Editing Donald III of Scotland

{{Short description|King of Alba from 1093 to 1097}}
{{redirect|Donalbain|the ''Macbeth'' character|Donalbain (Macbeth){{!}}Donalbain (''Macbeth'')}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Donald III
| succession   = [[King of Alba (Scotland)]]
| image        = Donald III of Scotland - 16th-17th Century.jpg
| alt          = 
| caption      = Donald, painted by [[George Jamesone]] in the 17th century
| reign        = 1093–1094
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Malcolm III]]
| successor    = [[Duncan II]]
| reign1       = 1094–1097
| coronation1  = 
| predecessor1 = Duncan II
| successor1   = [[Edgar, King of Scotland|Edgar]]
| house        = [[House of Dunkeld|Dunkeld]]
| father       = [[Duncan I of Scotland]]
| mother       = Suthen
| birth_date   = {{circa|1032}}
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1099|1032}}
| death_place  = Rescobie, [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]], [[Kingdom of Scotland]]
| date of burial = 
| place of burial = [[Dunfermline Abbey]], later removed to [[Iona]]|
}}

'''Donald III''' ([[Middle Irish|Medieval Gaelic]]: ''Domnall mac Donnchada''; [[Scottish Gaelic|Modern Gaelic]]: ''Dòmhnall mac Dhonnchaidh''; {{circa|1032}}–1099) was [[List of Scottish monarchs|King of Alba]] ([[Scotland]]) from 1093–1094 and 1094–1097.<ref>Donald's elder brother [[Malcolm III of Scotland|Malcolm III]] (Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) is presumed to have been between two and ten years of age in 1040; Duncan, p. 42. [[Walter Bower]]'s ''[[Scotichronicon]]'' says that Donald passed his exile during the reign of [[Macbeth of Scotland|Macbeth]] (Mac Bethad mac Findlaích) in the [[Hebrides]], but this is unlikely given his age; McDonald, p. 104.</ref> He was known as ''Domnall Bán'' or "Donald the Fair", [[anglicized]] as '''Donalbain'''.

== Early life ==
Donald was born about 1033, during the reign of his great-grandfather [[Malcolm II of Scotland|King Malcolm II]]. He was the second known son of the king's grandson, [[Duncan I of Scotland|Duncan]]. Malcolm died when Donald was a baby, at age 80, and Donald's father became king. King Duncan I however, perished in 1040 when Donald was still a boy, killed by [[Macbeth, King of Scotland|Mormaer Macbeth]], yet another grandson of King Malcolm II, who usurped his place as king.

Following his father's death, Donald went into hiding in [[Ireland]] for 17 years, for fear that he would be killed by Macbeth. His elder brother, Malcolm, went to England. It was during this time that Malcolm's grandfather, [[Crínán of Dunkeld]], who was married to Malcolm II's daughter, was killed fighting Macbeth. When Malcolm grew to manhood, he overthrew Macbeth and became the new king. Donald was 25 years old at that time.

Donald's activities during the reign of his elder brother Malcolm III (Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) are not recorded. It appears that he was not his brother's chosen heir, contrary to earlier custom, but that Malcolm had designated Edward, his eldest son by [[Saint Margaret of Scotland|Margaret of Wessex]], as the king to come.<ref>''Scottish Annals'', p. 112, quoting [[Symeon of Durham]]; Duncan, p. 54; Oram, ''David I'', p. 39.</ref> If this was Malcolm's intent, his death and that of Edward on campaign in [[Northumbria]] in November 1093 (see [[Battle of Alnwick (1093)]]) confounded his plans. These deaths were followed very soon afterwards by that of Queen Margaret.

== Kingship ==
[[John of Fordun]] reports that Donald invaded the kingdom "at the head of a numerous band" after Queen Margaret's death, and laid siege to [[Edinburgh]] with Malcolm's sons by Margaret inside. Fordun has Margaret's brother [[Edgar Ætheling]] take his nephews to England to keep them safe.<ref>Fordun, V, p. xxi.</ref> 
[[Andrew of Wyntoun]]'s much simpler account has Donald becoming king and banishing his nephews. The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' records only that Donald was chosen as king and expelled the English from the court.<ref>''Scottish Annals'', pp. 117–118; Oram, ''David I'', pp. 40–41.</ref>

In May 1094, Donald's nephew [[Duncan II of Scotland|Duncan]] (Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim), son of Malcolm and his first wife, [[Ingibiorg Finnsdottir]], invaded at the head of an army of [[Anglo-Normans]] and [[Northumbria]]ns, aided by his half-brother [[Edmund of Scotland|Edmund]] and his father-in-law [[Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria]]. This invasion succeeded in placing Duncan on the throne, but an uprising defeated his allies and he was compelled to send away his foreign troops. Duncan was then killed on 12 November 1094 by [[Máel Petair of Mearns|Máel Petair]], [[Mormaer of Mearns]].<ref>Oram, ''David I'', pp. 42–44.</ref> The [[Annals of Ulster]] say that Duncan was killed on the orders of Donald (incorrectly called his brother) and Edmund.<ref>Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1094.</ref>

