In the year 1234, though the resignation by Richard must have been still fresh in the memory of the English, Pope Gregory IX., at the request of Henry, exhorted Alexander to perform the conditions of the old treaty between Henry II. and William of Scotland. Alexander had too great a regard for the Head of the Papal Church, to let him remain long in ignorance of the impropriety of such exhortations; and with the same spirit which characterized the conduct of his father towards the See of Rome, refused, according to Lord Hailes,[36] “to receive a Legate, whose original commission respected England alone,” as it “might be interpreted in a sense prejudicial to the independency of the Scottish church. It is reported that Alexander consented to his admission, at the joint request of the nobility of both kingdoms, and that he insisted for, and obtained a written declaration from the Legate, that this should not be drawn into a precedent. Certain it is, that the Legate proceeded not beyond Edinburgh, and that Alexander avoided his presence.” It is added, “The Legate sojourned in the principal towns on this side the sea, and having collected a large sum of money, secretly, and without leave asked, he departed from Scotland.”
Lord Hailes continues, “Such was the magnanimity of Alexander II. that the high-spirited Pontiff, Gregory IX. submitted to soothe him by a detail of specious and affected reasons, tending to evince the propriety of a legation in Scotland.” The “church of Scotland,” says that Pope, “acknowledges the Romish see as her immediate mother in things spiritual. To leave her destitute of the consolation of a Legate from us, would be an indignity which we cannot in conscience allow. Were we, by our Legate, to visit the church of England, and yet neglect the neighbouring church of Scotland, she might think us destitute of maternal affection.”
In 1239, Alexander married Mary de Couci, daughter of a powerful baron in Picardy. The politics of this lady’s family were adverse to England, and Henry became jealous of her influence over her husband. Various circumstances occurred to foster the seeds of animosity in the mind of the English monarch; among other things, it was told him that Alexander had said, That “he owed no homage to England for _any_ part of his territories, and would perform none.” Henry secretly prepared for war, by soliciting succour from the Earl of Flanders, and instigating the Irish to invade Scotland; while he collected a numerous army at Newcastle, ready to co-operate with them.