{{Infobox_Monarch | name = Alexander I<br>(''Alaxandair mac Maíl Choluim'')
| title = [[King of Scots]]
| image = [[Image:Alexander I (Alba) i.JPG|200px]]
| reign = 1107–1124
| coronation =
| predecessor = [[Edgar of Scotland|Edgar]]
| successor = [[David I of Scotland|David I]]
| heir =
| consort = [[Sybilla de Normandy]]
| issue = [[Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair|Máel Coluim]] (illegitimate?)
| royal house =
| royal anthem =
| father = [[Malcolm III of Scotland|Malcolm III of Scotland]] (''Máel Coluim mac Donnchada'')
| mother = [[Saint Margaret of Scotland|Margaret of Wessex]]
| date of birth = About 1078
| place of birth = [[Dunfermline]]
| date of death = {{death date|1124|4|23|df=y}}
| place of death = [[Stirling]]
| place of burial= [[Dunfermline Abbey]]
|}}
'''Alexander I of Scotland''' ([[Scottish Gaelic language|Mediaeval Gaelic]]: ''Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim'', [[Scottish Gaelic language|Modern Gaelic]]: ''Alasdair mac Mhaol Chaluim'') (c. 1078 – [[23 April]] [[1124]]), called "The Fierce", [[king of Scots]], was the fourth son of [[Malcolm III of Scotland|Malcolm III]] (Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) by his wife [[Saint Margaret of Scotland|Margaret of Wessex]], grand-niece of [[Edward the Confessor]]. He was named for [[Pope Alexander II]].
Alexander was his unmarried brother [[Edgar of Scotland|Edgar]]'s heir, perhaps throughout his reign, and certainly by 1104 when he was the senior layman present at the examination of the remains of [[Saint Cuthbert]] at [[Durham]] prior to their reinterrment. He held lands in Scotland north of the [[River Forth|Forth]] and in [[Lothian]].<ref>Barrow, p. 154.</ref>
On the death of Edgar in [[1107]] he succeeded to the Scottish crown; but, in accordance with Edgar's instructions, their brother [[David I of Scotland|David]] was granted an [[appanage]] in southern Scotland. Edgar's will granted David the lands of the former [[kingdom of Strathclyde]] or Cumbria, and this was apparently agreed in advance by Edgar, Alexander, David and their brother-in-law [[Henry I of England]]. However, in 1113, perhaps at Henry's instigation, and with the support of his [[Anglo-Norman]], David demanded, and received, additional lands in [[Lothian]] along the Upper [[River Tweed|Tweed]] and [[River Teviot|Teviot]]. David did not receive the title of king, but of "prince of the Cumbrians", and his lands remained under Alexander's final authority.<ref>Oram, pp. 60–63.</ref>
The dispute over Upper Tweeddale and Teviotdale does not appear to have damaged relations between Alexander and David, although it was unpopular in some quarters. A [[Scottish Gaelic language|Gaelic]] poem laments:<blockquote>It's bad what Malcolm's son has done,<br>dividing us from Alexander;<br>he causes, like each king's son before,<br>the plunder of stable Alba.<ref>Oram, p. 66 citing [[Thomas Owen Clancy|Clancy]], ''The Triumph Tree''.</ref></blockquote>
The dispute over the eastern marches does not appear to have caused lasting trouble between Alexander and Henry of England. In 1114 he joined Henry on campaign in [[Wales]] against [[Gruffydd ap Cynan]] of [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]].<ref>Oram, p. 65.</ref> Alexander's marriage with Henry's illegitimate daughter [[Sybilla de Normandy]] may have occurred as early as 1107, or as at late as 1114.<ref>Oram, p. 65; a date around 1114 would place the marriage at about the same time as that of David and [[Maud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon|Maud of Huntingdon]].</ref>
[[William of Malmesbury]]'s account attacks Sybilla, but the evidence argues that Alexander and Sybilla were a devoted but childless couple and Sybilla was of noteworthy piety.<ref>Duncan,p. 65; Oram, p. 71.</ref> Sybilla died in unrecorded circumstances at ''Eilean nam Ban'' ([[Kenmore, Perth and Kinross|Kenmore]] on [[Loch Tay]]) in July, [[1122]] and was buried at [[Dunfermline Abbey]]. Alexander did not remarry and [[Walter Bower]] wrote that he planned an [[Augustinian]] [[Priory]] at the ''Eilean nam Ban'' dedicated to Sybilla's memory, and he may have taken steps to have her [[Veneration|venerated]].<ref>Oram, p. 71.</ref>
[[Image:Alexander I (Alba) ii.JPG|thumb|250px|The reverse of the [[seal (device)|seal]] of Alexander I, enhanced as a 19th century steel engraving.]]
