Editing Alexander III of Scotland (section)

== Marriages and issue ==
[[File:Monument to Alexander III, west of Kinghorn, by Hippolyte Blanc.png|thumb|Monument to Alexander III, west of [[Kinghorn]], by [[Hippolyte Blanc]]]]

Alexander had married [[Margaret of England|Margaret]], daughter of King [[Henry III of England]] and [[Eleanor of Provence]], on 26 December 1251, when he was ten years old and she was eleven.<ref name="MacArthur2017">{{Cite journal |last=Staniland |first=Kay |date=1986 |title=The Nuptials of Alexander III of Scotland and Margaret Plantagenet. |url=https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/10.1484/J.NMS.3.132 |journal=Nottingham Medieval Studies |language=en |volume=30 |pages=20–45 |doi=10.1484/J.NMS.3.132 |issn=0078-2122}}</ref> She died in 1275, after they had had three children:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ashley |first=Mike |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OqdBAAAQBAJ&q=margaret+She+died+in+1275%2C+after+they+had+had+three+children.&pg=PT21 |title=The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens |date=2012 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=978-1-4721-0113-6 |language=en}}</ref>
# [[Margaret of Scotland (Queen of Norway)|Margaret]] (28 February 1261 – 9 April 1283), who married King [[Eric II of Norway]];<ref name=bbc/>
# [[Alexander, Prince of Scotland]] (21 January 1264 [[Jedburgh]] – 28 January 1284 [[Lindores Abbey]]), buried in [[Dunfermline Abbey]];
# David (20 March 1272 – June 1281 [[Stirling Castle]]), buried in [[Dunfermline Abbey]].

According to the ''[[Lanercost Chronicle]]'', Alexander did not spend his decade as a widower alone: "he used never to forbear on account of season nor storm, nor for perils of flood or rocky cliffs, but would visit none too creditably nuns or matrons, virgins or widows as the fancy seized him, sometimes in disguise."<ref>{{cite journal |editor-last1=Maxwell |editor-first1=Herbert |title=Chronicle of Lanercost |journal=The Scottish Historical Review |date=1909 |volume=6 |page=184 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hBNAAQAAMAAJ&q=he+used+never+to+forbear+on+account+of+season+nor+storm%2C+nor+for+perils+of+flood+or+rocky+cliffs%2C+but+would+visit+none+too+creditably+nuns+or+matrons%2C+virgins+or+widows+as+the+fancy+seized+him%2C+sometimes+in+disguise&pg=PA184 |access-date=8 August 2016}}</ref>

Towards the end of Alexander's reign, the death of all three of his children within a few years made the question of the succession one of pressing importance. In 1284 he induced the [[Parliament of Scotland|Estates]] to recognize as his heir-presumptive his granddaughter [[Margaret, Maid of Norway|Margaret, the Maid of Norway]]. The need for a male heir led him to contract a second marriage to [[Yolande de Dreux (Scotland)|Yolande de Dreux]]<ref name=alba>{{Cite web |url=http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/warsofindependence/deathofalexanderiii/index.asp |title="Death of Alexander III", Foghlam Alba |access-date=14 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714225534/http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/warsofindependence/deathofalexanderiii/index.asp |archive-date=14 July 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> on 1 November 1285.{{sfn|Duncan|2016|p=347}}