Donald resumed power, probably with Edmund as his designated heir.<ref>Duncan, pp. 55-56; Oram, ''David I'', pp. 44–45.</ref> Donald was an elderly man by then, at around 62 years old, and without any known sons, so that an heir was clearly required. [[William of Malmesbury]] says that Edmund bargained "for half the kingdom", suggesting that Donald granted his nephew an [[appanage]] to rule.<ref>Anderson, ''SAEC'', pp. 118–119.</ref>

[[Edgar of Scotland|Edgar]], eldest surviving son of Malcolm and Margaret, obtained the support of [[William Rufus]], although other matters delayed Edgar's return on the coat-tails of an English army led by his uncle Edgar Ætheling.<ref>Oram, ''David I'', p. 45.</ref> Donald's fate is not entirely clear. William of Malmesbury tells us that he was "slain by the craftiness of [[David I of Scotland|David]] [the later David I] ... and by the strength of William [Rufus]".<ref name="Anderson, SAEC, p. 119">Anderson, ''SAEC'', p. 119.</ref> The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' says of Donald that he was expelled,<ref name="Anderson, SAEC, p. 119"/> while the [[Annals of Tigernach]] have him blinded by his brother.<ref>Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 1097.</ref> [[John of Fordun]], following the king lists, writes that Donald was "blinded, and doomed to eternal imprisonment" by Edgar. The place of his imprisonment was said to be [[Rescobie Loch|Rescobie]], by [[Forfar]], in [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]].<ref>Fordun, V, p. xxvi; Duncan, pp. 57–58; Oram, ''David I'', pp. 47–48.</ref> The old ex-king would die at the age of 67 in 1099, in prison. The sources differ as to whether Donald was first buried at [[Dunfermline Abbey]] or [[Dunkeld Cathedral]] but agree that his remains were later moved to [[Iona]].

== Descendants ==
Donald left one known child, a daughter Bethóc ingen Domnaill Bain, who married Uchtred (or Hadrian) de Tyndale, Lord of Tyndale.<ref>Young, Alan, Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1213–1314, (East Linton, 1997), p. 15</ref> Uchtred and Bethoc had a daughter, Hextilda, married [[Richard Comyn]], [[Justiciar of Lothian]]. The claims of [[John Comyn II of Badenoch]], [[Lord of Badenoch]] to the crown in the [[Great Cause]] came from Donald through Bethóc and Hextilda.<ref>Duncan, pp. 241, 270, 348–349.</ref> Ladhmann son of Domnall, "grandson of the King of Scots" who died in 1116, might have been a son of Donald.<ref>Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1116; McDonald, p. 23.</ref>

== Fictional depictions ==

The minor character of [[Donalbain (Macbeth)|Donalbain]] in [[William Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Macbeth]]'' represents Donald III.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.royal.uk/donald-iii-r-1093-1094-1094-1097 Donald III] at the official website of the [[British monarchy]].
* [[Alan Orr Anderson|Anderson, Alan Orr]]; ''Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers A.D. 500–1286'', D. Nutt, London, 1908.
* Ashley, Mike; "British Kings and Queens", p. 115, Carroll & Graf, NY, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7867-1104-3}}
* Duncan, A. A. M.; ''The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence'', Edinburgh University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7486-1626-8}}
* [[John of Fordun]]; ''Chronicle of the Scottish Nation'', ed. [[William Forbes Skene]], tr. Felix J.H. Skene, 2 vols. Reprinted, Llanerch Press, Lampeter, 1993. {{ISBN|1-897853-05-X}}
* McDonald, R. Andrew; ''Outlaws of Medieval Scotland: Challenges to the Canmore Kings, 1058–1266'', Tuckwell Press, East Linton, 2003. {{ISBN|1-86232-236-8}}
* [[Richard Oram|Oram, Richard]]; ''David I: The King Who Made Scotland'', Tempus, Stroud, 2004. {{ISBN|0-7524-2825-X}}
* Oram, Richard; ''The Canmores: Kings and Queens of the Scots 1040–1290'', Tempus, Stroud, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7524-2325-8}}
* [[Bernard Burke]], Ashworth P. Burke. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage, and Companionage, 1934 https://books.google.com/books?id=vpHySDcAmU8C&hl=en&gbpv=0&kptab=overview#pli=1


{{s-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Dunkeld]]|c.|1032|c.|1099|name=Donald III of Scotland}}
{{s-reg | }}
{{succession box |
  title=[[List of Scottish monarchs|King of Alba]] |
  before=[[Malcolm III]] |
  after=[[Duncan II]] |
  years=1093–1094
}}
{{succession box |
  title=[[King of Alba]] |
  before=[[Duncan II]] |
  after=[[Edgar of Scotland|Edgar]] |
  years=1094–1097}}
{{s-end}}

{{Pictish and Scottish Monarchs}}
{{English, Scottish and British monarchs}}
{{Macbeth}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donald 03 Of Scotland}}
[[Category:1030s births]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:1099 deaths]]
[[Category:House of Dunkeld]]
[[Category:11th-century Scottish monarchs]]
[[Category:Burials at Dunfermline Abbey]]
[[Category:Burials at Iona Abbey]]
[[Category:Gaelic monarchs in Scotland]]
[[Category:Blind royalty and nobility]]
[[Category:Scottish royalty and nobility with disabilities]]
[[Category:Royal reburials]]
[[Category:Scottish blind people]]