Editing Alexander II of Scotland

{{Short description|King of Alba from 1214 to 1249}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Alexander II
| succession   = [[King of Alba (Scotland)]]
| image        = Alexander II (Alba) i.JPG
| caption      = Great Seal of Alexander II
| reign        = 4 December 1214 – 6 July 1249
| coronation   = 6 December 1214
| predecessor  = [[William the Lion|William I]]
| successor    = [[Alexander III of Scotland|Alexander III]]
| spouses      = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Joan of England, Queen of Scotland|Joan of England]]|June 1221|4 March 1238|reason=died}}
* {{marriage|[[Marie de Coucy]]|15 May 1239}}
}}
| issue        = [[Alexander III of Scotland]]<br>[[Alan Durward#Family|Marjorie]] (illegitimate)
| house        = [[House of Dunkeld|Dunkeld]]
| father       = [[William the Lion]]
| mother       = [[Ermengarde de Beaumont]]
| birth_date   = 24 August 1198
| birth_place  = [[Haddington, East Lothian]], Scotland
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1249|7|6|1198|8|24|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Kerrera]], Scotland
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = [[Melrose Abbey]]
}}

'''Alexander II''' ([[Middle Irish|Medieval Gaelic]]: ''{{lang|mga|Alaxandair mac Uilliam}}''; [[Scottish Gaelic|Modern Gaelic]]: ''{{lang|gd|Alasdair mac Uilleim}}''; nicknamed "the Peaceful" by modern historians;<ref> Ashley, Mike. British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers (1998), p. 407</ref> 24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was [[List of Scottish monarchs|King of Alba]] ([[Scotland]]) from 1214 until his death. He concluded the [[Treaty of York]] (1237) which defined the boundary between England and Scotland, largely unchanged today.

== Early life ==
Alexander was born at [[Haddington, East Lothian]], the only son of the Scottish king [[William the Lion]] and [[Ermengarde of Beaumont|Ermengarde de Beaumont]].{{sfn|Parsons|1977|p=43}} He was forced to spend time in England under the terms of the [[Treaty of Falaise]], and ([[John of England]] knighted him at [[Clerkenwell Priory]] in 1213) before he returned home. He succeeded to the kingdom on the death of his father on 4 December 1214, being crowned at [[Scone, Perth and Kinross|Scone]] on 6 December the same year.

At the time of his accession, his sisters [[Isabella of Scotland, Countess of Norfolk|Isabella]] and [[Margaret of Scotland, Countess of Kent|Margaret]] had been sent to England as hostages to King John.<ref name=OX>{{cite web |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-112185 |title=Isabella (Isabella Bigod) |website=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |access-date=5 May 2024}}</ref> He appealed to John through the [[Magna Carta]], which promised to deal with the rights of Alexander and his family.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://magnacarta800th.com/schools/biographies/women-of-magna-carta/isabella-princess-of-scotland-and-countess-of-norfolk/ |title=Isabella, countess of Norfolk |last=Nelson |first=Dr. Jessica A. |date=2015 |website=Magna Carta 800th |access-date=5 May 2024}}</ref>

== 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>

== 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]].

== Family ==
Alexander II had two wives:
1. [[Joan of England, Queen Consort of Scotland|Joan of England]] (22 July 1210 – 4 March 1238), who was the eldest legitimate daughter and third child of John of England and [[Isabella of Angoulême]]. She and Alexander II married on 21 June 1221, at [[York Minster]]. Alexander was 23; Joan was 11. They had no children. Joan died in [[Essex]] in 1238 and was buried at [[Tarrant Crawford Abbey]] in [[Dorset]];
2. [[Marie de Coucy]], who became mother of [[Alexander III of Scotland]].

He also had an illegitimate daughter, Marjorie, who married [[Alan Durward]].

== Fictional portrayals ==
Alexander II has been depicted in historical novels:
* ''Sword of State'' (1999) by [[Nigel Tranter]]. The novel depicts the friendship between Alexander II and [[Patrick II, Earl of Dunbar]]. "Their friendship withstands treachery, danger and rivalry";<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cunninghamh.tripod.com/books/9105.htm |title="Tranter First Edition Books, Publication Timeline"}}</ref>
* ''Child of the Phoenix'' (1992) by [[Barbara Erskine]];
* ''[[The Decameron]]'' by [[Giovanni Boccaccio]], Day the Second: Third Story.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{cite book |title=The Court and Household of Eleanor of Castile in 1290 |first=John Carmi |last=Parsons |publisher=Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies |year=1977}}

== Further reading ==
{{Commons category|Alexander II of Scotland}}
* [https://www.royal.uk/alexander-ii-r1214-1249 Alexander II] at the official website of the [[British monarchy]]
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Alexander II}}
* {{Eminent Scotsmen|Alexander II|1|47–49}}
* ''Worcester Annals''
* ''Rotuli Litterarum Patencium''
* {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Oram |title=Alexander II: King of Scots 1214–1249 |publisher= |location=Edinburgh |year=2015}}
* {{cite book |first=M. A. |last=Pollock |title=Scotland, England and France after the Loss of Normandy, 1204–1296 |publisher= |location=Woodbridge |year=2015}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Dunkeld]]|24 August|1198|6 July|1249}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[William the Lion|William I]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Scotland]]|years=1214–1249}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Alexander III of Scotland|Alexander III]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Pictish and Scottish Monarchs}}
{{English, Scottish and British monarchs}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander 02 Of Scotland}}

[[Category:Scottish Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:House of Dunkeld]]
[[Category:1198 births]]
[[Category:1249 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Haddington, East Lothian]]
[[Category:13th-century Scottish monarchs]]
[[Category:12th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:Burials at Melrose Abbey]]
[[Category:Gaelic monarchs in Scotland]]