Bethoc, Prioress of Iona

It is unknown whether Bethoc had a secular career before becoming a nun.

Bethóc ingen Somairle[note 1] was a 13th-century Scottish prioress, considered to have been the first of Iona Nunnery. She was a daughter of Somairle mac Gilla Brigte.

In about 1203, Bethóc's brother, Ragnall mac Somairle, founded the Benedictine Iona Abbey. Sometime afterwards, he founded the Augustinian nunnery on Iona. The precise foundation date of the Benedictine and Augustinian houses are unknown.[2] According to the Book of Clanranald, Bethóc was a "black nun", while the History of the MacDonalds states that she was prioress of Iona.[2] That Bethóc was associated with Iona, as claimed by these clan-traditions, is corroborated by an inscribed stone on Iona. In about 1695, Martin Martin described the Gaelic inscription to have read "Behag nijn Sorle vic Ilvrid priorissa" (which translates as "Prioress Bethóc, daughter of Somairle, son of Gilla Brigte").[4] The transcription was still legible in the 19th century.[2][note 2]

It has been suggested that Bethóc was the original owner of the Iona Psalter, now preserved in the National Library of Scotland.[2] The psalter appears to have been illuminated in Oxford, in the 13th century.[1] If it was indeed intended for an Ionan prioress, it is uncertain if the psalter ever made it to Iona.[6]

Notes

• Bethóc appears in modern English-language secondary sources under various names: Beatrice,[1][2] Bethag,[2] and Bethoc.[1][3]
• In the early 19th century, the inscription was recorded to have read "Behag Niin Shorle vic Ilvrid Priorissa".[5]

1. Perkins, Kim (2006), "Bethoc (Beatrice), daughter of Somerled", in Ewan, Elizabeth; Innes, Sue; Reynolds, Siân, The biographical dictionary of Scottish women: from the earliest times to 2004, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0 7486 1713 2. – via Questia (subscription required); p. 34.
2. McDonald, Russell Andrew (1995), "Scoto-Norse kings and the reformed religious orders: patterns of monastic patronage in twelfth-century Galloway and Argyll", Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies (The North American Conference on British Studies) 27 (2): 187–219, JSTOR 4051525; pp. 208–209.
3. Sellar, William David Hamilton (2004), "Somerled (d. 1164), king of the Hebrides and regulus of Argyll and Kintyre", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26782, retrieved 5 July 2011. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
4. Sellar, William David Hamilton (1966), "The origins and ancestry of Somerled", The Scottish Historical Review (Edinburgh University Press) 44 (140), JSTOR 25528658; p. 129.
5. Sellar, William David Hamilton (1966), "The origins and ancestry of Somerled", The Scottish Historical Review (Edinburgh University Press) 44 (140), JSTOR 25528658; p. 129 fn 7.
6. Higgitt, John (2000), The murthly hours: devotion, literacy and luxury in Paris, England and the Gaelic west, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-0-8020-4759-5; p. 278.

   ---

Brother [and sister], parents not known:

• 1. SOMERLED (-killed in battle 1164). m --- of Man, illegitimate daughter of OLAV King of Man & his mistress ---. The Chronicon Manniæ et Insularum records that “Olavus filius Godredi Crovan” had many concubines by whom he fathered “filios tres…Reignaldum, Lagmannum et Haraldum et filias multas”, adding that one daughter married “Sumerledo regulo Herergaildel”[1024]. Balfour Paul names her "Ragnhildis" but he does not cite the corresponding primary source[1025]. Somerled & his wife had five children:

• a) DUGALD (-after 1175). The Chronicon Manniæ et Insularum names “Dulgallum, Reginaldum, Engus et Olavum” as the four sons of “Sumerledo regulo Herergaildel” and his wife the daughter of Olav King of Man[1026].
  
• b) REGINALD . The Chronicon Manniæ et Insularum names “Dulgallum, Reginaldum, Engus et Olavum” as the four sons of “Sumerledo regulo Herergaildel” and his wife the daughter of Olav King of Man[1027]. The Chronicon Manniæ et Insularum records that Engus, son of Somerled, defeated his brother Reginald in 1192[1028].
  
• c) ANGUS (-killed 1210). The Chronicon Manniæ et Insularum names “Dulgallum, Reginaldum, Engus et Olavum” as the four sons of “Sumerledo regulo Herergaildel” and his wife the daughter of Olav King of Man[1029]. The Chronicon Manniæ et Insularum records that Engus, son of Somerled, defeated his brother Reginald in 1192, adding in a later passage that Engus was killed in 1210[1030]. Balfour Paul states that Angus inherited "Bute, with a part of Arran, and the Rough Bounds (Garmoran) extending from Ardnamurchan to Gleneig"[1031]. m ---. The name of Angus’s wife is not known. Angus & his wife had one child:
  

• i) JAMES . Balfour Paul names James as son of Angus, but does not cite the corresponding primary source[1032]. Lord of Bute and Arran. m ---. The name of James’s wife is not known. James & his wife had [one child]:
  

• (a) JEAN . Balfour Paul names Jean as daughter of James Lord of Bute and Arran, and records her marriage to Alexander Stewart, but does not cite the corresponding primary source[1033]. Andrew McEwen suggests that there is no evidence to indicate that the wife of Alexander Stewart was the daughter of James Lord of Bute[1034]. Heiress of the isles of Bute and Arran. m ALEXANDER Stewart High Steward of Scotland, son of WALTER FitzAlan High Steward of Scotland & his wife Beatrice of Angus (-1283).]
  

• d) OLAV . The Chronicon Manniæ et Insularum names “Dulgallum, Reginaldum, Engus et Olavum” as the four sons of “Sumerledo regulo Herergaildel” and his wife the daughter of Olav King of Man[1035].
  
• e) GILLECOLAN (-killed in battle 1164). The Chronicle of Melrose records that he was killed in battle with his father[1036]. The Extracta ex Cronicis Scocie records that "Sumerlendus regulus Ergadie" rebelled against King Malcolm for 12 years, landed at Renfrew from Ireland, and was killed "et filium suum Gillecolanem", among passages dealing with events in 1164[1037].
  
• f) GALL Macsgillin . Balfour Paul names "Olave and Gall Macsgillin" as two other possible sons of Somerled, but does not cite the corresponding primary source[1038]. Olav is named in the Chronicon Manniæ (see above) but not Gall.]
  
• g) BEATRICE . Balfour Paul names "Beatrice prioress of Iona" as the daughter of Somerled, but does not cite the corresponding primary source[1039]. Olav is named in the Chronicon Manniæ (see above) but not Gall.]
  

• 2. -- . NOW BELIEVED SHE MARRIED MALCOLM MAC ALEXANDER. See Malcolm MacEth vs Malcolm MacAlexander Project [Sharon Oct 2020]
• http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SCOTTISH%20NOBILITY.htm#_ftnref1019