Kenneth II of Scotland
10th century King of Alba (Scotland)
Cináed mac Maíl Coluim (Modern Scottish Gaelic: Coinneach mac Mhaoil Chaluim, anglicised Kenneth II, and nicknamed An Fionnghalach, "The Fratricidal"; 932–995) was King of Alba (Scotland) from 971 to 995. The son of Malcolm I (Máel Coluim mac Domnaill), he succeeded King Cuilén (Cuilén mac Iduilb) on the latter's death at the hands of Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal in 971.
Primary sources
The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba was compiled in Kenneth's reign, but many of the place names mentioned are entirely corrupt, if not fictitious. Whatever the reality, the Chronicle states that "[h]e immediately plundered [Strathclyde] in part. Kenneth's infantry were slain with very great slaughter in Moin Uacoruar." The Chronicle further states that Kenneth plundered Northumbria three times, first as far as Stainmore, then to Cluiam and lastly to the River Dee by Chester. These raids may belong to around 980 when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records attacks on Cheshire.
In 973, the Chronicle of Melrose reports that Kenneth, with Máel Coluim I (Máel Coluim mac Domnaill), the King of Strathclyde, "Maccus, king of very many islands" (i.e., Magnús Haraldsson (Maccus mac Arailt), Kingdom of the Isles) and other kings, Welsh and Norse, came to Chester to acknowledge the overlordship of the English king Edgar the Peaceable at a council in Chester. It may be that Edgar here regulated the frontier between the southern lands of the kingdom of Alba and the northern lands of his English kingdom. Cumbria was English, and the western frontier lay on the Solway. In the east, the frontier lay somewhere in later Lothian, south of Edinburgh.
The public source identifies “Kenneth II of Scotland” as 10th century King of Alba (Scotland). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kenneth, Scotland and 10th.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q352800. VIAF identifies the subject as 316739403. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kenneth II of Scotland” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.