Editing Alexander II of Scotland (section)

== Death ==
[[File:Alexander II, King of Scotland, coat of arms (Royal MS 14 C VII, 146v).jpg|upright|right|thumb|250px|Coat of arms of Alexander II as it appears on folio 146v of Royal MS 14 C VII (''[[Historia Anglorum (Matthew Paris)|Historia Anglorum]]''). The inverted shield represents the king's death in 1249. The blazon for the arms was ''Or, a lion rampant and an orle fleury gules''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heath |first1=Ian |title=Armies of Feudal Europe 1066–1300 |date=2016 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781326256524 |page=250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L3VKDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA250 |access-date=11 October 2017 |language=en}}{{self-published source|date=June 2022}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}}]]

Alexander attempted to persuade [[Ewen MacDougall|Ewen]], the son of [[Donnchadh of Argyll|Duncan]], [[Lord of Argyll]] (and [[Kingdom of the Isles|King of the Isles]]), to sever his allegiance to [[Haakon IV|Haakon IV of Norway]]. When Ewen rejected these attempts, Alexander sailed forth to compel him, but on the way he suffered a fever at the Isle of [[Kerrera]] in the [[Inner Hebrides]].<ref name="EB1911"/> He died there in 1249 and was buried at [[Melrose Abbey]].

The ''[[Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar]]'' records additional information, in that before attempting to invade the Isles, where Ewen held power, he was supposedly warned in a dream by [[Columba|St. Columba]], [[Olaf II of Norway|St. Olaf]] and [[Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney|St. Magnus]] to desist. King Ewen of the Isles' status as Monarch had been confirmed by Haakon IV and was disputed by Alexander. The episode might be emblematic of a broader desire on the part of Alexander to bring the [[Kingdom of the Isles]] fully into the power of the Scottish Crown. In any case, when he finally decided to continue in his endeavour, despite the dream, and having been advised against it by his men, he died shortly afterwards. The incident was portrayed in the saga as [[Divine judgment|divine punishment]]. His body was then transported back to the mainland.<ref>{{Gutenberg|no=18299 |name=The Norwegian account of Haco's expedition against Scotland, A.D. MCCLXIII}}</ref><ref>{{Cite ODNB |last=Stringer |first=Keith J. |title=Alexander II (1198–1249), king of Scots |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-322 |access-date=2021-12-29 |year=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/322 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8}}</ref>

He was succeeded by his son, the seven-year-old [[Alexander III of Scotland]].