captives. The siege and capture are reported by Welsh and Irish sources, and the Annals of Ulster say that in 871, after overwintering on the Clyde:

Amlaíb and Ímar returned to Áth Cliath (Dublin) from Alba with two hundred ships, bringing away with them in captivity to Ireland a great prey of Angles and Britons and Picts.

King Arthgal ap Dyfnwal, called "king of the Britons of Strathclyde", was killed in Dublin in 872 at the instigation of Causantín mac Cináeda.[11] He was followed by his son Run of Alt Clut, who was married to Causantín's sister. Eochaid, the result of this marriage, may have been king of Strathclyde, or of the kingdom of Alba.

From this time forward, and perhaps from much earlier, the kingdom of Strathclyde was subject to periodic domination by the kings of Alba. However, the earlier idea, that the heirs to the Scots throne ruled Strathclyde, or Cumbria as an appanage, has relatively little support, and the degree of Scots control should not be overstated. This period probably saw a degree of Norse, or Norse-Gael settlement in Strathclyde. A number of place-names, in particular a cluster on the coast facing the Cumbraes, and monuments such as the hogback graves at Govan, are some of the remains of these newcomers.

In the late ninth century the Vikings almost conquered England, apart from the southern kingdom of Wessex, but in the 910s the West Saxon king Edward the Elder and his sister Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, recovered England south of the Humber. According to the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, Æthelflæd formed an alliance with Strathclyde and Scotland against the Vikings, and in the view of the historian Tim Clarkson Strathclyde seems to have made substantial territorial gains at this time, some at the expense of the Norse Vikings. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 920 the kings of Britain, including the king of Strathclyde (who is not named), submitted to Edward. However, historians are sceptical of the claim as Edward's power was confined to southern Britain, and they think it was probably a peace settlement which did not involve submission. The names of Strathclyde's rulers in this period are uncertain, but Dyfnwal is thought to have been king in the early tenth century, and he was probably succeeded by his son Owain before 920.[12]

In 927 Edward's son Æthelstan conquered Viking-ruled Northumbria, and thus became the first king of England. At Eamont Bridge on 27 July several kings accepted his overlordship, including Constantine of Scotland. Sources differ on whether the meeting was attended by Owain of Strathclyde or Owain ap Hywel of Gwent, but it could have been both. In 934 Æthelstan invaded Scotland and laid waste to the country. Owain was an ally of the Scottish king and it is likely that Strathclyde was also ravaged. Owain attested Æthelstan's charters as sub-king in 931 and 935 (charters S 413, 434 and 1792), but in 937 he joined Constantine and the Vkings in invading England. The result was an overwhelming victory for the English at the Battle of Brunanburh.[13]

Following the battle of Brunanburh, Owain's son Dyfnwal ab Owain became king of Strathclyde. It is likely that whereas Scotland allied with England, Strathclyde held to its alliance with the Vikings. In 945, Æthelstan's half-brother Edmund, who had succeeded to the English throne in 939, ravaged Strathclyde. According to the thirteenth-century chronicler Roger of Wendover, Edmund had two sons of Dyfnwal blinded, perhaps to deprive their father of throneworthy heirs. Edmund then gave the kingdom to King Malcolm I of Scotland in return for a pledge to defend it on land and on sea, but Dyfnwal soon recovered his kingdom. He died on pilgrimage to Rome in 975.[14]

The end of Strathclyde

If the kings of Alba imagined, as John of Fordun did, that they were rulers of Strathclyde, the death of Cuilén mac Iduilb and his brother Eochaid at the hands of Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal in 971, said to be in revenge for the rape or abduction of his daughter, shows otherwise. A major source for confusion comes from the name of Rhydderch's successor, Máel Coluim, now thought to be a son of the Dyfnwal ab Owain who died in Rome, but long confused with the later king of Scots Máel Coluim mac Cináeda.[15] Máel Coluim appears to have been followed by Owen the Bald who is thought to have died at the battle of Carham in 1018. It seems likely that Owen had a successor, although his name is unknown.