Alexander had at least one child, [[Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair]], probably illegitimate, who was later to be involved in a revolt against [[David I of Scotland|David I]] in the 1130s. He was imprisoned at [[Roxburgh]] for many years afterwards, perhaps until his death some time after 1157.<ref>Oram, p. 77. The identity of this person may be still in question, see [[Meic Uilleim]] and [[MacHeths]].</ref>
Alexander was, like his brothers Edgar and David, a notably pious king. He was responsible for foundations at [[Scone, Perthshire|Scone]] and [[Inchcolm]]. His mother's chaplain and [[hagiography|hagiographer]] [[Thurgot]] was named [[Bishop of Saint Andrews]] (or ''Cell Rígmonaid'') in 1107, presumably by Alexander's order.<ref>Barrow, p. 154.</ref> The case of Thurgot's would-be successor [[Eadmer]] shows that Alexander's wishes were not always accepted by the religious community, perhaps because Eadmer had the backing of the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Ralph d'Escures]], rather than [[Thurstan]] of [[Archbishop of York|York]]. Alexander also patronised [[Saint Andrews]], granting lands intended for an Augustinian Priory, which may have been the same as that intended to honour his wife.<ref>Barrow, p. 156.</ref>
For all his religiosity, Alexander was not remembered as a man of peace. [[John of Fordun]] says of him:
{{cquote|Now the king was a lettered and godly man; very humble and amiable towards the clerics and regulars, but terrible beyond measure to the rest of his subjects; a man of large heart, exerting himself in all things beyond his strength.<ref>Fordun, V, xxviii ([[William Forbes Skene|Skene's]] edition).</ref>}}
He manifested the terrible aspect of his character in his reprisals in the [[Mormaerdom of Moray]]. [[Andrew of Wyntoun]]'s ''Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland'' says that Alexander was holding court at [[Invergowrie]] when he was attacked by "men of the Isles".<ref>Wyntoun, cxxvii.</ref> Walter Bower says the attackers were from Moray and Mearns. Alexander pursued them north, to "Stockford" in [[Ross]] (near [[Beauly]]) where he defeated them. This, says Wyntoun, is why he was named the "Fierce". The dating of this is uncertain, as are his enemies' identity. However, in 1116 the [[Annals of Ulster]] report: "Ladhmann son of Domnall, grandson of the king of Scotland, was killed by the men of Moray." The king referred to is Alexander's father, Malcolm III, and Domnall was Alexander's half brother. The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray was ruled by the family of [[Macbeth of Scotland|Macbeth]] (Mac Bethad mac Findláich) and [[Lulach of Scotland|Lulach]] (Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin); not overmighty subjects, but a family who had ruled Alba within little more than a lifetime. Who the Mormaer or King was at this time is not known, it may have been [[Óengus of Moray]] or his father, whose name is not known. As for the Mearns, the only known [[Mormaer of Mearns]], [[Máel Petair of Mearns|Máel Petair]], had murdered Alexander's half-brother [[Duncan II of Scotland|Duncan II]] (Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim) in 1094.<ref>MacDonald, pp. 23–24, deals with this affair.</ref>
Alexander died in April 1124 at his court at Stirling; his brother David, probably the acknowledged heir since the death of Sybilla, succeeded him.<ref>Oram, pp.71–72.</ref>
==Notes==
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<references/>
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==References==
<div class="references-small">
* [[Geoffrey Barrow|Barrow, G.W.S.]], ''The Kingdom of the Scots.'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2003. ISBN 0-7486-1803-1
* Duncan, A.A.M., ''The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence.'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. ISBN 0-7486-1626-8
* [[Richard Oram|Oram, Richard]], ''David I: The King Who Made Scotland.'' Tempus, Stroud, 2004. ISBN 0-7524-2825-X
* McDonald, R. Andrew, ''Outlaws of Medieval Scotland: Challenges to the Canmore Kings, 1058–1266.'' Tuckwell Press, East Linton, 2003. ISBN 1-86232-236-8
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{{succession box |
title=[[King of Scots]] |
before=[[Edgar of Scotland|Edgar]] |
after=[[David I of Scotland|David I]] |
years=1107–1124
}}
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{{Scottish Monarchs}}
[[Category:1078 births]]
[[Category:1124 deaths]]
[[Category:Scottish monarchs]]
[[Category:House of Dunkeld]]
[[Category:Medieval Gaels]]
[[bg:Александър I Шотландски]]
[[ca:Alexandre I d'Escòcia]]
[[de:Alexander I. (Schottland)]]
[[es:Alejandro I de Escocia]]
[[fr:Alexandre Ier d'Écosse]]
[[it:Alessandro I di Scozia]]
[[nl:Alexander I van Schotland]]
[[ja:アレグザンダー1世 (スコットランド王)]]
[[no:Aleksander I av Skottland]]
[[pl:Aleksander I Szkocki]]
[[pt:Alexandre I da Escócia]]
[[simple:Alexander I of Scotland]]
[[sv:Alexander I av Skottland]]
[[uk:Александр І (король Шотландії)]]
[[zh:亚历山大一世 (苏格兰)]]