Alexander II (Medieval Gaelic: Alaxandair mac Uilliam; Modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac Uilleim; 24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was 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.
At the time of his accession, his sisters Isabella and Margaret had been sent to England as hostages to King John.[2] He appealed to John through the Magna Carta, which promised to deal with the rights of Alexander and his family.[3]
King of Scots
In 1215, the year after his accession, the clans 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 English barons in their struggle against King John of England and led an army into the Kingdom of England in support of their cause.[4] 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 English aristocracy changed their allegiance to John's nine-year-old son, Henry III, forcing the French and the Scots armies to return home.[5] 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 on 18 June or 25 June 1221.[6]
In 1222 Jon Haraldsson, the last native Scandinavian to be 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 part of the Kingdom of Norway. A contemporary chronicler, Boethius the Dane blamed Haraldsson for the bishop's death. After the 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 bull from Pope Celestine IV.
Alexander the warrior and knight: the reverse side of Alexander II's Great Seal, enhanced as a 19th-century steel engraving. Legend: 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, Glassary, Glenary and Cowal; Lorn was a separate province, while Kintyre and Knapdale were part of Suðreyar). Royal forces crushed a revolt in Galloway in 1235 without difficulty;[5] 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.[4] 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, 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 make peace the next year at Newcastle.
Alexander now turned his attention to securing the Western Isles, which were still part of the Norwegian domain of Suðreyjar.[4] He repeatedly attempted negotiations and purchase but without success.[5] Alexander set out to conquer these islands but died on the way in 1249.[7] 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.[8]
[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".[9]
Death
Coat of arms of Alexander II as it appears on folio 146v of Royal MS 14 C VII (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.[10][self-published source?]
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 St. Columba, St. Olaf and 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 punishment. His body was then transported back to the mainland.[11][12]
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";[13]
Oram, Richard (2015). Alexander II: King of Scots 1214–1249. Edinburgh.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Pollock, M. A. (2015). Scotland, England and France after the Loss of Normandy, 1204–1296. Woodbridge.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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