Alexander Stewart (c. 1491– 9 September 1513) was an illegitimate son of King James IV of Scotland by his mistress Marion Boyd. He was the King's eldest illegitimate child. He was an elder brother of Catherine Stewart, his only full sibling, and was an older half-brother of the future James V. He was installed as Archbishop of St Andrews at the age of eleven and was killed beside his father the King at the Battle of Flodden aged twenty.
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Family
Alexander Stewart's mother was Marion Boyd, daughter of Archibald Boyd of Bonshaw, whose sister Elizabeth Boyd was married to Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus. Douglas, who served as Lord Chancellor of Scotland between 1493 and 1498, encouraged the relationship between his niece Marion and the young King James IV. James's children by Marion Boyd were Alexander, born c. 1493, and Catherine Stewart. Catherine (d. after 1554) married James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Morton (d. 1548).
Alexander became a close friend of James IV's queen consort Margaret Tudor, often included at her table playing cards in the early days of her marriage, before his departure for Europe.
