Bridei I

Bridei son of Maelchon ; died 586) was king of the Picts from 554 to 584. Sources are vague or contradictory regarding him, but it is believed that his court was near Loch Ness and that he may have been a Christian. There were contemporaries claiming the title "king of the Picts". He died in the mid-580s, possibly in battle, and was succeeded by Gartnait son of Domelch. Bridei son of Maelchon was king of the Picts until his death around 584–586. Other forms of his name include Brude son of Melcho and, in Irish sources, Bruide son of Maelchú and Bruidhe son of Maelchon. He was first mentioned in the Irish annals from 558 to 560, where the Annals of Ulster report "the migration before Máelchú's son, king Bruide". An earlier entry, reporting the death of "Bruide son of Máelchú" in the Annals of Ulster for 505 is presumed to be an error. The Ulster annalist does not say who fled, but the later Annals of Tigernach refers to "the flight of the Scots before Bruide son of Máelchú" in 558. This uncertainty has provoked considerable speculation; in one version the Annals of Ulster is said to associate this with the death of Gabrán mac Domangairt.The entry in question is AU 558.2; compare AU560.1 and AU560.2 where these are not associated and also AT559.2 and 559.3. For speculation, Morris, The Age of Arthur and was believed to have died in the 580's and was also known in his lifetime as the "Underking of Orkney', p. 182 ff. Bridei is suggested to have been the son of Maelgwn Gwynedd by John Morris in his Age of Arthur, where he is referred to in passing as "... Bridei, son of Maelgwn, the mighty king of north Wales, ...". Though the book has been a commercial success, it is disparaged by historians as an unreliable source of "misleading and misguided" information. Bridei's death was reported in the 580s, perhaps in battle against Pictish rivals in Circinn, an area thought to correspond with the Mearns. The lists of kings in the Pictish Chronicle agree that Bridei was followed by Gartnait son of Domelch.