General Notes

REFN: 6826AN
Alexander II was a competent and energetic king who was also known as
'the Pe aceful'. 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, M arie De Coucy, who gave birth to the future Alexander
III.
Although AlexanDe r 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 s ubjugating parts of Atholl and
Kintyre as well as building a castle at Tarber t. Caithness was also
causing problems where rebels had burned the Bishop to death. In
punishment Alexander ordered that the perpetrators of the crime sho uld
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.
To strengthen his grip on Galloway Alexander subdivided the inheritence
of the earls. The scheme was enforced by a royal army which w as supported
by Earl Farquhar of Ross. Castles were then built at Kirkcudbrig ht and
Wigtown. Towards the end of his reign more trouble in the north requir ed
the building of castles at Dunstaffnage and other places on the coast.
In general Alexander dealt with England with diplomacy rather than war,
with on e notable exception. In 1215 he sided with the barons against King
John. John responded by crossing the border and burning four Scottish
towns, he suppose dly set fire to Berwick himself. Later in the year
Alexander was present at t he signing of the Magna Carta. After John died
and Henry III became King of E ngland 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 (August 24, 1198- July 6, 1249), king of Scotland, son of
William I, the Lion, and ErmengarDe of Beaumont, was born at Haddington
in 1198, and succeeded to the kingdom on the death of his father in 1214.
The ye ar after his accession the clans MacWilliam and MacHeth, inveterate
enemies o f the Scottish crown, broke into revolt; but the insurrection
was speedily qu elled. In the same year Alexander joined the English
barons in their struggle against John, and led an army into England in
support of their cause; but af ter John's death on the conclusion of peace
between his youthful son Henry II I and the French prince Louis, the
Scottish king was included in the pacifica tion. The reconciliation thus
effected was further strengthened by the marria ge of Alexander to Henry's
sister Joanna in 1221. The next year was marked by the subjection of the
hitherto semi-independent district of Argyll. A revolt in Galloway in
1235 was crushed without difficulty; nor did an invasion atte mpted soon
afterwards by its exiled leaders meet with any better fortune. Soo n
afterwards a claim for homage from Henry of England drew forth from
Alexa nder a counter-claim to the northern English counties. The dispute,
however, was settled by a compromise in 1237. A threat of invasion by
Henry in 1243 fo r a time interrupted the friendly relations between the
two countries; but th e prompt action of Alexander in anticipating his
attack, and the disinclinati on of the English barons for war, compelled
him to make peace next year at Ne wcastle. Alexander now turned his
attention to securing the Western Isles, wh ich still owed a nominal
allegiance to Norway. Negotiations and purchase were successively tried
but without success. Alexander next attempted to seduce E wen, the son of
Duncan, lord of Argyll, from hi