Alexander II (Medieval Gaelic: Alaxandair mac Uilleim; Modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac Uilleim; 24 August 1198 – 8 July 1249) was King of Scotland from 1214 until his death. He was the son of William the Lion and Ermengarde de Beaumont, succeeding to the throne at the age of sixteen. He ruled for thirty-five years, during which time he began consolidating the Scottish kingdom. Alexander's early reign was marked by conflict with John of England and his involvement in the First Barons' War. He supported the rebel English barons and campaigned mainly in northern England. Following John's death in 1216, Alexander made peace with John's son and successor, Henry III of England, taking a more diplomatic approach between the two kingdoms. This was strengthened by his marriage in 1221 to Joan of England.
Within Scotland, Alexander worked to reinforce his authority across a politically unconsolidated Kingdom. He eliminated repeated rebellions in Ross and Moray in the north and in Galloway in the southwest, including the final destruction of the MacWilliam line. He expanded royal control into regions where his predecessors could only exercise limited influence. Alexander extended his interventions on the western seaboard, confronting Norse-influenced lords in Argyll and the Hebrides. His dealings with England remained central to his rule. In 1237, he concluded the Treaty of York with Henry III, which settled border issues and defined the Anglo-Scottish border in largely enduring terms.
His second marriage, to the French noblewoman Marie de Coucy in 1239, aided Scotland's continental connections. In his later years, Alexander sought to extend his influence in the west, ending in a campaign against Norse possessions in the Hebrides. His intentions were cut short when he died on the island of Kerrera in 1249. He was succeeded by his seven-year-old son, Alexander. Alexander II's reign was important in the development of a more unified and territorially defined Scottish kingdom.
Alexander, son of King William the Lion and Ermengarde de Beaumont, was born at Haddington in Lothian. He was descended directly from Malcolm III, the first of the Canmore line of kings. Malcolm married twice. His first marriage, to the Norse noblewoman Ingibjǫrg Finnsdóttir (d. before 1068), produced a son, Donnchad mac Máel Coluim (Duncan II). The pretenders, the meic Uilleim (MacWilliams), stemmed from Duncan's line. Alexander descended from Malcolm's second marriage to Margaret of Wessex, an English princess, who produced six sons and two daughters. Of the sons, three became kings, but only the youngest, David I, had a legitimate heir—Henry, Earl of Huntingdon. Henry died before his father but left two legitimate sons, Malcolm IV, who died childless, and Alexander's father, William the Lion. By the time of Alexander's birth, succession by direct descent of the firstborn male, primogeniture, appeared to have been settled. Even King William's predecessor, his brother Malcolm—a twelve-year-old minor—had succeeded to the throne without difficulty.
Yet William appears to have had doubts about Alexander's eventual succession. The reasons are unclear, though the instability created by the English succession crisis between Arthur of Brittany and John of England may have influenced his thinking. Consequently, at a council of nobles on 12 October 1201, he secured their support to recognise the three‑year‑old Alexander as heir. This sidelined William's younger brother, Earl David of Huntingdon, who had been heir presumptive since 1165. Notably absent from the council, David did not acknowledge Alexander as heir until 1205.
The Norham treaties (1209 and 1212)
Anglo-Scottish relations deteriorated sharply in the spring of 1209. Talks originally scheduled for Newcastle were instead held at Norham Castle on the English bank of the River Tweed, ending without agreement on 23 April. By late July, both William and John, King of England, mustered their armies at Norham, each believing the other had acted provocatively. A contemporary Scottish source estimated the strength of John's forces, revealing the scale of his intimidating military display. The treaty that was concluded on 7 August 1209 was highly unfavourable to Scotland. So much so that William tried to conceal some of its provisions; it required him to reaffirm his homage to King John for his English lands, to pay 15,000 marks, and to deliver high‑ranking hostages. Alexander, approaching his eleventh birthday, was compelled to give homage to John, not only for his eventual inheritance of English lands but for his future kingdom—an acknowledgement of John as his overlord. Its terms also made clear that Margaret and Isabella, William's daughters, were already in John's charge and were to be provided for in a future marriage arrangement with John's two young sons. The prospective marriages involved various scenarios depending on the sisters' and the brothers' survivability. The daughters' status was ambiguous; despite being well received at John's court, they were effectively 'quasi-hostages', with no freedom of movement. Between 1212 and 1214, the sisters are recorded travelling with the royal court, on occasion in the company of the queen, Isabella of Angoulême, and sometimes with Eleanor of Brittany, who was being held similarly.
In January 1211, the twelve-year-old Alexander witnessed the second MacWilliam (Meic Uilleim) rebellion led by Guthred, the son of Domnall (Donald), the original dissenter. Although his forces fragmented by the autumn, Guthred himself evaded capture. As the rebellion entered its second year, William struggled to contain the uprising, perhaps raising fears regarding Alexander's succession. This ongoing instability and William's apparent inability to resolve it were likely the reasons for his need for John's assistance. In response, John's harsh terms led to the humiliating treaty of 8 February 1212, which significantly strengthened his dominance over the Scottish king. The agreement required that Alexander would marry only at John's discretion; it also stated that both William and Alexander had acknowledged John and his heir, Henry, as their overlords. Scotland was now a vassal kingdom. William had thus conceded to John the right of marriage provision for three of his four legitimate children. While the treaty omitted specific mention of John's daughter, Joan, it may have been understood that she would eventually be Alexander's wife. As required in the ratified treaty, Alexander travelled to London and was knighted along with thirteen Scottish nobles at Clerkenwell Priory on 4 March 1212. Alexander returned to Scotland with an escort of John's mercenaries to join the hunt for Guthred MacWilliam. Ultimately, the rebellion ended when Guthred was betrayed by his own followers and delivered to Alexander at Kincardine Castle, where he was executed.
By early 1213, Alexander had been introduced into royal government, witnessing charters and attending council meetings. In the summer of 1214, the ageing and increasingly infirm King William travelled north to secure the loyalty of Jón, Earl of Caithness, taking the earl's daughter as surety. His return south from Elgin was both slow and arduous, and by early September, he was unable to travel beyond Stirling Castle. Before William died on 4 December, the kingdom's leading nobles reaffirmed Alexander as heir. The next day, accompanied by seven earls and Bishop Malveisin of St Andrews, Alexander proceeded to Scone, where he was inaugurated. William's body, escorted by senior clergy and the queen, was taken to Perth, only a short distance from Scone, where on 8 December, Alexander met the cortege. The procession continued to Arbroath Abbey, where William was buried before the high altar on 10 December.
For Alexander, just a few months past his sixteenth birthday, a minority kingship was not considered. He immediately summoned a great court at Edinburgh to take oaths of fealty and to reconfirm his father's principal officers in their roles. Although his realm nominally stretched from the Pentland Firth to the Solway Firth, he inherited a loosely integrated kingdom in which effective royal authority was strongest in the southeast but weak elsewhere. The western and northern seaboards bordered the Norwegian king's island dominions from Man to Shetland, where powerful regional lords operated with considerable autonomy. Against this backdrop, discontent at Alexander's accession encouraged the MacWilliam line to revive its claim to the throne.