Alexander III, 1249-1286: First Among Equals

Winner of the Saltire Society Scottish History Book of the Year

Presiding over an age of relative peace and prosperity, Alexander III represented the zenith of Scottish medieval kingship. The events which followed his early and unexpected death plunged Scotland into turmoil, and into a period of warfare and internal decline which almost brought about the demise of the Scottish state.

This study fills a serious gap in the historiography of medieval Scotland. For many decades, even centuries,...