Some time after 1018 and before 1054, the kingdom of Strathclyde appears to have been conquered by the Scots, most probably during the reign of Máel Coluim mac Cináeda who died in 1034.[16] In 1054, the English king Edward the Confessor dispatched Earl Siward of Northumbria against the Scots, ruled by Mac Bethad mac Findláich (Macbeth), along with an otherwise unknown "Malcolm son of the king of the Cumbrians", in Strathclyde. The name Malcolm or Máel Coluim again caused confusion, some historians later supposing that this was the later king of Scots Máel Coluim mac Donnchada (Máel Coluim Cenn Mór). It is not known if Malcolm/Máel Coluim ever became "king of the Cumbrians", or, if so, for how long.[17]

The Keswick area was conquered by the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria in the seventh century, but Northumbria was destroyed by the Vikings in the late ninth. In the early tenth century it became part of Strathclyde; it remained part of Strathclyde until about 1050, when Siward, Earl of Northumbria, conquered that part of Cumbria.[18]

Carlisle was part of Scotland by 1066, and thus was not recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. This changed in 1092, when William the Conqueror's son William Rufus invaded the region and incorporated Cumberland into England. The construction of Carlisle Castle began in 1093 on the site of the Roman fort, south of the River Eden. The castle was rebuilt in stone in 1112, with a keep and the city walls.

By the 1070s, if not earlier in the reign of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, it appears that the Scots again controlled Strathclyde. It is certain that Strathclyde did indeed become an appanage, for it was granted by Alexander I to his brother David, Prince of the Cumbrians, later David I, in 1107.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Clarkson, Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons, p. 27
  2. ^ The description is Ó Corráin's, in R. Foster (ed.), The Oxford History of Ireland, p. 4.
  3. ^ For a brief survey of Rome and southern Scotland see Hanson, "Roman occupation".
  4. ^ The home of the Attacotti has been variously identified. Ireland is the most favoured location, and an association with the Déisi is plausible. A few authors have suggested the Outer Hebrides or the Northern Isles.
  5. ^ Davies, Norman (2011). Vanished Kingdoms. Penguin. p. 63. ISBN 9781846143380.
  6. ^ Alcock & Alcock, "Excavations at Alt Clut"; Koch, "The Place of Y Gododdin". Barrell, Medieval Scotland, p. 44, supposes that the diocese of Glasgow established by David I in 1128 may have corresponded with the late kingdom of Strathclyde.
  7. ^ Jackson, K.H. (1956) Language and History in Early Britain, Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press
  8. ^ Smyth, Warlords and Holy Men represents a work where the Britons are given prominence, but others have concentrated on Dál Riata. At present, the division appears to be between Scots, Irish and "north British" scholars and Anglo-Saxonists. Leslie Alcock, Kings and Warriors, could be taken as representing a "north British (and Irish)" perspective.
  9. ^ The Annals of the Four Masters associate Domnall Brecc of Dál Riata with these events.
  10. ^ The Northumbrians in 684, the Picts in the 730s and the Dál Riata on many occasions.
  11. ^ Edmonds, F (2015). "The Expansion of the Kingdom of Strathclyde". Early Medieval Europe. 23 (1): 60. doi:10.1111/emed.12087. eISSN 1468-0254. S2CID 162103346.
  12. ^ Clarkson 2014, pp. 59–62; Davidson 2001, pp. 200–09.
  13. ^ Clarkson 2014, pp. 76–77, 80–84; Keynes 2002, Table XXXVI.
  14. ^ Stenton 1971, p. 359; Clarkson 2014, pp. 109, 125.
  15. ^ Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, pp. 23–24.
  16. ^ No King of Strathclyde is named by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle when Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, Mac Bethad and Echmarcach mac Ragnaill met with Canute in 1031.
  17. ^ For this episode see Duncan, Kingship of the Scots, pp. 40–41.
  18. ^ Charles-Edards, pp. 12, 575; Clarkson, pp. 12, 63–66, 154–58

