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The Archdeacon of St Andrews was the head of the Archdeaconry of St Andrews, a sub-division of the Diocese of St Andrews, from the twelfth to the seventeenth century. The position was one of the most important positions within the medieval Scottish church; because of his area's large population and high number of parish churches, the Archdeacon of St Andrews may have exercised more power than many Scottish bishops. The following is a list of known archdeacons:
Robert de Cardeny was a late 14th and early 15th century Scottish cleric. He was the son of one John Cardeny, and sister of the royal mistress Mariota de Cardeny. His early career is obscure. In 1378-80, King Robert II of Scotland petitioned the Pope for a canonry in the diocese of Moray for one Robert de Cardun, despite the fact that the latter already held canonries and prebends in the diocese of Dunblane and Dunkeld. This Robert de Cardun was both a member of King Robert's household and a student at the University of Paris. Robert had graduated from Paris in 1381 as Licentiate. In 1392 he was a receiver of the "English Nation" at Paris and custodian of the Nation's seal. In 1394 Robert was still in Paris, now as Master Robert de Cardeny
John de Ralston was a 15th-century Scottish bishop and administrator. He was regarded as illegitimate, although today his parents are not known. Ralston appears in the records for the first time in 1426, where he is chaplain and secretary to Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas. He retained this position on the death of Douglas in 1439. Between 1429 and 1443 he served as the fourth provost of Bothwell Collegiate Church, the home church of the Douglas earls. On 26 November 1445 he became dean of the diocese of Dunkeld.
James Livingston was a 15th-century cleric from East Lothian in south-eastern Scotland. Born at an unknown date in the 15th century, he was a son of the Laird of Saltcoats. He chose a career in the church, and became rector of the churches of Forteviot and Weme, and vicar of Innerleithen. By 1474, if not earlier, he had become dean for the whole diocese of Dunkeld. After the death of Thomas Lauder, Livingston was chosen as his successor as Bishop of Dunkeld. Although Livingston's appointment was contested at Rome by Thomas Spens, Bishop of Aberdeen, who wanted to be translated to Dunkeld, Livingston was consecrated on 30 June 1476. Livingston's episcopate is relatively obscure; he spent a good deal of time in Edinburgh, where he is witness to several charters. He died at Edinburgh, on 28 August 1483. He was buried in Inchcolm.
George Brown was a late 15th-century and early 16th-century Scottish churchman. He first appears on record in 1478 as the rector of the church of Tyningham, and is called a clerk of the diocese of Brechin. In 1482, he was selected to be Chancellor of the diocese of Aberdeen.
Andrew Stewart was a 16th-century Scottish noble and cleric. He was the legitimate son of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl and Eleanor Sinclair, daughter of William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney. His paternal grandmother was Joan Beaufort, former queen-consort of Scotland. Andrew chose an ecclesiastical career, held a canonry in Dunkeld Cathedral and was rector of Blair parish church, a church under the control of the earls of Atholl.
Robert Crichton was a 16th-century Scottish Catholic cleric.
Ingram Lindsay [Ingeram de Lindesay], Doctor in Canon Law, was a 15th-century Scottish cleric. Despite being of illegitimate birth - one of several sons of an unmarried nobleman and an unmarried woman - he nevertheless managed in the end to pursue a successful ecclesiastical career.
Henry de Lichton [de Lychtone, Leighton] was a medieval Scottish prelate and diplomat, who, serving as Bishop of Moray (1414–1422) and Bishop of Aberdeen (1422–1440), became a significant patron of the church, a cathedral builder, and a writer. He also served King James I of Scotland as a diplomat in England, France, and Italy.
Alexander de Kininmund was a 14th-century Scottish churchman. The first mention of Alexander occurs when, as a canon of Dunkeld he is one of three ambassadors sent by King Robert I of Scotland to Avignon in 1320. The purpose of this embassy was to present a letter to Pope John XXII known as the Declaration of Arbroath. As a papal chaplain and lawyer, he was well qualified to argue the Scottish cause, and Barrow makes a strong case that he was, in fact the author of the document.
John de Winchester was a 15th-century English cleric who distinguished himself as an administrator and bishop in Scotland. Winchester was a student of canon law from 1418, graduating with a bachelorate in 1421.
Andrew Stewart was a 15th-century Scottish prelate and administrator.
Ingram de Ketenis [de Kethenys] was a medieval cleric from Angus in Scotland.
Thomas de Buittle [Butil, Butill, Butyll, Butyl, Bucyl] was a Scottish prelate, clerk and papal auditor active in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Probably originating in Galloway, Scotland, Thomas took a university career in canon law in England and France, before taking up service at the court of Avignon Pope Benedict XIII. He obtained a number of benefices in the meantime, including the position of Archdeacon of Galloway, and is the earliest known and probably first provost of the collegiate church of Maybole. The height of his career came however when the Pope provided him to the bishopric of Galloway, a position he held from 1415 until his death sometime between 1420 and 1422.
John Fraser [also, more commonly then, Frisel or Frisell] was a late medieval Scottish prelate. Born about 1429, or 1430 if later tradition can be believed, with strong connections to the burgh of Linlithgow, Fraser held a variety of high-level ecclesiastical positions in Scotland, including being the first Dean of Restalrig collegiate church before becoming Bishop of Ross in 1497, a position he held until his death in 1507.
Thomas Tulloch [de Tulloch] was a prelate active in the Kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century. A letter of Pope Martin V in 1429 claimed that he was "of a great noble race by both parents". Robert Keith believed that he had the surname "Urquhart", but that is not supported by the contemporary evidence and is probably spurious.
Robert de Fyvie [also de Fyvin] was a prelate based in the Kingdom of Scotland in the last quarter of the 13th century. Perhaps coming from Fyvie in Formartine, from a family of Teesdale origin, Robert was Archdeacon of Ross and a student at the University of Bologna by 1269. In 1275, he was not only a graduate but the new Bishop of Ross, a post he held until his death in the first half of the 1290s.
Alexander Stewart was a 14th-century Scottish bishop. Probably from Menteith, he appears in the sources from the first half of the 1340s, possessing a university degree and holding the position of Archdeacon of Ross. He was active at the papal curia in the second half of the decade as a papal chaplain and administrator, before being provided as Bishop of Ross in 1350, a position he held until his death in 1371.
Nicholas de Balmyle, also called Nicholas of St Andrews, was a Scottish administrator and prelate in the late 13th century and early 14th century. A graduate of an unknown university, he served his earliest years as a clergyman at St Andrews, moving on to hold churches in Lothian as well as deputising to two archdeacons of Lothian.
John de Crannach was a 15th-century Scottish scholar, diplomat and prelate. Originating in the north-east of Lowland Scotland, he probably came from a family associated with the burgh of Aberdeen. Like many of his relatives, he flourished in the 15th-century Scottish church. After just over a decade at the University of Paris, Crannach became a servant of the then Dauphin Charles (VII).
References
- Dowden, John, The Bishops of Scotland, ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
- Watt, D.E.R., Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638, 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969)