King Alexander III of Scotland

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King Alexander III ruled Scotland for nearly 40 years. He succeeded in bringing the Western Isles into the Scottish fold but is much more widely known for not leaving behind a male heir.

Alexander III was 8 when his father, Alexander II, died, in 1249. The resulting regency was filled with two factions competing for influence, led by Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith and Alan Durward. At one point, Alexander was kidnapped by the Menteith clan as a means of enforcing shared power.

Scottish King Alexander III

Alexander married Margaret, daughter of England's King Henry III in 1251. Although Alexander was just 10 at the time, he refused to name Henry overlord of Scotland.

In 1262, at age 21, Alexander took full control of Scotland and set about succeeding where his father failed, in the Western Isles, which were under the sway of Norway's King Haakon. Alexander sent an attack force to the Isle of Skye, and Haakon responded with an invasion fleet of his own. Alexander interjected with a plea for negotiations, which dragged on enough that the Norwegian ships were damaged by a severe storm and their human cargo ravaged by Scottish forces. With winter on the way, Haakon set sail for home. He died on the journey.

Haakon's successor, Magnus, responded to a new invasion by Alexander with a plea for peace, and the Treaty of Perth resulted in 1266. Alexander got control of the Western Isles and Isle of Man, for a sum of money and the promise of an annual payment.

Scottish King Alexander III

Alexander had lost his wife and all three of the children by 1284. Margaret had died in 1275. Their youngest son, David, has died in 1281, age 9. Their oldest son, Prince Alexander of Scotland, had died in 1284, at age 20. Their oldest child, Margaret, had married Norwegian King Eric II (successor to Magnus) in 1281, and the couple had had a child, also named Margaret. (Her mother had died giving birth to her.)

Alexander, without a male heir, married again, to Yolande de Dreux, part of an important French family. She was in Fife waiting for him when he set out on horseback and never arrived. He had left Edinburgh Castle, after an evening of celebration to mark the impending marriage, and was determined to be in Fife the following day to celebrate his new wife's birthday with her. He set out with a company of guides but somehow became separated from them. He was found on the beach at Kinghorn and is thought to have fallen from his horse to his death.

Alexander's death without a male heir touched off a succession crisis. Alexander wanted his granddaughter, Margaret (known as the Maid of Norway) to succeed him on the throne of Scotland. However, she was 4 when her grandfather died. Many Scottish nobles were weary of having a female monarch; as well, many of those nobles saw themselves fit to be king. The power struggle that followed came to be known as the Great Cause.

See also Early Medieval Scottish rulers.

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