Sources

  • Alcock, Leslie, Kings and Warriors, Craftsmen and Priests in Northern Britain AD 550–850. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2003. ISBN 0-903903-24-5
  • Barrell, A.D.M., Medieval Scotland. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000. ISBN 0-521-58602-X
  • Clarkson, Tim (2014). Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age. Edinburgh: John Donald, Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906566-78-4.
  • Davidson, Michael (2001). "The (Non) Submission of the Northern Kings in 920". In Higham, N. J.; Hill, D. H. (eds.). Edward the Elder 899–924. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge. pp. 200–11. ISBN 978-0-415-21497-1.
  • Duncan, A.A.M., The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. ISBN 0-7486-1626-8
  • Hanson, W.S., "Northern England and southern Scotland: Roman Occupation" in Michael Lynch (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford UP, Oxford, 2001. ISBN 0-19-211696-7
  • Keynes, Simon (2002). An Atlas of Attestations in Anglo-Saxon Charters, c.670–1066. Cambridge, UK: Dept. of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic, University of Cambridge, UK. ISBN 978-0-9532697-6-1.
  • Koch, John, "The Place of 'Y Gododdin' in the History of Scotland" in Ronald Black, William Gillies and Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (eds) Celtic Connections. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Celtic Studies, Volume One. Tuckwell, East Linton, 1999. ISBN 1-898410-77-1
  • Smyth, Alfred P (1984). Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000. Edward Arnold. ISBN 978-0-7131-6305-6.
  • Stenton, Frank (1971). Anglo-Saxon England (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.

Further reading

  • Barrow, G.W.S., Kingship and Unity: Scotland 1000–1306. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, (corrected edn) 1989. ISBN 0-7486-0104-X
  • Broun, D. (2004). "The Welsh Identity of the Kingdom of Strathclyde c. 900–c. 1200". Innes Review. 55 (55): 111–80. doi:10.3366/inr.2004.55.2.111.
  • Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2013). Wales and the Britons 350–1064. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-821731-2.
  • Clarkson, Tim (2010). The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland. Edinburgh: John Donald, Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906566-18-0.
  • Driscoll, Stephen (2013). In Search of the Northern Britons in the Early Historic Era (AD 400–1100) (PDF). Culture and Sport Glasgow (Glasgow Museums).
  • Edmonds, Fiona (October 2014). "The Emergence and Transformation of Medieval Cumbria". The Scottish Historical Review. XCIII, 2 (237): 195–216. doi:10.3366/shr.2014.0216.
  • Edmonds, Fiona (2015). "The expansion of the kingdom of Strathclyde". Early Medieval Europe. 23: 43–66. doi:10.1111/emed.12087. S2CID 162103346.
  • Foster, Sally M., Picts, Gaels, and Scots: Early Historic Scotland. Batsford, London, 2nd edn, 2004. ISBN 0-7134-8874-3
  • Higham, N.J., The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350–1100. Sutton, Stroud, 1993. ISBN 0-86299-730-5
  • Jackson, Kenneth H., "The Britons in southern Scotland" in Antiquity, vol. 29 (1955), pp. 77–88. ISSN 0003-598X .
  • Lowe, Chris, Angels, Fools and Tyrants: Britons and Anglo-Saxons in Southern Scotland. Canongate, Edinburgh, 1999. ISBN 0-86241-875-5
  • Woolf, Alex (2001). "Britons and Angles". In Lynch, Michael (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199234820.

