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Historical person

Constantine II of Scotland

died 952; reigned 900–943

Constantine II was king of Alba from 900 until his abdication in 943 and one of the most important rulers in the formation of the medieval Scottish kingdom. He succeeded during sustained Viking pressure across northern Britain and spent much of his long reign navigating warfare and alliance among Alba, the Norse rulers of Dublin and York, Strathclyde and the expanding West Saxon monarchy. His reign is recorded only intermittently in chronicles, leaving many political details uncertain.

Constantine was defeated by Æthelstan’s forces in the campaign of 934 and later joined the coalition that confronted Æthelstan at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937. The coalition’s defeat did not destroy Alba, and Constantine continued to rule until 943, when he abdicated in favour of Malcolm I and retired to a religious community at St Andrews. He died in 952. His long reign helped preserve Alba through an era in which English and Norse power repeatedly reshaped northern Britain.

Bernard Cornwell’s The Flame Bearer and War Lord, Tim Hodkinson’s Eye of the Raven and M. J. Porter’s King of Kings use Constantine in fiction about the struggle for Britain after Alfred. Porter’s Clash of Kings and Kings of War, together with Michael Livingston’s Never Greater Slaughter, treat the political and military setting of Brunanburh and Constantine’s alliance against Æthelstan.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Constantine II of Scotland (3 series)

The Last Kingdom in Order

by Bernard Cornwell 13 books 4.4(571,494)

The Last Kingdom series follows Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon nobleman raised by Danes, through the Viking wars and the creation of a united English kingdom. Beginning with the Great Heathen Army’s destruction of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the novels trace Alfred the Great’s recovery of Wessex and the…

All books in this series

The Whale Road Chronicles in Order

by Tim Hodkinson 8 books 4.4(26,996)

The Whale Road Chronicles follow the Icelandic warrior and poet Einar Unnsson through the North Atlantic world of the 930s. His journeys connect Iceland, Orkney, Norway, Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England, Francia, al-Andalus and Byzantium as Viking warbands, Christian kings and competing dynasties struggle for control of kingdoms and sea…

All books in this series

The Brunanburh Series in Order

by M J Porter 4 books 4.4(4,455)

The Brunanburh series traces the struggle to create and preserve a united English kingdom under Æthelstan and his successor Edmund. Moving from Æthelstan's accession through the coalition of Scots, Britons and Dublin Norse defeated at Brunanburh, the novels continue into the renewed wars for York and Northumbria after…

All books in this series

Non Fiction

Non Fiction featuring Constantine II of Scotland (3 books)

Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.