Alexander Stewart
Archbishop of St Andrews
Stewart, Alexander (Recueil d'Arras, f. 256)
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Archdiocese	St Andrews
Appointed	10 May 1504
Term ended	9 September 1513
Predecessor	James Stewart
Successor	Andrew Forman
Personal details
Born	c. 1493
Died	9 September 1513 (aged c. 20) Branxton, Northumberland, England
Parents	James IV of Scotland Marion Boyd

Alexander Stewart (c. 1493– 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.

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.^[1] 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).^[2]

From a young age Alexander was groomed for a life in the church. At the age of four his father received a dispensation from illegitimacy by Pope Julius II enabling him to join the church. By September 1502 he was archdeacon, when his uncle James, Duke of Ross died in 1504 his father the King nominated him as the new Archbishop of St Andrews. Alexander was still only a boy at age 11 which would mean his father could still receive the revenues of St Andrews since Alexander was under age until he turned 27.

He received a superb education firstly from James Watson, later Dean of the Arts faculty at St Andrews, and latterly from Patrick Paniter whom he seemed to have been close to. In 1507 Alexander Stewart was sent to France on the royal ship the Treasurer. His education continued with lengthy journeys to the Low Countries, and Italy in 1507. In Padua he studied rhetoric and Greek under Erasmus who wrote a moving obituary after young Alexander's death at the Battle of Flodden.^[3] Erasmus mentioned their time at Siena where after studies in the morning Alexander would play the monochord, recorder or lute in the afternoon.^[4] Alexander returned to Scotland in 1510 and at the age of 17 became Lord Chancellor of Scotland.

Alexander was reportedly severely myopic, possibly from extensive study in poor conditions. In 1511 he co-founded St Leonard's College in St Andrews, whose chapel still stands (minus its original tower). A gateway with his coat of arms above the arch survives in St Andrews. He was killed along with his father at the Battle of Flodden in Northumberland in 1513.

Norman Macdougall James the Fourth

v t e Bishops and archbishops of St Andrews
Known pre-Norman era bishops	Cellach I Fothad I Máel Ísu I Cellach II Máel Muire Máel Ísu II Ailín Máel Dúin Túathal Fothad II Giric Cathróe
Scoto-Norman era bishops	Turgot of Durham Eadmer Robert of Scone Ernald Richard the Chaplain Hugh the Chaplain John Scotus Roger de Beaumont Geoffrey de Liberatione William de Malveisin David de Bernham Robert de Stuteville Abel de Gullane Gamelin William Wishart William Fraser William de Lamberton James Bane William Bell William de Landallis Stephen de Pa Walter Trail Thomas Stewart Walter de Danielston Gilbert de Greenlaw Henry Wardlaw James Kennedy Patrick Graham
Pre-Reformation archbishops	Patrick Graham William Scheves James Stewart, Duke of Ross Alexander Stewart John Hepburn Cardinal Innocenzo Cybo Andrew Forman James Beaton Cardinal David Beaton John Hamilton Gavin Hamilton
Post-Reformation archbishops	John Douglas Patrick Adamson George Gledstanes John Spottiswoode James Sharp Alexander Burnet Arthur Rose
Afterwards, see also: Episcopal Archbishops of St Andrews, Bishops of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane (etc.) & Roman Catholic Archbishops of St Andrews and Edinburgh (etc.)