Editing Kenneth MacAlpin (section)

=== Conquest of Pictavia ===
According to the ''[[Chronicle of the Kings of Alba]]'', Kenneth came to a region that was inhabited by the [[Picts]], during the second year of his reign in Dál Riada. Having defeated the Picts, Kenneth ruled there for 16 years. According to the ''[[Annals of Ulster]]'', compiled in the 15th century, he became the King of the Picts in 842 or 843 and died in 858.{{Sfn|Anderson|2004b|p=1}}{{Sfn|Henderson|2004|pp=115–121}} Although some sources state Kenneth ruled the Picts from 841 to 856, according to the ''[[Chronicle of Melrose]]'', he became king in 843, a date that is generally accepted by most modern-day historians.{{Sfn|Mackenzie|2003|p=90}}

[[File:Kenneth MacAlpin.jpg|thumb|right|Illustration of Kenneth MacAlpin by [[Jacob de Wet II]], 1684–1686]]

In the first half of the 9th century, the geopolitical situation in Dál Riada deteriorated. Almost the entire territory of the kingdom was mountainous and was filled with uneasy terrain. Kenneth's realm lay between the powerful [[Kingdom of Strathclyde]] in the south and the [[Druim Alban]] mountain ridge in the east. It was difficult to pass through the provinces of Dál Riada, most of the land was infertile, and the kingdom had lost its western territories in the [[Hebrides]] to the [[Vikings]], who had settled in the area and were raiding the borders of Dál Riada. These conditions may have forced Kenneth to attack the Picts.{{Sfn|Henderson|2004|pp=115–121}}

After the death of [[Eóganan mac Óengusa]] in the [[Battle of 839]], [[Uurad]], and then [[Bridei VI]] succeeded him as the King of the Picts. According to List One,{{Efn|There are eight lists of the Pictish kings, which are based on two protographs labelled List One and List Two respectively.{{Sfn|Henderson|2004|pp=161–163}}}} Uurad's reign lasted three years, while Bridei VI reigned for a year. According to List Two, Uurad reigned for two years, while Bridei VI's reign lasted a month. The reigns of Uurad's three sons were also present in List Two. Based on these accounts, the Pictish kingdom fell in 849 or 850. Many sources dating to the following periods state that the historical kingdom of the Picts and the Scots unified in 850. List Two states that the last Pictish King was killed in [[Forteviot]] or [[Scone, Scotland|Scone]]. This is probably a reference to [[MacAlpin's treason]], a medieval legend first recorded in the 12th century by [[Giraldus Cambrensis]]. According to the legend, a Pictish nobleman is invited by the Scots to a meeting or a feast in Scone and is treacherously killed there. At the same time, List One gives the year 843 as the date when Kenneth received the title of King of the Picts.{{Sfn|Anderson|2004b|p=1}}{{Sfn|Henderson|2004|pp=115–121}}

Sources do not detail Kenneth's conquest of Pictavia.{{Efn|[[Edward J. Cowan]], based on handwritten versions of royal lists compiled in the 12th century, suggested that the description of the conquest of the Pictish kingdom existed in an earlier protograph but it was later removed from the lists.{{Sfn|Fyodorov|2017|pp=63–65}}}} No chronicle mentions either Kenneth's continuing his father's campaign against the Picts or his supposed claim to the Pictish crown. Modern-day historians suggest Kenneth was a descendant of Pictish kings through his mother or had ties with them through his wife. Kenneth's grandmother (Alpin's mother), was also said to have been a Pictish princess, the sister of Constantine I and [[Óengus II]]. It is likely the death of Eógananhe, ''Chronicle of Huntingdon'' gives the following interpretation of the events that took place after Eóganan's death:

{{Blockquote|Kynadius [Kenneth] succeeded his father Alpin in his kingdom, and that in the seventh year of his reign [the year 839], while the Danish pirates, having occupied the Pictish shores, had crushed the Picts, who were defending themselves, with a great slaughter, Kynadius, passing into their remaining territories, turned his arms against them, and having slain many, compelled them to take flight, and was the first king of the Scots who acquired the monarchy of the whole of Alban, and ruled in it over the Scots.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ferguson |first=James |date=May 1911 |title=The Pictish Race and Kingdom (continued) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30070394 |journal=The Celtic Review |volume=7 |issue=26 |page=134 |doi=10.2307/30070394 |jstor=30070394 |access-date=27 April 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref>}}

It is likely Kenneth killed the Pictish leaders and destroyed their armies during his conquest of Pictavia, after which he devastated the whole country. The ''[[Annals of the Four Masters]]'' record a single battle during Kenneth's campaign, which according to Isabel Henderson, proves the Picts did not show any significant resistance to Kenneth's forces, however, more evidence will have to be presented.{{Sfn|Henderson|2004|pp=115–121}}