Indulf was probably baptised in 927. According to
William of Malmesbury,
Æthelstan stood godfather to a son of
Constantine at the
Church of Dacre. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle dates the meeting of Æthelstan with the northern kings at
Eamont to the 12 July 927. So, it is likely that this baptism occurred on, or around, the feast of Saint
Hildulf, which Alex Woolf suggests may be the source of his uncommon name.
John of Fordun and others supposed that Indulf had been
king of Strathclyde in the reign of his predecessor, based on their understanding that the
kingdom of Strathclyde had become a part of the
kingdom of Alba in the 940s. This, however, is no longer accepted. The
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says: "In his time
oppidum Eden", usually identified as
Edinburgh, "was evacuated, and abandoned to the Scots until the present day." This has been read as indicating that
Lothian, or some large part of it, fell to Indulf at this time. However, the conquest of Lothian is likely to have been a process rather than a single event, and the frontier between the lands of the kings of Alba and
Bernicia may have lain south and east of Edinburgh many years before Indulf's reign. Indulf's death is reported by the
Chronicon Scotorum in 962, the
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba adding that he was killed fighting
Vikings near
Cullen, at the
Battle of Bauds. The
Prophecy of Berchán, however, claims that he died "in the house of the same holy apostle, where his father [died]", that is at the
céli dé monastery of
St Andrews. He was buried on
Iona. Indulf was succeeded by
Dub (Dub mac Maíl Coluim), son of his predecessor. His sons
Cuilén and
Amlaíb were later kings. Eochaid, a third son, was killed with Cuilén by the men of
Strathclyde in 971. == References ==