Bernard | |
---|---|
Bishop of the Isles | |
Church | Catholic Church |
See | Diocese of the Isles |
In office | 1327 x 1328–1331 |
Predecessor | Gillebrìghde MacGilleFhaolain |
Successor | Thomas de Rossy |
Orders | |
Consecration | 26 June x 12 November 1328 |
Personal details | |
Born | unknown uncertain |
Died | c. 1331 Buried in Kilwinning Abbey |
Previous post(s) | Abbot of Kilwinning (x 1296–1296 x 1305) Chancellor of Scotland (1306 x 1308–1328) Abbot of Arbroath (1310–1328) |
Bernard (died c. 1331) was a Tironensian abbot, administrator and bishop active in late 13th- and early 14th-century Scotland, during the First War of Scottish Independence. He first appears in the records already established as Abbot of Kilwinning in 1296, disappearing for a decade before re-emerging as Chancellor of Scotland then Abbot of Arbroath.
A senior figure in the administration of Scotland during the 1310s and 1320s, he is widely said by modern writers to have drafted the Declaration of Arbroath, and although there is no direct evidence for this, he nevertheless probably played a role. By early 1328, his service to the king had earned him a bishopric – the bishopric of the Isles – a position he held for three or four years before his death in 1331.
The name "Bernard abbe de Kilwynin" (abbot of Kilwinning) occurs on the Ragman Rolls, 28 August 1296, and he is recorded again in a document of Melrose Abbey on 25 December. [1] Bernard is unrecorded as abbot of Kilwinning after this year, but it is possible that he was ejected from Kilwinning Abbey by the English king in one of the following years, probably retiring to another Tironensian monastery, Arbroath Abbey. [2] A document dated 1296 x 1305, names one otherwise unknown Roger as Abbot of Kilwinning, meaning that Bernard had ceased to hold this position by 1305 at the latest. [1]
Although once regarded as a historical dead-end, it is now established that this Bernard was the same Tironensian who was later Chancellor of Scotland, Abbot of Arbroath and Bishop of the Isles. Since 1726, Bernard had been erroneously identified with Bernard de Linton, parson of Mordington, a name which occurs only in the Ragman Rolls. Professor A. A. M. Duncan first argued that Bernard of Arbroath was the same as Bernard of Kilwinning, rather than Bernard de Linton, in 1988, [3] and has since been accepted by other historians. [4]
From 1308, Bernard appears in the charters of Robert I, King of the Scots, as "Dom Bernard the Chancellor". [5] It was in 1308 that Robert finally got full control over the province of Angus, where Arbroath Abbey is located. [6] The Abbot of Arbroath at the time, John de Angus, appears to have been an English appointee, and was subsequently ejected from office. [7] On 1 November 1309, John de Angus was "released" from the responsibility of his office by the Bishop of St Andrews, though he retained Haltwhistle as rector, a parish church in Tynedale, Northumberland, which belonged to the abbey. [8]
Bernard was elected as the new abbot sometime in 1310, probably by August. [6] John de Angus continued to be styled "Abbot of Arbroath" in English sources, though he became a Scottish prisoner in 1312 and was holding Haltwhistle from the Bishop of Durham by 1313. [8] After his blessing as abbot, Bernard traveled to the Kingdom of Norway to negotiate an agreement with the Norwegian king. He returned in February 1312, and on 29 October 1312 Norwegian ambassadors met King Robert at Inverness in royal Moray, and agreed to the Treaty of Inverness. [6] The treaty involved a renewal of the Treaty of Perth, and resolution of earlier tit-for-tat acts of hostility against each other, like the seizing of goods from Scottish merchants in Norway and the kidnapping by the Scots of the Steward of Orkney. [9]
The fifteenth-century Lowland Scottish chronicler Walter Bower attributed to Abbot Bernard a poem in Latin about the Battle of Bannockburn, from which Bower quoted many lines. [10] It may however have come from another Arbroath monk, as Bower appears to hint elsewhere. [6] Bernard has been widely credited since the eighteenth century as the author of the Declaration of Arbroath, a document from his period as Abbot of Arbroath. [11] Professor A. A. M. Duncan doubts this however, arguing that "the skilled use of the papal cursus in that text points rather to a professional rhetorician". [6] Professor G. W. S. Barrow thought that Alexander de Kininmund (Kinninmonth) was a more likely candidate, on similar reasoning to Duncan. [12]
Bernard's name was certainly on the Declaration of Arbroath, and as chancellor he certainly had some role. [6] He held this administrative office throughout his time as Abbot of Arbroath, until his election as Bishop of the Isles by 1328. He would have had a significant role in royal government and the issue of charters, and many royal acts are dated by Bernard's whereabouts. [6] His role as chancellor appears to have been used for the benefit of his abbey with nine of the sixteen royal charters extant from the period 1312–3 having the abbey as the beneficiary. [6]
The years of service offered by Bernard were rewarded in the winter of 1327/8, when he was advanced to the bishopric of the Isles, a bishopric King Robert had reserved for his own patronage back in 1324. [13] This election likely occurred between 9 November 1327 and 14 January 1328. [14] The office of chancellor, and the accompanying salary of 200 marks, was resigned by Bernard later in the year, probably on 3 April 1328. [6] King Robert assigned Bernard £100 towards the expenses of his election, and was granted the grain tithes from the lands of the church of Abernethy, for seven years, to complement the meagre income of the diocese of the Isles. [15]
He was consecrated between 26 June and 12 November 1328, perhaps in Norway, where the see's metropolitan, the Archbishop of Trondheim, resided. [16] Bernard's election was not straightforward, as some the "canons of Snizort", the seat of the diocese, had elected a different successor, Cormac Cormacii. [13] Cormac's representatives were in Bergen in July 1331, and persuaded the Archbishop of Trondheim to order an examination of the election. They were ultimately unsuccessful, as no confirmation is attested. [13] Despite this success, Bernard's episcopate was not long-lasting, as he had died by 10 June 1331. [13] Although the last notice of Bernard in any contemporary document dates to 1328, it is very likely he died in 1331, as the Chronicles of Mann said he was bishop during four different years. [17] The Chronicles of Mann further notes that he was buried at Kilwinning Abbey, his original monastery and the location where he first rose through the ranks. [18]
The Abbot of Kilwinning was the head of the Tironensian monastic community and lands of Kilwinning Abbey, Cunningham, founded between 1162 and 1167. The patron is not known for certain, but it is likely to have been Richard de Morville, Lord of Cunningham. The following are a list of abbots and commendators.