External links

Coordinates: 56°N 4°W / 56°N 4°W / 56; -4

kingdom, strathclyde, other, uses, strathclyde, disambiguation, strathclyde, strath, river, clyde, welsh, ystrad, clud, strað, clota, english, brittonic, successor, state, roman, empire, early, medieval, kingdoms, britons, located, region, welsh, tribes, refer. For other uses see Strathclyde disambiguation Strathclyde lit Strath of the River Clyde Welsh Ystrad Clud and Strad Clota in Old English was a Brittonic successor state of the Roman Empire and one of the early medieval kingdoms of the Britons located in the region the Welsh tribes referred to as Yr Hen Ogledd the Old North which comprised the Brythonic speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England The kingdom developed during Britain s post Roman period It is also known as Alt Clut a Brittonic term for Dumbarton Castle 1 the medieval capital of the region It may have had its origins with the Damnonii people of Ptolemy s Geography Kingdom of StrathclydeTeyrnas Ystrad Clut5th century c 1030The core of Strathclyde is the strath of the River Clyde The major sites associated with the kingdom are shown as is the marker Clach nam Breatann English Rock of the Britons the probable northern extent of the kingdom at an early time Other areas were added to or subtracted from the kingdom at different times CapitalDumbarton and GovanCommon languagesCumbricGovernmentMonarchyHistorical eraMiddle Ages Established5th century Incorporated into the Kingdom of Scotlandc 1030Preceded by Succeeded bySub Roman Britain Kingdom of ScotlandToday part ofScotland Dumfries and Galloway East Ayrshire North Ayrshire South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire East Renfrewshire Renfrewshire City of Glasgow Inverclyde East Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire Argyll and Bute StirlingThe language of Strathclyde is known as Cumbric a language that is closely related to Old Welsh and among modern languages is most closely related to Welsh Cornish and Breton Scottish toponymy and archaeology points to some later settlement by Vikings or Norse Gaels see Scandinavian Scotland although to a lesser degree than in neighbouring Galloway A small number of Anglian place names show some limited settlement by Anglo Saxon incomers from Northumbria prior to the Norse settlement Owing to the series of language changes in the area it is not possible to say whether any Goidelic settlement took place before Gaelic was introduced in the High Middle Ages during the 11th century After the sack of Dumbarton Rock by a Viking army from Dublin in 870 the name Strathclyde came into use perhaps reflecting a move of the centre of the kingdom to Govan In the same period it was also referred to as Cumbria and its inhabitants as Cumbrians During the High Middle Ages the area was conquered by the Goidelic speaking Kingdom of Alba in the 11th century becoming part of the new Kingdom of Scotland Contents 1 Origins 2 History 2 1 The Old North 2 2 The Kingdom of Alt Clut 2 3 The Viking Age 2 4 The end of Strathclyde 3 See also 4 Notes 5 Sources 5 1 Further reading 6 External linksOriginsMain article Scotland during the Roman Empire Looking north at Dumbarton Rock the chief fort of Strathclyde from the 6th century to 870 The fort of Alt Clut was on the right hand summit Dumbarton seen across the estuary of the River Clyde at low tide Clach nam Breatann Glen Falloch perhaps the northern edge of Strathclyde Ptolemy s Geographia a sailors chart not an ethnographical survey 2 lists a number of tribes or groups of tribes in southern Scotland at around the time of the Roman invasion and the establishment of Roman Britain in the 1st century AD As well as the Damnonii Ptolemy lists the Otalini whose capital appears to have been Traprain Law to their west the Selgovae in the Southern Uplands and further west in Galloway the Novantae In addition a group known as the Maeatae probably in the area around Stirling appear in later Roman records The capital of the Damnonii is believed to have been at Carman near Dumbarton but around five miles inland from the River Clyde Although the northern frontier appears to have been Hadrian s Wall for most of the history of Roman Britain the extent of Roman influence north of the Wall is obscure Certainly Roman forts existed north of the wall and forts as far north as Cramond may have been in long term occupation Moreover the formal frontier was three times moved further north Twice it was advanced to the line of the Antonine Wall at about the time when Hadrian s Wall was built and again under Septimius Severus and once further north beyond the river Tay during Agricola s campaigns although each time it was soon withdrawn In addition to these contacts Roman armies undertook punitive expeditions north of the frontiers Northern natives also travelled south of the wall to trade to raid and to serve in the Roman army Roman traders may have travelled north and Roman subsidies or bribes were sent to useful tribes and leaders The extent to which Roman Britain was romanised is debated and if there are doubts about the areas under close Roman control then there must be even