Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross
| Alexander de Yle (Alasdair MacDomhnaill) |
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|---|---|
| Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles | |
The seal of Alexander. It includes his arms, which contains the arms of the Lordship of the Isles and the Earldom of Ross, surrounded by a royal tressure, indicating Alexander's royal blood as the grandson of King Robert II of Scotland.
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| Reign | 1423/1437-1449 |
| Predecessor | Domhnall of Islay |
| Successor | John of Islay |
| Issue | |
| Noble family | Clann Domhnaill (Clann Somhairle) |
| Father | Domhnall of Islay |
| Mother | Mariota MacDonald |
| Died | 1449 Dingwall |
| Buried | Fortrose Cathedral, Fortrose |
Alexander of Islay or Alexander MacDonald (died 1449; Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair MacDomhnaill, Dòmhnallach or MacDhòmhnaill) was a medieval Scottish nobleman, who succeeded his father Domhnall of Islay as Lord of the Isles (1423–1449) and rose to the rank of Earl of Ross (1437–49). His lively career, especially before he attained the earldom of Ross, led Hugh MacDonald, the 17th century author of History of the MacDonalds, to commemorate him as "a man born to much trouble all his lifetime". Alexander allied himself with King James I of Scotland against the power of the Albany Stewarts in 1425 but, once the Albany Stewarts were out of the way, Alexander quickly found himself at odds with the new king. War with King James would initially prove Alexander's undoing, and would see the King's power in Scotland greatly increased, but at the Battle of Inverlochy Alexander's army prevailed against the forces of the King. Alexander died in 1449, having greatly extended his family's landed wealth and power. He was buried, not in the Isles of his ancestors, but at Fortrose Cathedral in his mainland Earldom of Ross.
Alexander inherited his father Domhnall's alliance with King James I of Scotland against the power of the Albany Stewarts, who by the time James returned to Scotland from English captivity in 1424 ruled more of Scotland than King James could. By 1425 James had decided to destroy the Albany Stewarts once and for all. In May of this year, Alexander attended the Stirling parliament, and sat on the jury of 21 knights and peers which ordered the execution of Murdoch (Muireadhach), Duke of Albany, along with his son Alexander and his ally Donnchadh, Earl of Lennox.
However, the destruction of the Albany Stewarts removed the main reason for the co-operation between the King and the Lord of the Isles. It is possible that, as Michael Brown believes, James acknowledged Alexander's control of the earldom of Ross as a reward for his support against Albany, as in 1426 Alexander used the style "Master of the Earldom of Ross". However, Richard Oram takes a different view, and sees Alexander's adoption of this title and occupation of much of the earldom as a provocation towards James, since it had passed to him after the death of John Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Ross in 1424, and James was legally entitled the hold the earldom. Alexander's use of this title, if it were provocation, would have been compounded in the king's mind by the fact that Alexander's uncle John Mór MacDonald was harbouring and protecting James Mór (or James the Fat), the son of Duke Murdoch, while James Mór was claiming James' throne.
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