Alexander II (1214 - 1249)

Alexander II was a competent and energetic king who was also known as 'the Peaceful'. He married his first wife, Joan, daughter of King John, in 1221. No heirs were produced from the marriage, however, and it was his second wife, Marie de Coucy, who gave birth to the future Alexander III. Although Alexander has a reputation as a law-giver he would be more accurately described as a collector and codifier of laws. He probably gave encouragement to the Regiam Majestatem which dates from his reign. He also tried to bring the more remote areas of Scotland under his power. In 1221 he moved against the north-west subjugating parts of Atholl and Kintyre as well as building a castle at Tarbert. Caithness was also causing problems where rebels had burned the Bishop to death. In punishment Alexander ordered that the perpetrators of the crime should lose a hand and a foot. A final rebellion in 1228-30 attempted to put a MacWilliam on the throne failed and the last surviving member of the family was killed at Forfar.

Alexander II coin

To strengthen his grip on Galloway Alexander subdivided the inheritence of the earls. The scheme was enforced by a royal army which was supported by Earl Farquhar of Ross. Castles were then built at Kirkcudbright and Wigtown. Towards the end of his reign more trouble in the north required the building of castles at Dunstaffnage and other places on the coast.

In general Alexander dealt with England with diplomacy rather than war, with one notable exception. In 1215 he sided with the barons against King John. John responded by crossing the border and burning four Scottish towns, he supposedly set fire to Berwick himself. Later in the year Alexander was present at the signing of the Magna Carta. After John died and Henry III became King of England Alexander, with the Pope's intervention, made peace with England. At a meeting in 1237 at York Alexander agreed to give up claims to Northumbria in return for grants of land in northern England and Cambridgeshire. The Anglo-Scottish border was also agreed at this meeting and is still largely the same today.

Alexander II great seal

While preparing for an attack on the Western Isles Alexander died of fever at Kerrera, opposite Oban, in 1249.

History Books on this time period:

Author	Title	Published	Price	Order Now From: From:
Duncan, A. A. M.	Scotland: the Making of the Kingdom	1975	£16.99	Amazon.co.uk
Scotland: the Making of the Kingdom is the first "straight" history of Scotland from pre-history to 1286 to be published since 1862. It starts with the evidence on pre-historic and Roman Scotland and covers in some detail the incursions and amalgamations of races who made up the Celtic Kingdom, the impact of the Vikings and the forging of a single kingdom. Professor Duncan looks at the Anglo-Norman influence on Scotland and gives a full account of Anglo-Scottish relations up to 1214. The growth of towns is discussed together with the expansion of trade and the place of Scottish evidence in the evolution of rural and urban society in north-west Europe. The closing chapters narrate the progress which made possible the establishment of an efficient and unoppressive administrative system.
Barrow, G. W. S.	Kingship & Unity: Scotland 1000-1306	1989	£9.95 or $16.50	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Professor Barrow takes up the history of a Scotland which in the eleventh century already has the beginnings of a clear sense of identity, and a successful expansion policy. Emphasising in particular the kingdom's political growth and the evolution of a distinct Scottish nation, Professor Barrow narrates the story of Scotland's remarkable Medieval kings and their development of a kingship and the institutions of government which provided the unity and administration to fend off Edward I's onslaughts in the thirteenth century. This is a thoroughly readable and comprehensive account of the building of medieval Scotland, and a welcome reissue from the New History of Scotland series (formerly published by Edward Arnold).