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THIS SECTION: A.D. 795 to 1260 Viking Raiders Turmoil and Trouble The Alban Kings Tanistry More Strife MacBeth Reformation of the Church Donald III 11th Century Scotland 12th Century Scotland 13th Century Scotland Alexander III Battle of Largs History Main Page Main Home Page Timeline Beginning to A.D. 350 A.D. 350 to 794 A.D. 1260 to |
The Alban Kings The centre of administration for the Pictish Kingdom in the Ninth Century was Forteviot on the River Earn. Under the stewardship of King Kenneth MacAlpin the natives started to build new defences against the Norse Invaders. New buildings started to evolve, such as the tall round towers (some of which can still be seen at Abernethy and Brechin), which assisted in the defence of villages. Life was also full of contradictions for the people. The sea was still a vital source of food and communications, although it also brought the Norse raiding parties. It was a simple fact of life that warfare demanded weapons as well as the mundane items of life in those times such as metal. Luxuries were also starting to be demanded by the Chiefs, who wanted these items to mark their status. MacAlpin died in A.D. 858 and was succeeded by his brother Donald I, who oversaw the change in the right of succession from the form of tanistry to the more commonly used form of male succession. Conflict with the Norse invaders however continued. Forteviot was burned and Dunkeld was also raided. In reaction to this, the civil government was moved to Scone, where the coronation stone had been moved to from Iona in A.D. 850. Religion was also starting to take hold. Abernethy became a religious centre (perhaps in part due to the burning of Dunkeld) and also St Andrews, although for different reasons.
Donald II followed as King and indeed he was the first monarch to be called King of Scotland (Ri Alba). During this Kingship, Harold Fairhair added to the uncertainty of the time by establishing Shetland, Orkney, Caithness and the Hebrides as possessions of the Norwegian King and turned them into Earldoms.
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