The Battle of Forais occurred in 882 AD when the former King of Fortriu, Domnall mac Causantin, led a Scottish army of 1,069 troops to crush a rebel army led by Mac Bethad at the town of Forres. The small rebel army was deal with easily, consolidating Pictish rule over their new Gaelic subjects.
Background[]
The Pictish annexation of Fortriu occurred in 878 after King Domnall mac Causantin of Fortriu sought the help of his uncle, King Aed mac Cinaeda, against the invading Norsemen of Orkneyar. The annexation united Pictland in the east with the Gaelic territories of Fortriu in the north, and, while Domnall loyally served his uncle, many Gaelic peasants opposed their new Pictish lords, especially amid a famine which persisted from 878 to 880. In 882, both Aed and Domnall left their lands to defeat the Norse threat further north, leading to Mac Bethad of Forais raising a rebel army in the countryside of Moray. This army occupied the undefended town of Forres, where it took on additional men. However, Domnall was quick to march back to Forres to confront the rebel army.
Battle[]
The ensuing battle saw the Picts shower the rebels with projectiles before meeting them in hand-to-hand combat. The Pictish flanks closed in on the rebels, slaughtering them from all sides. Only 72 Picts were slain in the ensuing one-sided battle, having outnumbered the rebels by three times. Of the 390 rebels who had taken to the field, 374 were slain, and the uprising was crushed. Forais returned to Pictish rule, and the Gaels were temporarily quieted.