Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about significant rulers from the past.

And we're going to explore the question, what can those rulers, what can their stories tell us? So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe how Constantine II strengthened the Kingdom of Alba.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are: Church, mormaer.

I'm going to say those again and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Church.

Mormaer.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Let's take a look at each of their definitions.

The Church is the name given to a group of Christian people who share the same beliefs about their religion.

A mormaer was a Scottish leader and landowner who helped the king to rule.

Pause the video here to make a note of the keywords.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

How did Constantine strengthen Alba? Constantine II and Athelstan.

In the first learning cycle, we will explore how Constantine strengthened Alba.

Now the battle for Dunkeld showed Constantine's strength as a king.

He was able to defeat the Vikings, recapture Dunkeld and the important relics of St.

Columba, and he chased the Vikings out of Alba for good.

After Constantine's victory, there were no more recorded Viking invasions for over 50 years.

So he did a really good job at protecting his kingdom.

With the Vikings no longer a threat, Constantine was focused on strengthening and rebuilding his kingdom, Alba.

First of all, Constantine made changes to the Church to make it more like the one he had experienced in Ireland.

The Church is the name given to a group of Christian people who share the same beliefs about their religion.

Constantine's time in Ireland was spent being taught by the Gaelic Church.

He wanted to stop different religious groups in Alba from being treated badly by the Church.

So Constantine showed the Church in Alba how they could follow the same ideas as the Gaelic Church and treat all religious groups with respect.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What made Constantine want to change the Church? His father, his time in Ireland, his cousin Donald.

Pause the video here and take a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What made Constantine want to change the Church? Well, it was his time in Ireland that influenced him.

He wanted the Church in Alba to follow the same ideas as the Gaelic Church.

Now secondly, Constantine decided to bring in mormaers to help him.

What is a mormaer? A mormaer was a Scottish leader and landowner who helped the king to rule over his lands.

The mormaers helped the king in a number of ways.

They raised an army to protect their area, and they collected money from local people to help them carry out their work.

The mormaers also made decisions about local issues like theft.

Let's take a moment to pause here.

How did mormaers help the king rule his lands? By leading the army, looking after farms, collecting money from local people, making decisions about local issues.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your learning partner and then press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? How did mormaers help the king rule his lands? Well, they lead the army, they collect money from local people, and they also make decisions about local issues.

So they help the king in lots of ways.

Moot Hill was one of the meeting places where the mormaers made these decisions.

You can see a photo of Moot Hill there.

Moot Hill is one of the most important historical sites in Scotland.

It is important for religious and political reasons.

In 906 CE, King Constantine II held the first ever council of mormaers at Moot Hill.

So council is when people get together.

So the mormaers would've got together and would've had a discussion about their area, how to improve it, what needed to change, and what maybe needed to stay the same.

Now let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

King Constantine II made two major changes.

Is that true or false? What do you think? Well, that is true.

Now looking at these two statements, which of these would help to justify your answer? He made sure the Church worshipped a statue of him and treated religious groups badly.

He changed the Church to follow Gaelic ideas and he brought in mormaers to help him.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that the two major changes King Constantine made were that he changed the Church to follow Gaelic ideas and he brought in mormaers to help him, then you're absolutely right, well done.

This brings us to our first learning task.

Constantine II made two major changes.

Can you describe how these changes made the Kingdom of Alba stronger to your learning partner? Here are some words and phrases to help you: Church, Gaelic ideas, mormaer, helped.

Pause the video here to give yourself enough time to have a go at describing how these changes made the Kingdom of Alba stronger, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So your answers may include: Constantine II changed the Church to follow Gaelic ideas.

This strengthened Alba because different religions were treated better.

Then Constantine brought in mormaers.

This made Alba stronger because the mormaers helped the king to rule his land.

Well done if you were able to describe how these changes made the Kingdom of Alba stronger and well done for completing this learning task.

We're now ready to move on to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to explore Constantine II and Athelstan.

With mormaers supporting him, King Constantine II tried to take control of more of Scotland.

By 918 CE, Constantine had led his army in Northumbria and successfully taken land around modern-day Edinburgh in Scotland.

For the first time, much of the land in Scotland was ruled by King Constantine II.

Kings like Constantine fought against the Vikings until they lost their power in Britain.

However, in 928 CE, King Athelstan of Wessex conquered the last Viking kingdom of York and he became known as the king of England.

And Athelstan wanted to become the king of the whole of Britain, so he set his sights on Alba and the rest of Scotland.

Can see an illustration of Athelstan there.

So he became the king of England and he wanted more.

He wanted to also be the king of Alba and the king of Scotland.

So he wanted the whole of Britain to be under his rule.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Athelstan wanted to control all of Britain.

Is that true or false? What do you think? Well, if you said that that was true, you are correct.

Well done.

Now looking at these two statements, which of these would help to justify your answer? He wanted to take control of Alba.

He wanted to control England only.

Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your learning partner.

Which of these two statements would help to justify your answer? And press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said he wanted to take control of Alba, you are absolutely right.

Now in 937 CE, Constantine no longer wanted to keep the peace with Athelstan as he did not want to give up his kingdom.

Constantine joined forces with his son-in-law, Olaf, king of Dublin, and Owen I, the king of Strathclyde.

They confronted Athelstan at the Battle of Brunanburh.

The battle is often described as the bloodiest battle ever fought on British soil.

Now, despite that battle being so bloody, King Constantine II lost to Athelstan.

Athelstan was victorious.

However, Athelstan only remained the king of England.

He did not become the king of Alba or the king of Scotland.

So although Constantine lost, he didn't allow Athelstan to become the king of Alba or Scotland.

So there is some victory there for Constantine.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Can you fill in the gaps to complete the sentence? Although Constantine, Athelstan become the king of Scotland.

So what two words could go in those gaps there to complete this sentence? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to have a go at that, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Let's take a look at the answer, shall we? Although Constantine lost, Athelstan failed to become the king of Scotland.

Well done if you were able to complete that sentence.

This brings us to our final learning task.

Athelstan defeated Constantine and became king of Scotland.

This statement is incorrect.

Discuss how to correct this sentence with your learning partner.

And could you add any more detail? So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at this learning task and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So your answer may have included: Athelstan defeated Constantine; however, he failed to become the king of Scotland.

Athelstan was only the king of England.

Well done if you were able to correct that statement and well done for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about the rise of Alba under Constantine II.

King Constantine II defeated the Vikings in Scotland, and there were no raids for 50 years.

Constantine focused on strengthening Alba.

He changed the Church to follow Gaelic ideas.

Mormaers helped him rule over his lands.

But Constantine was defeated at the Battle of Brunanburh.

Although Constantine lost, Athelstan failed to become king of Scotland.

He only remained the king of England.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.