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Person Info

• Name: Crinan The Thane Abbot Of Dunkeld
• Sex: M
• Birth: 978 ^b
• Death: 1045 ^d


Parents:

• Father:
  
• Duncan Lord Of Mormaer Of Athol

Family:
Marriage:

• Bethoc on 1000 .^m1
  
• Bethoc Birth: Abt 984 in Scotland

Children:

1. Donnchad (Duncan I) Mac CRINAN, King Of Scots Birth: Abt 1001 Death: 16 Aug 1040 in Elgin
2. Maldred Lord Of Carlisle Birth: Abt 1002 Death: 1045
3. (Unk Dau)

Bibliography

Sources for birth and parent Information

date:

[Ref: Weis AR7 #170]

abt 975 [Ref: SP III p240],

father:

[Ref: ES II #89, Paget HRHCharles p165, Paget HRHCharles p56]

supposed father (doubtful) Donnchad (Duncan) [Ref: HenryII crina000 6/20/2010, HenryII dunca000 6/20/2010]

Sources for death Information

date:

[Ref: Burke Peerage cclxxxvi, ES II #88, ES II #89, HenryII crina000 6/20/2010, HenryII dunca000 6/20/2010, HenryII dunca001 6/20/2010, Michael Davidson SGM 10/23/1995, Moncreiffe RoyalAnc p20, Moriarty Plantagenet p30, Paget HRHCharles p152, Paget HRHCharles p165, Paget HRHCharles p56, SP III p239, SP III p240, Wagner PedigreeProgress #51, Watney WALLOP #886, Weis AR7 #170]

Sources with Information about marriage to Bethoc

date:

[Ref: Paget HRHCharles p152, Weis AR7 #170]

abt 1000 [Ref: Burke Peerage cclxxxvi, Moriarty Plantagenet p30, Paget HRHCharles p165, Paget HRHCharles p56, Watney WALLOP #886]

abt 1005 [Ref: SP III p240]

um 1000 [Ref: ES II #88],

names:

[Ref: HenryII dunca000 6/20/2010, HenryII malco001 6/20/2010, Michael Davidson SGM 10/23/1995],

child:

[Ref: Burke Peerage cclxxxvi, CP IX p704, ES II #89, HenryII betho000 6/20/2010, HenryII crina000 6/20/2010, HenryII dunca001 6/20/2010, Moncreiffe RoyalAnc p20, Moriarty Plantagenet p30, Paget HRHCharles p152, Paget HRHCharles p165, Paget HRHCharles p166, Paget HRHCharles p56, SP I p1, SP III p240, Wagner PedigreeProgress #51, Watney WALLOP #886, Weis AR7 #170, Weis AR7 #172, Weis AR7 #34]

Research Notes:
Lay Abbot of Dunkeld [Ref: CP IV p504(b), HenryII crina000 6/20/2010, HenryII dunca001 6/20/2010, HenryII malco001 6/20/2010, Paget HRHCharles p165, Paget HRHCharles p56, SP III p240, Weis AR7 #170]
Seneschal of the Isles [Ref: SP III p240]
Governor of the Scots Islands [Ref: Weis AR7 #170]

chronologically doubtful father: Dunnchan (Duncan), the earlier Abbot of Dunkeld. If true, Crinan would be eighty at his death in battle, even if born in the year of his father's death. There is no known evidence to support this relationship, and it cannot be accepted without further evidence. [Ref: HenryII crina000 6/20/2010]

heriditary Abbott of Dunkeld [Ref: Burke Peerage cclxxxvi]

heriditary Abbott of Dunkeld, or the Kindred of St. Columba [Ref: Moncreiffe RoyalAnc p20]

1045: A battle between the Scots themselves, where fell Crinan abbot of Duncaillen [Ref: Weis AR7 #170]

in what was probably a shrewd political move, Malcolm II married his daughter Bethoc to a representative of the other major center of political power in Scotland, the church. Considering the close ties between ruling dynasties and the offices of major abbacies throughout Ireland and Scotland, it is also possible that Crinan was descended from a king of the Scots, which would completely legitimize his son's rule. [Ref: Michael Davidson SGM 10/23/1995]

About two or three years ago, Stewart Baldwin, Michael Davidson, and I participated in a fascinating discussion here of the possible ancestry of King Duncan's father Crinan, Lay Abbot of Dunkeld. Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, in his book THE HIGHLAND CLANS, offered the hypothesis that Crinan's male lineage traced back to the kindred of St. Columba--a branch of the great Irish family O'Neill--who were Abbots of Iona, Kells, Dunkeld, etc. Nothing definite is known of Crinan's ancestry, but that he was Lay Abbot of Dunkeld, and that Duncan mac Crinan's grandson Aethelred was also Lay Abbot of Dunkeld, suggests that Crinan may have belonged to that kindred.
Mike Davidson, however, argued that Crinan belonged to the Cinel nGabhrain--that is, the Scottish royal family, the same family to which Crinan's father-in-law King Malcolm II belonged. His reasons had to do with succession customs in Gaelic culture--any man having or claiming direct male descent from the founder of a royal family was eligible to succeed, the closest male relatives being favored first. King Malcolm II did a very good job of purging his dynasty of rival male claimaints, and when he died the throne went to his daughter's son Duncan. But succession could not go through the female line. That is why Mike Davidson argued that Crinan must have been descended in the male line from a cadet branch of the Cinel nGabhrain.
I'm not sure which hypothesis is correct, but Mr. Davidson's admittedly deals respectfully with what we know of Gaelic succession customs of that era. On the other hand, it is possible that Malcolm II may have done just what many have thought he did--flouted the custom and insisted that the throne pass through the female line to someone with no demonstrable male ascent to the dynastic founder. [Ref: Jared Olar SGM 1/21/1999]



Pedigree of Crinan The Thane Abbot Of Dunkeld
          /-----Duncan Abthane Of Dule, Abbot Of Dunkeld
 /-----Duncan Lord Of Mormaer Of Athol
Crinan The Thane Abbot Of Dunkeld



Descendants of Crinan The Thane Abbot Of Dunkeld

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