more doubts over the degree to which the Damnonii were romanised 3 The final period of Roman Britain saw an apparent increase in attacks by land and sea the raiders including the Picts Scotti and the mysterious Attacotti whose origins are not certain 4 These raids will have also targeted the tribes of southern Scotland The supposed final withdrawal of Roman forces around 410 is unlikely to have been of military impact on the Damnonii although the withdrawal of pay from the residual Wall garrison will have had a very considerable economic effect No historical source gives any firm information on the boundaries of the Kingdom of Strathclyde but suggestions have been offered on the basis of place names and topography Near the north end of Loch Lomond which can be reached by boat from the Clyde lies Clach nam Breatann the Rock of the Britains which is thought to have gained its name as a marker at the northern limit of Alt Clut 5 The Campsie Fells and the marshes between Loch Lomond and Stirling may have represented another boundary To the south the kingdom extended some distance up the strath of the Clyde and along the coast probably extended south towards Ayr 6 HistoryMain article Scotland in the Early Middle Ages The Old North Main article Sub Roman Britain See also Hen Ogledd The written sources available for the period are largely Irish and Welsh and very few indeed are contemporary with the period between 400 and 600 Irish sources report events in the kingdom of Dumbarton only when they have an Irish link Excepting the 6th century jeremiad by Gildas and the poetry attributed to Taliesin and Aneirin in particular y Gododdin thought to have been composed in Scotland in the 6th century Welsh sources generally date from a much later period Some are informed by the political attitudes prevalent in Wales in the 9th century and after Bede whose prejudice is apparent rarely mentions Britons and then usually in uncomplimentary terms Two kings are known from near contemporary sources in this early period The first is Coroticus or Ceretic Guletic Welsh Ceredig known as the recipient of a letter from Saint Patrick and stated by a 7th century biographer to have been king of the Height of the Clyde Dumbarton Rock placing him in the second half of the 5th century From Patrick s letter it is clear that Ceretic was a Christian and it is likely that the ruling class of the area were also Christians at least in name His descendant Rhydderch Hael is named in Adomnan s Life of Saint Columba Rhydderch was a contemporary of Aedan mac Gabrain of Dal Riata and Urien of Rheged to whom he is linked by various traditions and tales and also of AEthelfrith of Bernicia The Christianisation of southern Scotland if Patrick s letter to Coroticus was indeed to a king in Strathclyde had therefore made considerable progress when the first historical sources appear Further south at Whithorn a Christian inscription is known from the second half of the 5th century perhaps commemorating a new church How this came about is unknown Unlike Columba Kentigern Welsh Cyndeyrn Garthwys the supposed apostle to the Britons of the Clyde is a shadowy figure and Jocelyn of Furness s 12th century Life is late and of doubtful authenticity though Jackson 7 believed that Jocelyn s version might have been based on an earlier Cumbric language original The Kingdom of Alt Clut Possible language zones in southern Scotland 7th 8th centuries after Nicolaisen Scottish Place Names and Taylor Place Names After 600 information on the Britons of Alt Clut becomes slightly more common in the sources However historians have disagreed as to how these should be interpreted Broadly speaking they have tended to produce theories which place their subject at the centre of the history of north Britain in the Early Historic period The result is a series of narratives which cannot be reconciled 8 More recent historiography may have gone some way to addressing this problem At the beginning of the 7th century Aedan mac Gabrain may have been the most powerful king in northern Britain and Dal Riata was at its height Aedan s byname in later Welsh poetry Aeddan Fradawg Aedan the Treacherous does not speak to a favourable reputation among the Britons of Alt Clut and it may be that he seized control of Alt Clut Aedan s dominance came to an end around 604 when his army including Irish kings and Bernician exiles was defeated by AEthelfrith at the battle of Degsastan It is supposed on rather weak evidence that AEthelfrith his successor Edwin and Bernician and Northumbrian kings after them expanded into southern Scotland Such evidence as there is such as the conquest of Elmet the wars in north Wales and with Mercia would argue for a more southerly focus of Northumbrian activity in the first half of the 7th century The report in the Annals of Ulster for 638 the battle of Glenn Muiresan and the besieging of Eten Eidyn later Edinburgh has been taken to represent the capture of Eidyn by the Northumbrian king Oswald son of AEthelfrith but the Annals mention neither capture nor Northumbrians so this is rather a tenuous identification 9 In 642 the Annals of Ulster report that the