Dunkeld, House of

Royal house of the kingdom of Scotland 1030–1290. Despite its origins in the struggle between Duncan I and his cousin Macbeth and almost constant pressure from Anglo-Norman and Plantagenet England, the house of Dunkeld provided a series of strong and competent monarchs of Scotland. Among the more successful rulers were Malcolm III Canmore (1058–1093), William I the Lion (1165–1214), and Alexander II and his brother Alexander III (1249–1286), under whom medieval Scotland enjoyed something of a golden age.