Editing Alexander II of Scotland (section)

== King of Scots ==
In 1215, the year after his accession, the clans [[MacWilliam pretenders|Meic Uilleim]] and [[MacHeths]], inveterate enemies of the Scottish crown, broke into revolt, but loyalist forces speedily quelled the insurrection. In the same year, Alexander joined the [[Baron|English barons]] in their struggle against King John of England and led an army into the [[Kingdom of England]] in support of their cause.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911 |inline=y |wstitle=Alexander II (king of Scotland) |display=Alexander II |volume=1 |page=563}}</ref> This action led to the sacking of [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]] as John's forces ravaged the north.

The Scottish forces reached the south coast of England at the port of [[Dover]] where in September 1216, Alexander paid homage for his lands in England to the pretender [[Louis VIII of France]], chosen by the barons to replace John. After John died, the papacy and the [[British nobility|English aristocracy]] changed their allegiance to John's nine-year-old son, [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], forcing the French and the Scots armies to return home.<ref name=bbc>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/alexander_ii/ |title="Alexander II, King of Scots 1214–1249", Scotland's History, BBC}}</ref> Peace between Henry, Louis and Alexander followed on 12 September 1217 with the [[Treaty of Kingston]]. Diplomacy further strengthened the reconciliation by the marriage of Alexander to Henry's sister [[Joan of England, Queen of Scotland|Joan]] on 18 June or 25 June 1221.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1222 [[Jon Haraldsson]], the last native Scandinavian to be [[Earl of Orkney|Jarl of Orkney]], was indirectly implicated in the burning of [[Adam of Melrose]] at his hall at [[Halkirk]] by local farmers when this part of [[Caithness]] was still [[Scandinavian Scotland#Caithness and Sutherland|part of the Kingdom of Norway]]. A contemporary chronicler, [[Boethius the Dane]] blamed Haraldsson for the bishop's death. After the [[Jarl (title)|jarl]] swore oaths to his own innocence, Alexander took the opportunity to assert his claims to the mainland part of the [[Orkney]] jarldom. He visited Caithness in person and hanged the majority of the farmers while mutilating the rest. His actions were applauded by [[Pope Honorius III]], and a quarter of a century later, he was continuing to receive commendation from the [[Catholic Church]], as in the reward of a [[Papal bull|bull]] from [[Pope Celestine IV]].

[[File:Alexander II (Alba) ii.JPG|thumb|left|Alexander the warrior and knight: the reverse side of Alexander II's [[Great Seal]], enhanced as a 19th-century steel engraving. Legend: {{lang|la|Alexander Deo rectore Rex Scottorum}} (Alexander, with God as his guide, king of the Scots)]]

During the same period, Alexander subjugated the hitherto semi-independent district of [[Argyll]] (much smaller than the modern area by that name, it only comprised [[Craignish]], [[Ardscotnish]], [[River Add|Glassary]], [[River Aray|Glenary]] and [[Cowal]]; [[Lorne, Scotland|Lorn]] was a separate province, while [[Kintyre]] and [[Knapdale]] were part of [[Scandinavian Scotland#|Suðreyar]]). Royal forces crushed a revolt in [[Galloway]] in 1235 without difficulty;<ref name=bbc/> nor did an invasion attempted soon afterwards by its exiled leaders meet with success. Soon afterwards, a claim for homage from Henry of England drew forth from Alexander a counter-claim to the northern English counties. The two kingdoms, however, settled this dispute by a compromise in 1237.<ref name="EB1911"/> This was the Treaty of York, which defined the boundary between the two kingdoms as running between the [[Solway Firth]] (in the west) and the mouth of the [[River Tweed]] (in the east).

Alexander's first wife, Joan, died in March 1238 in [[Essex]]. Alexander married his second wife, [[Marie de Coucy]], the following year on 15 May 1239. Together they had one son, [[Alexander III of Scotland|Alexander III]], born in 1241.

A threat of invasion by Henry in 1243 for a time interrupted the friendly relations between the two countries; but the prompt action of Alexander in anticipating his attack, and the disinclination of the English barons for war, compelled him to [[Treaty of Newcastle (1244)|make peace]] the next year at [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]].

Alexander now turned his attention to securing the [[Western Isles]], which were still part of the [[Norway|Norwegian domain]] of [[Scandinavian Scotland#Geography|Suðreyjar]].<ref name="EB1911"/> He repeatedly attempted negotiations and purchase but without success.<ref name="bbc"/> Alexander set out to conquer these islands but died on the way in 1249.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Scotland A Concise History, Fourth Edition |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-500-28987-7 |location=New York |page=32}}</ref> This dispute over the Western Isles, also known as the [[Hebrides]], was not resolved until 1266 when [[Magnus VI of Norway]] ceded them to Scotland along with the [[Isle of Man]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-III-king-of-Scotland |title=Alexander III King of Scotland |date=28 November 2017 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>

The English chronicler [[Matthew Paris]] in his ''[[Chronica Majora]]'' described Alexander as red-haired:

<blockquote>[King John] taunted King Alexander, and because he was red-headed, sent word to him, saying, "so shall we hunt the red fox-cub from his lairs".<ref>''Scottish annals from English chroniclers A.D. 500 to 1286'', Alan Orr Anderson, Paul Watkins, 1991.</ref></blockquote>