Constantine III of Scotland
Constantine, son of Cuilén, known in most modern regnal lists as Constantine III, was king of Alba (Scotland) from 995 to 997. He was the son of King Cuilén. John of Fordun calls him, in Latin, Constantinus Calvus, which translates to Constantine the Bald. Benjamin Hudson notes that insular authors from Ireland and Scotland typically identified rulers by sobriquets, noting for example the similarly named Eugenius Calvus, an 11th-century King of Strathclyde.
17th-century portrait, when he was reckoned as Constantine IV
Cuilén was an early King of Alba (Scotland).
He was a son of Illulb mac Custantín, King of Alba, after whom he is known by the patronymic mac Illuilb of Clann Áeda meic Cináeda, a branch of the Alpínid dynasty.
During the 10th century, the Alpínids rotated the kingship of Alba between two main dynastic branches. Dub mac Maíl Choluim, a member of a rival branch of the kindred, seems to have succeeded after Illulb's death in 962. Cuilén soon after challenged him but was defeated in 965. Dub was eventually expelled and slain in 966/967. Whether Cuilén was responsible for his death is uncertain.
Cuilén
Detail of inscriptions upon Sueno's Stone which may represent Dub's demise. The visible arch could represent a bridge, and the framed head under the arch may represent Dub, whose body was traditionally said to have been hidden beneath a bridge.
A hogback grave slab on display in Glasgow. Such monuments may be indicative of Scandinavian settlement in Perthshire and Fife. The aforesaid evidence of Scandinavian influence upon Cuilén's immediate family could indicate that his kindred was involved with such immigration.
