Máel Coluim (fl. 1054) was an eleventh-century magnate who seems to have been established as either King of Alba or King of Strathclyde. In 1055, Siward, Earl of Northumbria defeated Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, the reigning ruler of the Kingdom of Alba. As a result of this military success against the Scots, several sources assert that Siward established Máel Coluim as king. It is uncertain whether this concerned the kingship of Alba or the kingship of Strathclyde.
The fact that Máel Coluim is described as the son of a "King of the Cumbrians" suggests that he was a member of the Cumbrian royal dynasty of Strathclyde, and could indicate that he was a close relative of Owain Foel, King of Strathclyde, the last known King of Strathclyde. Máel Coluim's Gaelic personal name could indicate that he was maternally descended from the royal Alpínid dynasty of Alba, which would have in turn endowed him with a claim to the Scottish throne.
Máel Coluim's fate is unknown. The fact that Siward died in 1055, and Mac Bethad retained authority in Alba, suggests that Máel Coluim was quickly overcome. There is evidence indicating that the southern reaches of the Kingdom of Strathclyde—the territories upon the Solway Plain—fell into the hands of the English during Siward's floruit. The more northerly lands of the realm seem to have been conquered by Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, King of Alba sometime between 1058 and 1070, and it is uncertain whether an independent Kingdom of Strathclyde still existed by the time of this conquest. In any event, Máel Coluim appears to be the last member of the Cumbrian royal dynasty on record.
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Background
Máel Coluim seems to have been a member of the Cumbrian royal dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Strathclyde. The twelfth-century Chronicon ex chronicis identifies him as a "son of the king of the Cumbrians" (regis Cumbrorum filium). He was likely closely related to—and possibly descended from—Owain Foel, King of Strathclyde, a monarch attested in 1018 assisting the Scots against the Northumbrians at the Battle of Carham. Not only is the fate of Owain Foel uncertain following this Scottish victory, so too is the fate of the Cumbrian kingdom.
Son of the king of the Cumbrians
In 1054, the Kingdom of Alba was invaded by Siward, Earl of Northumbria in a campaign noted by the ninth- to twelfth-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. According to the twelfth-century Gesta regum Anglorum, and Chronicon ex chronicis, Siward set up Máel Coluim in opposition to Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, King of Alba.
One possible interpretation of these sources is that this Máel Coluim refers to Mac Bethad's opponent Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, a man who reigned as King of Alba from 1058 to 1093. If correct, the episode would seem to be evidence that the latter's father, Donnchad ua Maíl Choluim—a man who had reigned as King of Alba from 1034 to 1040—had once been King of Strathclyde as well.
Against this hypothetical succession is the fact that it rests solely upon Chronicon ex chronicis and Gesta regum Anglorum. In fact, there is otherwise no evidence that Donnchad was ever a Cumbrian king. If Chronicon ex chronicis and Gesta regum Anglorum truly refer to Donnchad's son, it is unclear why these sources describe this man as aon of a mere Cumbrian king as opposed to that of a Scottish king—which Donnchad most certainly was—or why they fail to simply identify him as a son of Donnchad himself. In fact, there is otherwise no firm evidence that Máel Coluim mac Donnchada was in Alba or Northumbria in 1054, or that he had any connection with Siward's victory over Mac Bethad. Mac Bethad seems to have held onto the Scottish kingship until 1057, only to be succeeded by Lulach mac Gilla Comgáin.
In fact, the events of 1054 more likely refer to Máel Coluim. Rather than being a member of the royal Alpínid dynasty of Alba, Máel Coluim is more likely to have been a member of the Cumbrian royal family. He could have been a son, or grandson of Owain Foel himself. Certainly, a previous member of the family is known to have borne the same name. If Máel Coluim was indeed a member of this kindred, one possibility is that the Scots had deprived him of the Cumbrian kingship following Owain Foel's demise, and that Siward installed Máel Coluim as king over the Cumbrians following the English victory against Mac Bethad. Another possibility, suggested by the account of events given by both Chronicon ex chronicis and Gesta regum Anglorum, is that Siward installed Máel Coluim as King of Alba. Certainly, Máel Coluim's name could be evidence of an ancestral link with the ruling Alpínids—perhaps even a matrilineal link to Owain Foel's confederate at Carham, Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Alba. If Máel Coluim was indeed a maternal grandson of a Scottish king, he would have certainly possessed a claim to the Scottish throne. Although nothing is known of Máel Coluim's possible reign in Alba, there is reason to suspect that he would have probably functioned as an English puppet, with little support from the Scottish aristocracy.
Disintegration of the Cumbrian realm
It is uncertain if the Kingdom of Strathclyde even existed by the time of the events of 1054. There is evidence to suggest that Siward and the Northumbrians exerted a significant amount of influence over the Cumbrian realm by the mid eleventh century. For example, the twelfth-century Historia ecclesiae Eboracensis records that two Bishops of Glasgow—a certain Johannes and Magsuen, whose names could be evidence that they were Cumbrians—were consecrated by Cynesige, Archbishop of York. Although it is uncertain if Glasgow was indeed a diocesan seat in the eleventh century, the fact that an eleventh-century stone cross, decorated in the Northumbrian style, has been recovered from the site of the Glasgow Cathedral, suggests that this site was increasing in importance before the construction of the cathedral in the twelfth century. This cross may, therefore, corroborate the consecrational claims of Historia ecclesiae Eboracensis, which could in turn indicate that Siward and (the senior Northumbrian cleric) Cynesige were indeed exerting influence over the Cumbrians. Another piece of evidence for Northumbrian expansion is a particular eleventh-century charter detailing the grant of certain rights and lands from a certain Gospatric to several individuals. According to this contract, the grantees received various lands in what came to form the English county of Cumberland, and they also gained a guarantee of protection from Gospatric and Siward. The likelihood that Siward would have only granted territories within his own sphere of influence, coupled with the fact that the charter specifically states that the granted lands were "once Cumbrian", suggests that most (if not all) of the Cumbrian territories south of the Solway Firth had been gained by Siward sometimes before his death in 1055.
It may have been in the course of Siward's campaign against the Scots that the English gained control of the Solway Plain. Pressure from external forces north of the Solway Firth—such as the contemporaneous expansion of the Gall Gaidheil—could have meant that the Cumbrian leadership allowed the southerly territories fall under Siward's authority. Whilst these lands indeed seem to have fallen under English authority in the eleventh century, the more northerly Cumbrian territories appear to have been conquered by the Scots. In 1070, for example, Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria is recorded to have led an invasion into Scottish-controlled territory in an effort to counter certain devastating Scottish raids into England. According to Historia regum Anglorum, Gospatric directed his counter-strike into Cumbreland, the former lands of the Cumbrian realm. In fact, this source alleges that Máel Coluim mac Donnchada's royal authority in these lands was unlawful since the Scots had only seized the lands "through violent subjugation".