Britons of Alt Clut led by Eugein son of Beli defeated the men of Dal Riata and killed Domnall Brecc grandson of Aedan at Strathcarron and this victory is also recorded in an addition to Y Gododdin The site of this battle lies in the area known in later Welsh sources as Bannawg the name Bannockburn is presumed to be related which is thought to have meant the very extensive marshes and bogs between Loch Lomond and the river Forth and the hills and lochs to the north which separated the lands of the Britons from those of Dal Riata and the Picts and this land was not worth fighting over However the lands to the south and east of this waste were controlled by smaller nameless British kingdoms Powerful neighbouring kings whether in Alt Clut Dal Riata Pictland or Bernicia would have imposed tribute on these petty kings and wars for the overlordship of this area seem to have been regular events in the 6th to 8th centuries There are few definite reports of Alt Clut in the remainder of the 7th century although it is possible that the Irish annals contain entries which may be related to Alt Clut In the last quarter of the 7th century a number of battles in Ireland largely in areas along the Irish Sea coast are reported where Britons take part It is usually assumed that these Britons are mercenaries or exiles dispossessed by some Anglo Saxon conquest in northern Britain However it may be that these represent campaigns by kings of Alt Clut whose kingdom was certainly part of the region linked by the Irish Sea All of Alt Clut s neighbours Northumbria Pictland and Dal Riata are known to have sent armies to Ireland on occasions 10 The Annals of Ulster in the early 8th century report two battles between Alt Clut and Dal Riata at Lorg Ecclet unknown in 711 and at the rock called Minuirc in 717 Whether their appearance in the record has any significance or whether it is just happenstance is unclear Later in the 8th century it appears that the Pictish king oengus made at least three campaigns against Alt Clut none successful In 744 the Picts acted alone and in 750 oengus may have cooperated with Eadberht of Northumbria in a campaign in which Talorgan brother of oengus was killed in a heavy Pictish defeat at the hands of Teudebur of Alt Clut perhaps at Mugdock near Milngavie Eadberht is said to have taken the plain of Kyle in 750 around modern Ayr presumably from Alt Clut Teudebur died around 752 and it was probably his son Dumnagual who faced a joint effort by oengus and Eadberht in 756 The Picts and Northumbrians laid siege to Dumbarton Rock and extracted a submission from Dumnagual It is doubtful whether the agreement whatever it may have been was kept for Eadberht s army was all but wiped out whether by their supposed allies or by recent enemies is unclear on its way back to Northumbria After this little is heard of Alt Clut or its kings until the 9th century The burning the usual term for capture of Alt Clut is reported in 780 although by whom and in what circumstances is not known Thereafter Dunblane was burned by the men of Alt Clut in 849 perhaps in the reign of Artgal The Viking Age Kingdom of Strathclyde at its largest extent circa 940 A D An army led by the Viking chiefs known in Irish as Amlaib Conung and Imar laid siege in 870 to Alt Clut a siege which lasted some four months and led to the destruction of the citadel and the taking of a very large number of captives The siege and capture are reported by Welsh and Irish sources and the Annals of Ulster say that in 871 after overwintering on the Clyde Amlaib and Imar returned to Ath Cliath Dublin from Alba with two hundred ships bringing away with them in captivity to Ireland a great prey of Angles and Britons and Picts King Arthgal ap Dyfnwal called king of the Britons of Strathclyde was killed in Dublin in 872 at the instigation of Causantin mac Cinaeda 11 He was followed by his son Run of Alt Clut who was married to Causantin s sister Eochaid the result of this marriage may have been king of Strathclyde or of the kingdom of Alba From this time forward and perhaps from much earlier the kingdom of Strathclyde was subject to periodic domination by the kings of Alba However the earlier idea that the heirs to the Scots throne ruled Strathclyde or Cumbria as an appanage has relatively little support and the degree of Scots control should not be overstated This period probably saw a degree of Norse or Norse Gael settlement in Strathclyde A number of place names in particular a cluster on the coast facing the Cumbraes and monuments such as the hogback graves at Govan are some of the remains of these newcomers In the late ninth century the Vikings almost conquered England apart from the southern kingdom of Wessex but in the 910s the West Saxon king Edward the Elder and his sister AEthelflaed Lady of the Mercians recovered England south of the Humber According to the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland AEthelflaed formed an alliance with Strathclyde and Scotland against the Vikings and in the view of the historian Tim Clarkson Strathclyde seems to have made substantial territorial gains at this time some at the expense of the Norse