Alexander, Prince of Scotland

Alexander, Prince of Scotland (21 January 1264 – 17 January 1284) was the son of Alexander III of Scotland and Margaret of England, and heir to the throne of Scotland. He was the grandson of Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland.

Biography

Alexander was born at Jedburgh. He married Margaret of Flanders (died 1331), daughter of Guy of Dampierre, Count of Flanders, on 14 November 1282 at Roxburgh. No children were born of this union.

He died at Lindores Abbey in 1284, and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey. His death created a succession crisis, as his younger brother David of Scotland (1273–1281) had died at the age of 8, three years earlier, and his widowed father had no other legitimate sons. This caused Alexander's father to induce the Estates to recognize as his heir-presumptive, Margaret, Maid of Norway, Alexander's niece by his sister Margaret, and to contract a second marriage to Yolande de Dreux on 1 November 1285, though only a stillborn child would result of this union.

The far reaching effects of Alexander's death on Scotland cannot be underestimated. Had he lived and inherited the throne, John Balliol would not have been appointed as King of Scotland by Edward I of England, bringing Scotland under the control of England, and resulting in the eventual war between the two countries.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Alexander, Prince of Scotland

16. Henry, Earl of Northumbria               8. William I of Scotland                       17. Ada de Warenne               4. Alexander II of Scotland                             18. Richard I, Viscount de Beaumont               9. Ermengarde de Beaumont                       19. Constance FitzRoy               2. Alexander III of Scotland                                   20. Ralph I, Lord of Coucy               10. Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy                       21. Alice de Dreux               5. Marie de Coucy                             22. Jean I, Lord of Montmirail               11. Marie de Montmirel                       23. Helvide de Dampierre               1. Alexander, Prince of Scotland                                         24. Henry II of England               12. John of England                       25. Eleanor of Aquitaine               6. Henry III of England                             26. Aymer, Count of Angoulême               13. Isabella of Angoulême                       27. Alice of Courtenay               3. Margaret of England                                   28. Alfonso II, Count of Provence               14. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence                       29. Garsenda, Countess of Forcalquier               7. Eleanor of Provence                             30. Thomas I, Count of Savoy               15. Beatrice of Savoy                       31. Marguerite of Geneva

External links

• "Alexander, Prince of Scotland". Find a Grave. Retrieved 9 August 2010.