Andrew Stewart (bishop of Caithness, died 1541)

Last updated

Andrew Stewart
Bishop of Caithness
Coat of arms of Andrew Stewart, Bishop of Caithness.jpg
Church Roman Catholic Church
See Diocese of Caithness
In office1517–1541
Predecessor Andrew Stewart
Successor Alexander Gordon
Orders
Consecration14 December 1517 (papal provision)
Personal details
Born15th century
Probably Atholl
Died Dornoch, 1541
Previous post(s) Bishop of Dunkeld (elect: 1515–1516)
Rector of Blair

Andrew Stewart (died 1541) was a 16th-century Scottish noble and cleric. He was a legitimate [1] 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 (to James I). [2] Andrew chose an ecclesiastical career, held a canonry in Dunkeld Cathedral and was rector of Blair parish church (Dunkeld diocese), [3] a church under the control of the earls of Atholl. [4]

After the death in January 1515 of George Brown, Bishop of Dunkeld, a new bishop was needed for that bishopric. Queen Margaret, husband of the recently deceased James IV and mother of the young James V, backed to succeed Brown one Gavin Douglas, a poet and cleric who was Provost of St Giles church in Edinburgh. [5] He was the uncle of the queen's new husband, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. [6] The queen had put him forward on 20 January 1515, just a few days after Brown's death. [6] Douglas had lately missed out on the position of Archbishop of St Andrews, and so this was in some way intended as compensation. [7] Douglas had a proctor pay 450 florins to the Papal see, and Pope Leo X confirmed his position on 25 May. [8]

Meanwhile, Andrew Stewart's brother John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl, pressured the chapter of Dunkeld Cathedral to elect Andrew to the see instead of Douglas. Alexander Myln, in his 16th century Vitae Dunkeldensis ecclesiae episcoporum ("Lives of the Bishops of Dunkeld"), related that after hearing news of Bishop Brown's death, Atholl visited Dunkeld and requested that his brother be made bishop. [9] As many of the canons were either related by blood to Atholl, or else held lands under Atholl's power, the pressure was significant and Andrew Stewart was accordingly elected to the see. [10] A letter was sent to John Stewart, Duke of Albany, Governor of Scotland and guardian of the young James V of Scotland; Albany was in France and refused to deal with the disposal of any bishopric until his return to the country. [10] When Albany returned in May (still 1515), he subverted Queen Margaret, confirmed the appointment of Andrew and compelled the chapter of Dunkeld to hand over the temporalities of the see. [11] In July, the Queen agreed to Andrew Stewart's appointment and Albany imprisoned Douglas for breaking the laws of the kingdom, that is, on account of his purchase of the bishopric at Rome. [12]

However, Andrew Stewart failed to secure confirmation from the Papacy. Albany gave up his support for Andrew and released Douglas from imprisonment; in September 1516, he agreed to Douglas' accession to the see of Dunkeld. [6] Douglas was consecrated on 21 September 1516. [13] On 24 July 1517, Albany wrote to the Pope requesting that Andrew Stewart be given the now vacant see of Caithness. [3] The Pope agreed, and on 14 December 1517, Andrew Stewart became Bishop of Caithness. [14] Thereafter, the sources leave almost no information about Stewart, and his 24-year rule of the diocese of Caithness goes largely undocumented, save only the occasional appearance, such as his attendance at parliament on 10 December 1540. [15] He died intestate some short time before 9 August 1541. [16]

Notes

  1. ↑ See Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 248, n. 1, for dismissal of previous speculation that he was a bastard.
  2. ↑ Boardman, "Stewart, John, first earl of Atholl (1440?–1512)".
  3. 1 2 Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 248.
  4. ↑ Cowan, Parishes of Medieval Scotland, p. 18.
  5. ↑ Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 83.
  6. 1 2 3 Bawcutt, "Douglas, Gavin (c.1476–1522)".
  7. ↑ Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, pp. 99, 297-8.
  8. ↑ Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 99; Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 83.
  9. ↑ Myln, Vitae Dunkeldensis, pp. 70–1.
  10. 1 2 Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 82.
  11. ↑ Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 99; Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 82.
  12. ↑ Bawcutt, "Douglas, Gavin (c.1476–1522)"; Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 99; Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, pp. 82, 83.
  13. ↑ Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 99.
  14. ↑ Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 61; Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 248.
  15. ↑ Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 248, n. 1.
  16. ↑ Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 61; Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 2498.

