Constantine II mac Áeda King of Scots ¹⁶⁷⁸

  General Notes:

Constantine II (Causantín mac Áeda) ( 874 ?- 952) was king of Scotland from 900 to 943. He was the son of King Aedh, first cousin of the previous King Donald II, and first cousin once removed of his successor Malcolm I, to whom he left his kingdom upon abdicating and becoming a monk. Constantine II's reign is the second longest reign in Scottish history.

Constantine II succeeded Donald II to the Scottish throne in 900. If a coronation took place, then there is no surviving record of it.

During his reign, Constantine II had to fend off Viking raids from the north and west. The earliest of these involved driving the Vikings away from Scotland, and this reached a triumphant climax at the Battle of Scone in 904, after which the Vikings were forced to withdraw from Scotland. However, by then, the Vikings had laid waste to much of Scotland, and in particular Dunkeld.

Constantine II later struggled to win land from, or at least not lose land to, his neighbours to the south, the Anglo-Saxons earldom of Northumbria and the Norse kingdom of York, where the Vikings, led by the Viking king Rognvald, had resettled themselves. Constantine II and the Earl of Bamburgh, Ealdred I, were involved in two battles with Rognvald Gudrodsson (referred to as the Battles of Corbridge ) in that area in 915 and 918, both of which resulted ultimately in a cessation of hostilities there with the Norse.

When he was not involved in fighting Vikings, Constantine II remodelled the Christian church of the day to be more Gaelic in nature. This included a Synod at Scone in 906 , and he introduced the mormaer ( earls ) system to Scotland.
Constantine II married at some point in his life, but virtually nothing is known of it. The date and place of the marriage are unrecorded, and his wife's name is likewise forgotten. It is known, however, that the marriage produced at least three children: two sons and a daughter.

Constantine II's daughter, whose name is also no longer known, married Olaf III Guthfrithson, the Norse King of Dublin at the time, in 937, in order to establish a more stable relationship with the Norse. At least three children later came from this marriage. If it was intended to contribute to holding back Northumbria, it did not. Constantine II was defeated at the Battle of Brunanburh by King Athelstan of England in 937. One of Constantine II's sons, Cellach, died in this battle.

In 943, Constantine II abdicated in favour of Malcolm I (943-954) and entered a Culdee monastery in St Andrews, Fife, and eventually became Abbot there. He died peacefully in 952, and was probably buried at the monastery. Constantine II's surviving son, Indulf, later became King of Scotland. ¹⁶⁷⁸

  Life Events:

1. Acceded: King of Scots, 900-943. ¹⁶⁷⁸ Abdicated the throne and become a monk in 943.

Constantine married.