Vikings The Anglo Saxon Chronicle states that in 920 the kings of Britain including the king of Strathclyde who is not named submitted to Edward However historians are sceptical of the claim as Edward s power was confined to southern Britain and they think it was probably a peace settlement which did not involve submission The names of Strathclyde s rulers in this period are uncertain but Dyfnwal is thought to have been king in the early tenth century and he was probably succeeded by his son Owain before 920 12 In 927 Edward s son AEthelstan conquered Viking ruled Northumbria and thus became the first king of England At Eamont Bridge on 27 July several kings accepted his overlordship including Constantine of Scotland Sources differ on whether the meeting was attended by Owain of Strathclyde or Owain ap Hywel of Gwent but it could have been both In 934 AEthelstan invaded Scotland and laid waste to the country Owain was an ally of the Scottish king and it is likely that Strathclyde was also ravaged Owain attested AEthelstan s charters as sub king in 931 and 935 charters S 413 434 and 1792 but in 937 he joined Constantine and the Vkings in invading England The result was an overwhelming victory for the English at the Battle of Brunanburh 13 Following the battle of Brunanburh Owain s son Dyfnwal ab Owain became king of Strathclyde It is likely that whereas Scotland allied with England Strathclyde held to its alliance with the Vikings In 945 AEthelstan s half brother Edmund who had succeeded to the English throne in 939 ravaged Strathclyde According to the thirteenth century chronicler Roger of Wendover Edmund had two sons of Dyfnwal blinded perhaps to deprive their father of throneworthy heirs Edmund then gave the kingdom to King Malcolm I of Scotland in return for a pledge to defend it on land and on sea but Dyfnwal soon recovered his kingdom He died on pilgrimage to Rome in 975 14 The end of Strathclyde If the kings of Alba imagined as John of Fordun did that they were rulers of Strathclyde the death of Cuilen mac Iduilb and his brother Eochaid at the hands of Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal in 971 said to be in revenge for the rape or abduction of his daughter shows otherwise A major source for confusion comes from the name of Rhydderch s successor Mael Coluim now thought to be a son of the Dyfnwal ab Owain who died in Rome but long confused with the later king of Scots Mael Coluim mac Cinaeda 15 Mael Coluim appears to have been followed by Owen the Bald who is thought to have died at the battle of Carham in 1018 It seems likely that Owen had a successor although his name is unknown Some time after 1018 and before 1054 the kingdom of Strathclyde appears to have been conquered by the Scots most probably during the reign of Mael Coluim mac Cinaeda who died in 1034 16 In 1054 the English king Edward the Confessor dispatched Earl Siward of Northumbria against the Scots ruled by Mac Bethad mac Findlaich Macbeth along with an otherwise unknown Malcolm son of the king of the Cumbrians in Strathclyde The name Malcolm or Mael Coluim again caused confusion some historians later supposing that this was the later king of Scots Mael Coluim mac Donnchada Mael Coluim Cenn Mor It is not known if Malcolm Mael Coluim ever became king of the Cumbrians or if so for how long 17 The Keswick area was conquered by the Anglo Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria in the seventh century but Northumbria was destroyed by the Vikings in the late ninth In the early tenth century it became part of Strathclyde it remained part of Strathclyde until about 1050 when Siward Earl of Northumbria conquered that part of Cumbria 18 Carlisle was part of Scotland by 1066 and thus was not recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book This changed in 1092 when William the Conqueror s son William Rufus invaded the region and incorporated Cumberland into England The construction of Carlisle Castle began in 1093 on the site of the Roman fort south of the River Eden The castle was rebuilt in stone in 1112 with a keep and the city walls By the 1070s if not earlier in the reign of Mael Coluim mac Donnchada it appears that the Scots again controlled Strathclyde It is certain that Strathclyde did indeed become an appanage for it was granted by Alexander I to his brother David Prince of the Cumbrians later David I in 1107 See alsoList of Kings of Strathclyde King of the BritonsNotes Clarkson Strathclyde and the Anglo Saxons p 27 The description is o Corrain s in R Foster ed The Oxford History of Ireland p 4 For a brief survey of Rome and southern Scotland see Hanson Roman occupation The home of the Attacotti has been variously identified Ireland is the most favoured location and an association with the Deisi is plausible A few authors have suggested the Outer Hebrides or the Northern Isles Davies Norman 2011 Vanished Kingdoms Penguin p 63 ISBN 9781846143380 Alcock amp Alcock Excavations at Alt Clut Koch The Place of Y Gododdin Barrell Medieval Scotland p 44 supposes that the diocese of Glasgow established by David I in 1128 may have corresponded with the late kingdom of Strathclyde