Alexander (21 January 1264 – 28 January 1284) was an

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the throne of the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a Anglo-Sc ...

who never acceded due to his early death.

Early life

Alexander was born on 21 January 1264. He was the second child and elder son of King

Alexander III of Scotland Alexander III (; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Alba (Scotland) from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. ...

and Margaret of England, preceded by a daughter named

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

and followed by a son called David. The Scottish crown was determined that the young Alexander should be adequately established. In 1270, he was made Earl of Fife for the duration of the minority of the heir to the earldom, Duncan III, who was then eight years old. Probably sometime after 1275, Alexander was also made

Lord of Mann The Lord of Mann () is the lord proprietor and head of state of the Isle of Man, currently King Charles III. Before 1504, the title was King of Mann. Relationship with the Crown Since 1399, the King of Mann, kings and lords of Mann were ...

, which gave him revenue and a "quasi-royal position of dignity" while also assuring the people of the island that the recently established Scottish rule would be efficient.

Marriage

Alexander's mother, Queen Margaret, died in 1275. It is evident from the letters of Alexander and his sister that the family remained close to their maternal uncle King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

. Alexander's brother, David, died in 1281, the year when their sister married King Eric II of Norway. King Alexander did not seek a second wife for about ten years, focusing instead on arranging a suitable marriage for his surviving son, the young Alexander. In 1281, the King started negotiating with

Guy, Count of Flanders Guy of Dampierre (; ) ( – 7 March 1305, Compiègne) was the Count of Flanders (1251–1305) and List of rulers of Namur, Marquis of Namur (1264–1305). He was a prisoner of the French when his Flemings defeated the latter at the Battle of ...

, about his son's marriage to the Count's daughter, also named

. The couple were married on 14 November 1282 at

Roxburgh Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at lea ...

and the marriage was celebrated the following day.

Death

Alexander's sister died in Norway whilst giving birth in 1283, leaving Alexander as the sole surviving child of the King of Scotland. A week after his twentieth birthday, on 28 January 1284, the young Alexander also died. He was buried at

Dunfermline Abbey Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland parish church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was confiscated and sacked in 1560 during the S ...

. By April it was clear that his widow was not pregnant and that his sister's daughter,

Margaret, Maid of Norway Margaret (, ; March or April 1283 – September 1290), known as the Maid of Norway, was the queen-designate of Scotland from 1286 until her death. As she was never crowned, her status as monarch is uncertain and has been debated by historia ...

, was the new

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

. King Alexander hastened to contract a second marriage, choosing Yolanda of Dreux, but died in 1286.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{authority control 1264 births 1284 deaths House of Dunkeld Scottish princes Scottish heirs apparent who never acceded Burials at Dunfermline Abbey Sons of kings Heirs to the Scottish throne