Alexander III
Alexander III - King of Scotland
Alexander III (1241 - 1286), a direct descendant of Kenneth mac Alpin, the first king of the Scots, was born at Roxburgh, on September 4, 1241, the only son of King Alexander II and Marie de Coucy (his second wife). Alexander III succeeded his father as king og Scotland in 1249 and ruled the Scots until his death in 1286. Being descended from Malcolm III Canmore he was the last of the Scottish kings from the House of Dunkeld. Alexander left Scotland a more prosperous, unified and independant nation and, for these reasons, his reign is viewed as a golden age by the Scots.
Alexander II died during an expedition to regain control of the Hebrides which had been lost to King Haakon IV of Norway. Alexander III was only eight years old when he was crowned king in 1249. Like all of his predecessors he was inaugurated on the Stone of Scone and, at the installation ceremony, his pedigree was recited. It could be traced back to 'Fergus I', who led the Scots from Ireland in 330 B.C.
On December 25th 1251, aged 10, Alexander III was knighted by King Henry III of England and the following day he married Henry's eleven year old daughter, Margaret (the couple had been engaged to be married since their infancy). Alexander's minority was marked by an embittered struggle for the control of affairs and Henry saw the opportunity to demand that Alexander pay homage to him however it was refused.
The two rival parties fighting for control of king Alexander III's affairs were that led by Walter Comyn, earl of Menteith, the by Alan Durward, the justiciar. In 1255 the English and Scottish kings held a meeting at Kelso which resulted in the deposition of the Earl of Menteith and his party over their opponents. Two years later the party opposing Menteith kidnapped the king and forced Menteith to consent to the erection of a regency representative of both parties.
In 1262 Alexander III came of age and set about negotiation for the return of the Hebrides. King Haakon of Norway was determined to keep control and, in 1263 he led a great fleet down the west coast of Scotland and into the Firth of Clyde. Alexander met Haakon's forces at the Battle of Largs in Ayrshire. Having been badly damaged by storms, during their advance, the fleet was easily forced into retreat by Alexander. Haakon fled/retired to Kirkwall, Orkney and, following his death on July 2nd, 1266, King Magnus V, under the treaty of Perth, ceded to Alexander the Hebrides and the Isle of Man for 4,000 merks and an annual payment of 100 merks. As part of the treaty, Alexander's daughter was to marry Eric II, a grandson of Haakon.
In 1275 Alexander's wife died and further tradgedy followed with the death of his younger son David in 1281. In 1281 his daughter, Margaret, married King Erik of Norway (as agreed in the treaty of Perth) but in 1283 she died giving birth to their daughter, Margaret 'the Maid of Norway'. In 1284 Alexander's eldest son, Alexander, died, childless, following a long illness.
On 19 March 1286, Alexander III was killed when his horse stumbled and fell over a cliff near Kinghorn, Fife.
Following the death of his eldest son Alexander had induced the Scottish Parliament to recognise Margaret, the daughter of Eric and Margaret, as the heir presumptive to the Scottish throne. And so, at the age of three, Margaret, the "Maid of Norway" became Queen of Scotland. Margaret left Norway to come to Scotland in 1290 but sadly died near Orkney. Scotland was once again plunged into turmoil.
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