KENNETH I (r. 843-58)

Kenneth, son of Alpin, King of Scotia succeeded his father in 843. He defeated the Picts about 843, uniting them with the Scots in the new kingdom of Alba, which comprised a large part of present day Scotland.

Sources for the period disagree about the exact date of his victory, but Kenneth features as a notable warrior who reputedly invaded Northumbria six times and fought off attacks by the Britons of Strathclyde as well as by the Norsemen.

Using dynastic marriage to solve the problem, Kenneth married his daughter to Rhun, the Strathclyde king.

Because of the Norse threat to Iona, the burial place of St Columba (an Irish Scot who brought Christianity to Alba), he removed the saint's relics to a new church which he founded in Pictland at Dunkeld, Perthshire. However, Iona continued to be the burial place of Scottish kings even after St Columba's relics were moved, until the eleventh century.

Kenneth died in 858 at Forteviot, near Perth, probably of a tumour.