Jackson K H 1956 Language and History in Early Britain Edinburgh University of Edinburgh Press Smyth Warlords and Holy Men represents a work where the Britons are given prominence but others have concentrated on Dal Riata At present the division appears to be between Scots Irish and north British scholars and Anglo Saxonists Leslie Alcock Kings and Warriors could be taken as representing a north British and Irish perspective The Annals of the Four Masters associate Domnall Brecc of Dal Riata with these events The Northumbrians in 684 the Picts in the 730s and the Dal Riata on many occasions Edmonds F 2015 The Expansion of the Kingdom of Strathclyde Early Medieval Europe 23 1 60 doi 10 1111 emed 12087 eISSN 1468 0254 S2CID 162103346 Clarkson 2014 pp 59 62 Davidson 2001 pp 200 09 Clarkson 2014 pp 76 77 80 84 Keynes 2002 Table XXXVI Stenton 1971 p 359 Clarkson 2014 pp 109 125 Duncan Kingship of the Scots pp 23 24 No King of Strathclyde is named by the Anglo Saxon Chronicle when Mael Coluim mac Cinaeda Mac Bethad and Echmarcach mac Ragnaill met with Canute in 1031 For this episode see Duncan Kingship of the Scots pp 40 41 Charles Edards pp 12 575 Clarkson pp 12 63 66 154 58SourcesAlcock Leslie Kings and Warriors Craftsmen and Priests in Northern Britain AD 550 850 Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Edinburgh 2003 ISBN 0 903903 24 5 Barrell A D M Medieval Scotland Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2000 ISBN 0 521 58602 X Clarkson Tim 2014 Strathclyde and the Anglo Saxons in the Viking Age Edinburgh John Donald Birlinn Ltd ISBN 978 1 906566 78 4 Davidson Michael 2001 The Non Submission of the Northern Kings in 920 In Higham N J Hill D H eds Edward the Elder 899 924 Abingdon Oxfordshire Routledge pp 200 11 ISBN 978 0 415 21497 1 Duncan A A M The Kingship of the Scots 842 1292 Succession and Independence Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh 2002 ISBN 0 7486 1626 8 Hanson W S Northern England and southern Scotland Roman Occupation in Michael Lynch ed The Oxford Companion to Scottish History Oxford UP Oxford 2001 ISBN 0 19 211696 7 Keynes Simon 2002 An Atlas of Attestations in Anglo Saxon Charters c 670 1066 Cambridge UK Dept of Anglo Saxon Norse and Celtic University of Cambridge UK ISBN 978 0 9532697 6 1 Koch John The Place of Y Gododdin in the History of Scotland in Ronald Black William Gillies and Roibeard o Maolalaigh eds Celtic Connections Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Celtic Studies Volume One Tuckwell East Linton 1999 ISBN 1 898410 77 1 Smyth Alfred P 1984 Warlords and Holy Men Scotland AD 80 1000 Edward Arnold ISBN 978 0 7131 6305 6 Stenton Frank 1971 Anglo Saxon England 3rd ed Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 280139 5 Further reading Barrow G W S Kingship and Unity Scotland 1000 1306 Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh corrected edn 1989 ISBN 0 7486 0104 X Broun D 2004 The Welsh Identity of the Kingdom of Strathclyde c 900 c 1200 Innes Review 55 55 111 80 doi 10 3366 inr 2004 55 2 111 Charles Edwards T M 2013 Wales and the Britons 350 1064 Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 821731 2 Clarkson Tim 2010 The Men of the North The Britons of Southern Scotland Edinburgh John Donald Birlinn Ltd ISBN 978 1 906566 18 0 Driscoll Stephen 2013 In Search of the Northern Britons in the Early Historic Era AD 400 1100 PDF Culture and Sport Glasgow Glasgow Museums Edmonds Fiona October 2014 The Emergence and Transformation of Medieval Cumbria The Scottish Historical Review XCIII 2 237 195 216 doi 10 3366 shr 2014 0216 Edmonds Fiona 2015 The expansion of the kingdom of Strathclyde Early Medieval Europe 23 43 66 doi 10 1111 emed 12087 S2CID 162103346 Foster Sally M Picts Gaels and Scots Early Historic Scotland Batsford London 2nd edn 2004 ISBN 0 7134 8874 3 Higham N J The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350 1100 Sutton Stroud 1993 ISBN 0 86299 730 5 Jackson Kenneth H The Britons in southern Scotland in Antiquity vol 29 1955 pp 77 88 ISSN 0003 598X Lowe Chris Angels Fools and Tyrants Britons and Anglo Saxons in Southern Scotland Canongate Edinburgh 1999 ISBN 0 86241 875 5 Woolf Alex 2001 Britons and Angles In Lynch Michael ed The Oxford Companion to Scottish History Oxford UK Oxford University Press ISBN 9780199234820 External linksThe Chronicle of the Kings of Alba The Rolls edition of the Brut y Tywyssogion Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine pdf at Stanford University Library CELT Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork including the Annals of Ulster the Annals of Tigernach and the Chronicon Scotorum The Anglo Saxon Chronicle manuscripts D and E various editions including an XML version by Tony Jebson Google Books includes the Chronicon ex chronicis attributed to Florence of Worcester and James Aikman s translation The History of Scotland of George Buchanan s Rerum Scoticarum Historia Coordinates 56 N 4 W 56 N 4 W 56 4 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kingdom of Strathclyde amp oldid 1118821555, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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