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.
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.
Radulf de Lamley [Ralph, Ranulf, Randalph de Lambley] was a 13th-century monk and cleric. Radulf's youth is obscure, and it is not until the 1220s that he emerges in the sources as a Tironensian monk, now Abbot of Arbroath. He held the leadership of Arbroath Abbey until 1239, when he was chosen to succeed Gilbert de Stirling as Bishop of Aberdeen.
Simon de Wedale was a 14th-century Augustinian canon who rose to become Abbot of Holyrood and then Bishop of Galloway. Little is known of Simon until he appears on 27 February 1321 as Abbot of Holyrood Abbey near Edinburgh. His accession to this abbacy had only been recent, since either in January of this year or in January 1320, his predecessor Elias, ruling the abbey since at least 1309 and probably earlier, was still abbot. Abbot Simon occurs again in the records on 10 June 1326.
Gilbert was a 13th-century Cistercian monk, abbot and bishop. His first appearance in the sources occurs under the year 1233, for which year the Chronicle of Melrose reported that "Sir Gilbert, the abbot of Glenluce, resigned his office, in the chapter of Melrose; and there he made his profession". It is not clear why Gilbert really did resign the position of Abbot of Glenluce, head of Glenluce Abbey in Galloway, in order to become a mere brother at Melrose Abbey; nor is it clear for how long Gilbert had been abbot, though his latest known predecessor is attested last on 27 May 1222. After going to there, Gilbert became the Master of the Novices at Melrose.
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".
Symeon is the second known Bishop of Ross in the 12th century. His predecessor Mac Bethad occurred as bishop in a document datable between 1127 and 1131.
Gregoir [Gregory, Gregorius] is the third known 12th century Bishop of Ross, an episcopal see then based at Rosemarkie.
Robert Capellanus, was a chaplain of King William I of Scotland and afterwards, Bishop of Ross (1214–1249).
Henry Cockburn was a 15th-century Scottish prelate. Between 1461 and 1476, he was the Bishop of Ross.
Simon is the third known 12th century Bishop of Dunblane. Nothing is known of Simon's background as there are numerous Simons in Scotland in this period, both native and foreign. There is a Symon de Liberatione who witnessed a charter of King William the Lion and whom Watt and Murray suggested may have been the later Bishop of Dunblane, while there was in the same decade a local landholder and ecclesiastical patron in the diocese of Dunblane called Simón son of Mac Bethad.
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.
Nicholas O. Tiron, Abbot of Arbroath and Bishop of Dunblane, was a late 13th-century and early 14th-century churchman in the Kingdom of Scotland. Little is known about Nicholas until he appeared on 21 November 1299, holding the position of Abbot of Arbroath in a charter of that abbey; the last attestation of his predecessor Henry can be dated to 16 October 1296, so that Nicholas must have become abbot sometime in between these two dates.
William O. Tiron. was a late 13th-century Tironensian abbot and bishop in the Kingdom of Scotland. He appears in the extant sources for the first time on 25 April 1276; he is Abbot of Arbroath. According to the Scotichronicon, the work of the 15th-century historian Walter Bower, William's predecessor Adam de Inverlunan had died in 1275, so William probably became abbot in either that year or in 1276.
William Russell was a fourteenth-century Cistercian prelate. He appears to have begun his career as a Cistercian monk at Rushen Abbey on the Isle of Man (Mann), ascending to the rank of abbot there, before being elected Bishop of Mann and the Isles (Sodor). After traveling to Continental Europe for confirmation and consecration, avoiding a trip to the metropolitan in Norway, he returned to the Irish Sea as a legal bishop. A few things are known of his episcopate, particularly his activities in England and a series of provincial statutes apparently promulgated under his leadership.
Thomas de Rossy was a fourteenth-century Scottish prelate. He appears in the historical record for the first time in 1331, when Pope John XXII provided him to succeed Bernard as Bishop of the Isles. At this stage, the papal sources name him as a canon of Dunkeld Cathedral.