Related Research Articles

Gavin Douglas

Gavin Douglas was a Scottish bishop, makar and translator. Although he had an important political career, he is chiefly remembered for his poetry. His main pioneering achievement was the Eneados, a full and faithful vernacular translation of the Aeneid of Virgil into Scots, and the first successful example of its kind in any Anglic language. Other extant poetry of his includes Palice of Honour, and possibly King Hart.

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.

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.

Robert Cockburn

Robert Cockburn was a 16th-century Scottish diplomat and cleric.

Donald Campbell was a 16th-century Scottish noble and churchman. He was the son of Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll and Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. From 1522, he was a student of St Salvator's College, at the University of St Andrews. After graduation, he became a cleric in his home diocese, the diocese of Argyll.

Robert Crichton was a 16th-century Scottish Catholic cleric.

William Gordon was a 16th-century Scottish noble and prelate, the last of the pre-Reformation bishops of Aberdeen owing allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church.

Henry de Lichton Medieval Scottish prelate and diplomat

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.

Andrew Stewart (bishop of Moray)

Andrew Stewart was a 15th-century Scottish prelate and administrator.

Alexander Vaus [Vause, de Vaus] was a late 14th century and 15th century Scottish prelate. Said to have been the younger son of one Patrick Vaus, he apparently held "church livings" in Galloway as early as 1421.

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.

Ninian Spot [de Spot] was a royal clerk and prelate in the 15th century Kingdom of Scotland. He spent much of his youth at university, eventually obtaining Master's Degree.

David Arnot Scottish prelate of the Catholic Church from 1509 to 1526

David Arnot was a Scottish prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the Bishop of Galloway (Scotland) from 1509 to 1526. He was from the Arnot family of Arnot, Fife.

Henry Wemyss was a prelate from the 16th century Kingdom of Scotland. He appears in the sources in the bishopric of Galloway for the first time in 1517, and rose to become Bishop of Galloway in 1526, a position he held until his death in 1541.

Reinald Macer [also called Reginald] was a medieval Cistercian monk and bishop, active in the Kingdom of Scotland during the reign of William the Lion. Originally a monk of Melrose Abbey, he rose to become Bishop of Ross in 1195, and held this position until his death in 1213. He is given the nickname Macer in Roger of Howden's Chronica, a French word that meant "skinny".

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.

Adam de Darlington [Derlingtun] was a 13th-century English churchman based in the Kingdom of Scotland. Adam's name occurred for the first time in a Moray document datable between 1255 and 1271, where he was named as the Precentor of Fortrose Cathedral. He seems to have been introduced into the diocese of Ross, along with others from the north-east of England, by Bishop Robert de Fyvie, who may have been descended from the area.

Alexander de Waghorn, Bishop of Ross, bears a surname that may suggest an origin in the Glasgow area of southern Scotland, though there are other possibilities.

Fionnlagh MacCailein or Finlay Colini was a medieval Scottish bishop. Both his early life and the details of his career as Bishop of Dunblane are not well known, however it is known that he held the latter bishopric between 1403 and his death in 1419. He was part of the circle of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, and was one of the many clerics from west and central Gaelic-speaking Scotland who benefited from the latter's patronage. He is said to have authorised the construction of the first bridge over the river Allan at Dunblane.

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

Religious titles
Preceded by Bishop of Dunkeld
1515–1516 (elect)		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Caithness
1517–1541		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.