Alexander III of Scotland
From Ex illis wiki
(1241-1286)
King of Scots (1249-1286)
Alexander III of Scotland was born in 1241 in Rosbrog, a royal burg. He is only eight years old when his father dies. A regent is thus nominated to oversee the kingdom. Following the death of the Scottish king, many influential Scottish lords enter a war for the regency. Things finally settle down a few years later when two of the most powerful lords agree to share the regency.
In 1251, Alexander III marries King Henry III's daughter, Margaret of England. Taking advantage of the situation, the English king demands homage from the kingdom of Scotland. Despite his young age, however, the bold Alexander refuses.
Alexander reaches majority in 1262, at the age of twenty-one. He then fully ascends the throne of Scotland and does not wait to announce his intention to conquer the Isle of Man, a project his father was pursuing before his death. The King of Norway, Haakon, firmly opposes this plan and launches an attack on Scotland the following year. The gods side with the Scottish, however; many of Haakon's ships are destroyed in a storm while crossing the sea. Short of men, the Norse king loses the battle against Alexander III and returns to his kingdom, where he dies a few months later. Haakon's son and successor agrees to sell the Isle of Man to Alexander of Scotland in 1266.
Meanwhile, the Flael reaches Scotland. Rumours of the phenomenom have already reached the kingdom and the overwhelming reaction is fear and anxiety. Alexander still manage to keep the peace within his country (thanks to his charisma and an iron hand), despite the first waves of panic.
Alexander's wife dies in 1274. She had given birth to three children, all of whom succumb over the next few years. In 1285, desperate for a true heir, Alexander marries Yolande de Dreux with the hopes that she will bear him a son. The king of Scotland, however, dies prematurely in 1286. While he is on an overnight trip to visit his queen, he is separated from his guides and falls from his horse. His people find him the following day, dead of a broken neck. The queen's pregnancy ends in a still-birth, leaving Mairead, the Maid of Norway and Alexander's grand-daughter, to inherit the land. Her death, three years later, triggers the Scottish Great Cause.
