ALEXANDER III. (124T-1285), king of Scotland, son of Alexander II. by his second wife Mary de Coucy, succeeded to the throne in 1249, at the age of eight. The years of his minority were marked by an embittered struggle for the control of affairs between two rival parties, the one led by Walter Comyn, earl of Menteith, the other by Alan Durward, the justiciar. At the marriage of Alexander to Margaret of England in 1251, Henry III. seized the opportunity to demand from his son-in-law homage for the Scottish kingdom, but the claim was refused. On attaining his majority, Alexander laid formal claim before the Norwegian king Haakon for sovereignty over the Hebrides, where Scandinavians had settled since the gth century. Haakon replied by a formidable expedi tion in 1263. Sailing round the west coast of Scotland he halted off Arran, where negotiations were opened. These were pro longed by Alexander until the autumn storms should begin.
At length Haakon attacked only to encounter a terrific storm which greatly damaged his ships. The battle of Largs (Oct. I2, 1263) was indecisive.
But even so Haakon's position was hopeless. Baffled he turned homewards, but died on the way.
In 1266 Haakon's successor concluded a treaty by which the Isle of Man and the Western Isles were ceded to Scotland in return for a sum of 4,00o marks in four yearly payments, Orkney and Shetland alone being retained for Norway. The marriage of Alexander's daughter, Margaret, to Eric, son of King Magnus, was also agreed. Towards the end of Alexander's reign, the death of all his three children within a few years made the question of the succession one of pressing importance.
In 1284 he induced the Estates to recognize as his heir presumptive his grand-daughter Margaret, the "Maid of Nor way," and next year the desire for a male heir led him to con tract a second marriage. Alexander was killed by a fall from his horse in the dark while riding to visit the queen at Kinghorn on March 16, 1285. The "Lament for Alisaunder," cited by Wynton, written in praise of Alexander III., is one of the earliest Scottish poems extant.