* 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.

Alexander had at least one illegitimate child, Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair, who was later to be involved in a revolt against David I in the 1130s.

As for the Mearns, the only known Mormaer of Mearns, Máel Petair, had murdered Alexander's half-brother Duncan II ( Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim ) in 1094.

Holinshed portrays Banquo as an historical figure: he is an accomplice in Mac Bethad mac Findlaích's ( Macbeth's ) murder of Donnchad mac Crínáin ( King Duncan ) and plays an important part in ensuring that Macbeth, not Máel Coluim mac Donnchada ( Malcolm ), takes the throne in the coup that follows.

He was succeeded by his predecessor's son Malcolm I ( Máel Coluim mac Domnaill ).

The period between the accession of his successor Máel Coluim I ( Malcolm I ) and Máel Coluim mac Cináeda ( Malcolm II ) was marked by good relations with the Wessex rulers of England, intense internal dynastic disunity and relatively successful expansionary policies.

In 945, Máel Coluim I annexed Strathclyde as part of a deal with King Edmund of England, where the kings of Alba had probably exercised some authority since the later ninth century, an event offset somewhat by loss of control in Moray.

MacBeth ruled for seventeen years before he was overthrown by Máel Coluim, the son of Donnchad, who some months later defeated MacBeth's step-son and successor Lulach to become king Máel Coluim III ( Malcolm III ).

It was Máel Coluim III, who acquired the nickname " Canmore " ( Cenn Mór, " Great Chief "), which he passed to his successors and who did most to create the Dunkeld dynasty that ruled Scotland for the following two centuries.

This marriage, and raids on northern England, prompted William the Conqueror to invade and Máel Coluim submitted to his authority, opening up Scotland to later claims of sovereignty by English kings.

His murder within a few months saw Domnall restored with one of Máel Coluim sons by his second marriage, Edmund, as his heir.

Lulach ruled only for a few months before being assassinated and usurped by Malcolm III ( Máel Coluim mac Donnchada ).

His mother, who is not mentioned in contemporary sources, is sometimes supposed to have been Donada, a daughter of the Scottish king Malcolm II ( Máel Coluim mac Cináeda ).

One of these sons, Máel Coluim mac Máel Brigte, died in 1029.

It has been proposed that Gille Coemgáin's death was the doing of Mac Bethad in revenge for his father's death, or of Máel Coluim mac Cináed to rid himself of a rival.

In northern Britain, the violent struggle between the various candidates for power seems to have removed Clann Áeda mac Cináeda from the contest, leaving only Clann Constantín mac Cináeda, in the person of Máel Coluim son of Cináed, to claim the kingship.

Máel Coluim appears to have had rivals from within Clann Constantín killed during his reign.

John of Fordun wrote that Duncan's wife fled Scotland, taking her children, including the future kings Malcolm III ( Máel Coluim mac Donnchada ) and Donald III ( Domnall Bán mac Donnchada, or Donalbane ) with her.

What is to be understood by " let " or " commended " is unclear, but it may well mean that Máel Coluim had been the overlord of Strathclyde and that Edmund recognised this while taking lands in southern Cumbria for himself.

An English invasion in 1054, with Siward, Earl of Northumbria, in command, had as its goal the installation of one " Máel Coluim, son of the King of the Cumbrians ".

It has been supposed that he was installed as king by Máel Coluim mac Domnaill to whom Edmund of Wessex had " let " the kingdom of Strathclyde, but again, as with earlier ideas of an appanage, this is probably to overstate the case and to follow John of Fordun's version of history more closely than the facts merit.

Brian's war against Máel Mórda and Sihtric was to be inextricably connected with his complicated marital relations, in particular his marriage to Gormlaith, Máel Mórda's sister and Sihtric's mother, who had been in turn the wife of Amlaíb Cuarán, king of Dublin and York, then of Máel Sechnaill, and finally of Brian.

Precisely because he had submitted to Brian's authority, the King of Leinster was overthrown in 998 and replaced by Máel Morda mac Murchada.

Given the circumstances under which Máel Morda had been appointed, it is not surprising that he launched an open rebellion against Brian's authority.

Brian made it clear that his ambitions had not been satisfied by the compromise of 997 when, in the year 1000, he led a combined Munster-Leinster-Dublin army in an attack on High King Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill's home province of Meath.

Máel Mórda mac Murchada of Leinster had only accepted Brian's authority grudgingly and in 1012 rose in rebellion.

Máel Morda may have hoped that by defying Brian, he could enlist the aid of all the other regional rulers Brian had forced to submit to him.

In 1157, it is reported, King Malcolm was reconciled with Máel Coluim MacHeth, who was appointed to the Mormaerdom of Ross, which had probably been held by his father.

It has been suggested that the root of the quarrel between Cnut and Máel Coluim lies in Cnut's pilgrimage to Rome, and the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II, where Cnut and Rudolph III, King of Burgundy had the place of honour.

It has been supposed that Mac Bethad was responsible for the killing of Gille Coemgáin in 1032, but if Mac Bethad had a cause for feud in the killing of his father in 1020, Máel Coluim too had reason to see Gille Coemgáin dead.

Not only had Gille Coemgáin's ancestors killed many of Máel Coluim's kin, but Gille Coemgáin and his son Lulach might be rivals for the throne.

By the 1030s Máel Coluim's sons, if he had any, were dead.

The absence of any opposition suggests that Máel Coluim had dealt thoroughly with any likely opposition in his own lifetime.

In 997, Brian Boru and Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill had met in Clonfert and reached an agreement where they recognized each other's reign over their respective halves of the country.

The crown of Munster was briefly back in the hands of the Eoghanachta for two years until Brian Boru had thoroughly avenged his brother, with the defeat and slaying of Máel Muad in the Battle of Belach Lechta.

After first dispatching the already much weakened Ivar in 977, he challenged Máel Muad in 978 and defeated him in the fateful Battle of Belach Lechta, after which all the Eóganachta were no longer viable at the provincial level and Brian and the Dál Cais now enjoyed the overlordship, although not the traditional kingship of the province, which was based on lineage.

Since there is no known and relevant Cináed alive at that time ( Cináed mac Maíl Coluim having died in 995 ), it is considered an error for either Cináed mac Duib, who succeeded Causantín, or, possibly, Máel Coluim himself, the son of Cináed II.

Whether Máel Coluim killed Causantín or not, there is no doubt that in 1005 he killed Causantín's successor Cináed III in battle at Monzievaird in Strathearn.

The confusion is old, probably inspired by William of Malmesbury and embellished by John of Fordun, but there is no firm evidence that the kingdom of Strathclyde was a part of the kingdom of the Scots, rather than a loosely subjected kingdom, before the time of Máel Coluim II of Scotland's great-grandson Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.

Internecine strife in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries left the descendants of Constantín unchallenged by male-line descendants of Cináed mac Ailpín, but Máel Coluim mac Cináeda left no male heirs.

" Máel Dúin then hears one man say, " It was I who slew Ailill Ochair of Agha and burned Dubcluain on him and no evil has been done to mefor it yet by his kindred ..." Máel Dúin and his crew cannot venture to the island due to wind.

Bethóc ingen Maíl Coluim meic Cináeda was the eldest daughter of King Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots, who had no known sons.

To similar effect, Óengus also holds up the example of Máel Ruain, who continues to offer support and comfort after his death, against that of the contemporary warrior-kings Donnchadh and Bran Ardchenn, whose strong exercise of power meant no such thing after theirs.