Editing Malcolm III of Scotland (section)

== Marriage to Margaret ==
[[File:Malcum Camnoir.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Malcolm and Margaret, from the Forman Armorial (1562)]]

In 1069, the exiles returned to England, to join a spreading revolt in the north. Even though Gospatric and Siward's son [[Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northampton|Waltheof]] submitted by the end of the year, the arrival of a Danish army under Sweyn Estridsson seemed to ensure that William's position remained weak. Malcolm decided on war and took his army south into [[Cumbria]] and across the [[Pennines]], wasting [[Teesdale]] and [[Cleveland, Yorkshire|Cleveland]] then marching north, loaded with loot, to [[Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey|Wearmouth]], now part of the [[City of Sunderland]]. There Malcolm met Edgar and his family, who were invited to return with him but did not. As Sweyn had by now been bought off with a large [[Danegeld]], Malcolm took his army home. Against the backdrop of [[Harrying of the North|William's scorched earth policy against the northern English rebels]], William sent Gospatric to raid Scotland through Cumbria as a further act of reprisal. In return, the Scots fleet raided the Northumbrian coast where Gospatric's possessions were concentrated.<ref>Duncan, pp. 44–45; Oram, ''David I'', pp. 23–24.</ref> Late in the year, perhaps shipwrecked on their way to a European exile, Edgar and his family again arrived in Scotland, this time to remain. By the end of 1070, Malcolm had married Edgar's sister [[Saint Margaret of Scotland|Margaret]] (later known as Saint Margaret).<ref>Oram, ''David I'', p. 24; Clancy, "St. Margaret", dates the marriage to 1072.</ref>

The naming of their children represented a break with the traditional Scots regal names such as Malcolm, Cináed and Áed. The point of naming Margaret's sons — Edward after her father [[Edward the Exile]], [[Edmund of Scotland|Edmund]] for her grandfather [[Edmund Ironside]], [[Ethelred of Scotland|Ethelred]] for her great-grandfather [[Ethelred the Unready]] and [[Edgar of Scotland|Edgar]] for her great-great-grandfather [[Edgar I of England|Edgar]] and her brother, briefly the elected king, [[Edgar Ætheling]] — was unlikely to be missed in England, where William of Normandy's grasp on power was far from secure.<ref>Malcolm's sons by [[Ingibiorg Finnsdottir|Ingebiorg]] were probably expected to succeed to the kingdom of the Scots, Oram, ''David I'', p. 26.</ref> Whether the adoption of the classical Alexander for the future [[Alexander I of Scotland]] (either for [[Pope Alexander II]] or for [[Alexander the Great]]) and the biblical [[David]] for the future [[David I of Scotland]] represented a recognition that William of Normandy would not be easily removed, or was due to the repetition of Anglo-Saxon royal names — another Edmund had preceded Edgar — is not known.<ref>Oram, p. 26.</ref> Margaret also gave Malcolm two daughters, [[Matilda of Scotland|Edith]], who married [[Henry I of England]], and [[Mary of Scotland, Countess of Boulogne|Mary]], who married [[Eustace III, Count of Boulogne|Eustace III of Boulogne]].

In 1072, with the [[Harrying of the North]] completed and his position again secure, William of Normandy came north with an army and a fleet. Malcolm met William at [[Abernethy, Perth and Kinross|Abernethy]] and, in the words of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', "became his man" and handed over his eldest son Duncan as a hostage and arranged peace between William and Edgar.<ref>Oram,  pp. 30–31; Anderson, ''SAEC'', p. 95.</ref> Accepting the overlordship of the king of the English was no novelty, as previous kings had done so without result. The same was true of Malcolm; his agreement with the English king was followed by further raids into Northumbria, which led to further trouble in the earldom and the killing of Bishop [[Walcher]] at [[Gateshead]]. In 1080, William sent his son [[Robert Curthose]] north with an army while his brother [[Odo of Bayeux|Odo]] punished the Northumbrians. Malcolm again made peace, and this time kept it for over a decade.<ref>Oram, ''David I'', p. 33.</ref>

Malcolm faced little recorded internal opposition, except for Lulach's son [[Máel Snechtai]]. In an unusual entry, for the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' contains little on Scotland, it says that in 1078:

{{Blockquote|Malcholom [Máel Coluim] seized the mother of Mælslæhtan [Máel Snechtai] ... and all his treasures, and his cattle; and he himself escaped with difficulty.<ref>Anderson, ''SAEC'', p. 100.</ref>}}

Whatever provoked this strife, [[Máel Snechtai]] survived until 1085.<ref>His death is reported by the Annals of Ulster amongst clerics and described as "happy", usually a sign that the deceased had entered religion.</ref>