Editing Constantine II of Scotland (section)

== Britain and Ireland at the end of the 9th century ==
[[Image:Locations in north Britain in the early tenth century.png|thumb|Some locations in northern Britain, late 9th and early 10th centuries. The dotted line marked A represents the southern boundary of the [[Kingdom of Alba]], {{circa}} 890–950. The dotted line marked B represents the southern boundary of the [[Kingdom of Strathclyde]], c. 925–945.]]

In 899 [[Alfred the Great]], king of [[Wessex]], died leaving his son [[Edward the Elder]] as ruler of England south of the [[River Thames]] and his daughter [[Æthelflæd]] and son-in-law [[Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians|Æthelred]] ruling the western, English part of [[Mercia]]. The situation in the [[Danish Realm|Danish kingdoms]] of eastern England is less clear. King [[Eohric of East Anglia|Eohric]] was probably ruling in [[East Anglia]], but no dates can reliably be assigned to the successors of [[Guthred|Guthfrith of York]] in [[Northumbria]]. It is known that Guthfrith was succeeded by [[Siefredus of Northumbria|Siefredus]] and [[Cnut of Northumbria|Cnut]], although whether these men ruled jointly or one after the other is uncertain. Northumbria may have been divided by this time between the Viking kings in York and the local rulers, perhaps represented by [[Eadwulf I of Bamburgh|Eadulf]], based at [[Bamburgh]] who controlled the lands from the [[River Tyne]] or [[River Tees]] to the [[river Forth|Forth]] in the north.<ref>Keynes, "Rulers of the English", pp. 504–505; Woolf, ''Pictland to Alba'', pp. 138–139; Blair, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', pp. 75–79.</ref>

In [[Ireland]], [[Flann Sinna]], married to Constantine's aunt [[Máel Muire ingen Cináeda|Máel Muire]], was dominant. The years around 900 represented a period of weakness among the Vikings and [[Norse–Gaels]] of [[Dublin]]. They are reported to have been divided between two rival leaders. In 894 one group left Dublin, perhaps settling on the Irish Sea coast of Britain between the [[River Mersey]] and the [[Firth of Clyde]]. The remaining Dubliners were expelled in 902 by Flann Sinna's son-in-law [[Cerball mac Muirecáin]], and soon afterwards appeared in western and northern Britain.<ref>Annals of Ulster, s.a. 893 and 902; Woolf, ''Pictland to Alba'', pp 131, 138–139.</ref>

To the southwest of Constantine's lands lay the [[Kingdom of Strathclyde]]. This extended north into [[The Lennox]], east to the River Forth, and south into the [[Southern Uplands]]. In 900 it was probably ruled by King [[Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde|Dyfnwal]].<ref>Woolf, ''Pictland to Alba'', pp. 153–157.</ref>

The situation of the [[List of Irish kingdoms|Gaelic kingdoms]] of [[Dál Riata]] in western Scotland is uncertain. No kings are known by name after [[Áed mac Boanta]]. The [[Francia|Frankish]] ''[[Annales Bertiniani]]'' may record the conquest of the [[Inner Hebrides]], the seaward part of Dál Riata, by Northmen in 849.<ref>Woolf, pp. 99–100, 286–289; Anderson, ''Early Sources'', p. 277.</ref> In addition to these, the arrival of new groups of Vikings from northern and western Europe was still commonplace. Whether there were Viking or Norse-Gael kingdoms in the [[Western Isles]] or the [[Northern Isles]] at this time is debated.<ref>Woolf, ''Pictland to Alba'', pp. 275–311, especially 286–289; Ó Corrain, "Vikings in Scotland and Ireland"; Crawford, ''Scandinavian Scotland'', pp. 39–62; Smyth, ''Warlords and Holy Men'', pp. 141–174.</ref>