Editing Picts (section)

==Kings and kingdoms==
{{See also|List of kings of the Picts}}
The early history of Pictland is unclear. In later periods, multiple kings ruled over separate kingdoms, with one king, sometimes two, more or less dominating their lesser neighbours.<ref>{{harvnb|Broun|2001b}}; for Ireland see, e.g. {{harvnb|Byrne|1973}} and more generally {{harvnb|Ó Cróinín|1995}}.</ref> ''[[De Situ Albanie]]'', a 13th century document, the [[Pictish Chronicle]], the 11th century ''[[Duan Albanach]]'', along with Irish legends, have been used to argue the existence of seven Pictish kingdoms. These are: [[Kingdom of Cat|Cait]], or Cat, situated in modern [[Caithness]] and [[Sutherland]]; [[Kingdom of Ce|Ce]], situated in modern [[Mar (Scottish province)|Mar]] and [[Buchan]]; [[Circin]], perhaps situated in modern [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]] and [[the Mearns]];<ref>{{harvnb|Forsyth|2000}}; {{harvnb|Watson|1926|pp=108–109}}</ref> Fib, the modern [[Fife]]; Fidach, location unknown, but possibly near [[Inverness]]; Fotla, modern [[Atholl]] (''Ath-Fotla'');<ref>{{harvnb|Bruford|2005}}; {{harvnb|Watson|1926|pp=108–113}}</ref> and [[Fortriu]], cognate with the ''Verturiones'' of the Romans, recently shown to be centred on [[Moray]].<ref>{{harvnb|Woolf|2006}}; {{harvnb|Yorke|2006|p= 47}}. Compare earlier works such as {{harvnb|Foster|1996|p=33}}.</ref>

More small kingdoms may have existed. Some evidence suggests that a Pictish kingdom also existed in [[Orkney]].<ref>{{harvnb|Adomnán|1995|pp=342–343}}</ref> ''De Situ Albanie'' is not the most reliable of sources, and the number of kingdoms, one for each of the seven sons of ''Cruithne'', the [[eponym]]ous founder of the Picts, may well be grounds enough for disbelief.<ref>{{harvnb|Broun|2005b}}</ref> Regardless of the exact number of kingdoms and their names, the Pictish nation was not a united one.

For most of Pictish recorded history, the kingdom of Fortriu appears dominant, so much so that ''king of Fortriu'' and ''king of the Picts'' may mean one and the same thing in the annals. This was previously thought to lie in the area around [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] and southern [[Strathearn]]; however, recent work has convinced those working in the field that Moray (a name referring to a very much larger area in the High Middle Ages than the county of [[Moray (county)|Moray]]) was the core of Fortriu.<ref>{{harvnb|Woolf|2006}}</ref>

The Picts are often thought to have practised [[matrilineal]] kingship succession on the basis of Irish legends and a statement in [[Bede]]'s history.<ref>Bede, I, c. 1</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carlanayland.org/essays/picts_matrilineal_succession.htm|title=Carla Nayland Article – Matrilineal succession amongst the Picts|website=www.carlanayland.org}}</ref> The kings of the Picts when Bede was writing were Bridei and Nechtan, sons of Der Ilei, who indeed claimed the throne through their mother Der Ilei, daughter of an earlier Pictish king.<ref>{{harvnb|Clancy|2001c}}</ref>

In Ireland, kings were expected to come from among those who had a great-grandfather who had been king.<ref>{{harvnb|Byrne|1973|pp=35–41, 122–123}}, also pp. 108, 287, stating that ''derbfhine'' was practised by the ''cruithni'' in Ireland.</ref> Kingly fathers were not frequently succeeded by their sons, not because the Picts practised matrilineal succession, but because they were usually followed by their own brothers or cousins ([[agnatic seniority]]), more likely to be experienced men with the authority and the support necessary to be king.<ref>{{harvnb|Byrne|1973|p=35}}, "Elder for kin, worth for rulership, wisdom for the church." See also {{harvnb|Foster|1996|pp=32–34}}, {{harvnb|Smyth|1984|p=67}}</ref> This was similar to [[tanistry]].

The only woman ruler, mentioned in early [[Scottish history]], is the Pictish Queen in 617, who summoned pirates to massacre [[Donnán of Eigg|Donnán]] and his companions on the island of [[Eigg]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chadwick |first=Hector Munro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNcKzZwHmnYC&pg=PA92 |author-link=Hector Munro Chadwick |page=92 |title=Early Scotland: The Picts, the Scots and the Welsh of Southern Scotland |orig-date=1949 |date=2013-03-28 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-69391-3 |language=en}}</ref>

The nature of kingship changed considerably during the centuries of Pictish history. While earlier kings had to be successful war leaders to maintain their authority, kingship became rather less personalised and more institutionalised during this time. Bureaucratic kingship was still far in the future when Pictland became Alba, but the support of the church, and the apparent ability of a small number of families to control the kingship for much of the period from the later 7th century onwards, provided a considerable degree of continuity. In much the same period, the Picts' neighbours in Dál Riata and Northumbria faced considerable difficulties, as the stability of succession and rule that previously benefited them ended.<ref>{{harvnb|Broun|2001b}}, {{harvnb|Broun|1998}}; for Dál Riata, {{harvnb|Broun|2001a}}, for a more positive view Sharpe, "The thriving of Dalriada"; for Northumbria, Higham, ''Kingdom of Northumbria'', pp. 144–149.</ref>

The later [[Mormaer]]s are thought to have originated in Pictish times, and to have been copied from, or inspired by, Northumbrian usages.<ref>{{harvnb|Woolf|2001b}}</ref> It is unclear whether the Mormaers were originally former kings, royal officials, or local nobles, or some combination of these. Likewise, the Pictish shires and [[thanage]]s, traces of which are found in later times, are thought to have been adopted from their southern neighbours.<ref>{{harvnb|Barrow|2003}}, {{harvnb|Woolf|2001b}}</ref>