Bricius | |
---|---|
Bishop of Moray | |
Church | Roman Catholic Church |
See | Diocese of Moray |
In office | 1203–1222 |
Predecessor | Richard |
Successor | Andreas de Moravia |
Previous post(s) | Prior of Lesmahagow |
Orders | |
Consecration | 1203 |
Personal details | |
Born | 12th century Probably Lanarkshire, Scotland |
Died | Moray, 1222 |
Bricius (sometimes anglicized as Brice, died 1222) was prior of Lesmahagow and afterward bishop of Moray (Gaelic [ clarification needed ]epscop Muireb; Latin episcopus Moraviensis).
In this period, the name Bricius is more often a Latinization of the Gaelic names Máel Brigte ("tonsured devotee of St. Brigit") and Gilla Brigte ("devotee of St. Brigit") than a real name, although it is still possible that Bricius was indeed the bishop's real name. He is called Bricius Douglas by David Wilkins's Concilia magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae, and this is supported by two men who used this name, "Arkenbald and Henric" (Archibald and Henry), being called his brothers. Bricius appears to have been a son of William de Dufglas , and had five brothers, four of whom also became clerics, all in the Moray diocese. The fifth and presumably eldest brother, Archibald of Douglas, succeeded to the Barony of Douglas in Lanarkshire.
Bricius became bishop of Moray in 1203, although the exact details of this accession (i.e. election, consecration, etc.) are unknown. Unlike the two preceding bishops of Moray who had attained their appointments at the wish of King William, there is no evidence that Bricius's accession was similar. Instead, it may have been the powerful de Moravia family of Duffus that secured his position. On 7 April 1206, Bishop Bricius received papal permission to move the seat (Latin : cathedra) of the see of Moray from Birnie to Spynie. The move was probably complete by June 1208. It would not be until the episcopate of his successor, Andreas de Moravia, that the bishopric would settle at Elgin Cathedral, Elgin.
Bricius was one of the most important clerics in the Scotland of his time, that is, during the later part of the reign of William the Lion (r. 1165–1214) and early part of the reign of Alexander II (1214–1249). For instance, in 1207, Pope Innocent III appointed him judge-delegate of a dispute between Melrose Abbey and the Earl of Dunbar, two of the most important landowners in what for Moray-based Bricius was the remote English-speaking south-east of Scotland. In 1215, Bricius was one of three Scottish bishops to attend the Fourth Lateran Council at Rome (the other two were William de Malveisin, bishop of St Andrews and Walter, bishop of Glasgow). He returned to Rome in 1218, as part of a delegation of three Scottish bishops, including Walter of Glasgow, and Adam, bishop of Caithness, in order to obtain absolution from Pope Honorius III for the sentence of excommunication imposed on King Alexander II and the whole Kingdom of Scotland. This second visit to Rome is mentioned in Scottish sources, and confirmed by Papal records [ citation needed ]. The latter record that Bricius had solemnly denied practicing divine offices during the interdict.
Bricius, however, found his episcopate in disrepute. Church records indicate that the Archdeacon and Chancellor of Moray reported Bricius' corrupt behaviour, including over-taxing his flock, dissolving lawful marriages for payment, tolerating unlawful ones for payment and taking procurations without the appropriate visitations, and spending a good deal of the proceeds on the services of women. On 30 January 1219, Pope Honorius III instructed the abbots of Cupar Angus, Scone and Dunfermline to investigate these claims. The results are not known.
He died in the year 1222, and was succeeded by Andreas de Moravia.
Certain histories refer to "St Brice" in reference to this bishop. [1] This however is almost certainly a case of misidentification with St Brice, Archbishop of Tours, a Gallo-Roman cleric and protégé of Saint Martin of Tours.
This page is concerned with the holders of the forfeit title Earl of Douglas and the preceding feudal barons of Douglas, South Lanarkshire. The title was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1358 for William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, son of Sir Archibald Douglas, Guardian of Scotland. The Earldom was forfeited by James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, in 1455.
Elgin Cathedral, a historic ruin in Elgin, Moray, northeast Scotland, was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It was established in 1224 on land granted by King Alexander II and stood outside the burgh of Elgin, close to the River Lossie. It replaced the cathedral at Spynie located 3 kilometres (2 mi) to the north, which was served by a small chapter of eight clerics. By 1226, the new and developing cathedral was staffed with 18 canons, a number that increased to 23 by 1242. A damaging fire in 1270 led to significant enlargement. It remained unscathed during the Wars of Scottish Independence but suffered extensive fire damage in 1390 when attacked by Robert III's brother Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, also known as the Wolf of Badenoch. In 1402, the cathedral precinct faced another incendiary attack by the Lord of the Isles followers.
The Bishop of Moray or Bishop of Elgin was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Moray in northern Scotland, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. If the foundation charter of the monastery at Scone is reliable, then the Bishopric of Moray was in existence as early as the reign of King Alexander I of Scotland (1107–1124), but was certainly in existence by 1127, when one Gregoir ("Gregorius") is mentioned as "Bishop of Moray" in a charter of king David I of Scotland. The bishopric had its seat at Elgin and Elgin Cathedral, but was severally at Birnie, Kinneddar and as late as Bishop Andreas de Moravia at Spynie, where the bishops continued to maintain a palace. The Bishopric's links with Rome ceased to exist after the Scottish Reformation, but continued, saving temporary abolition between 1638 and 1661, under the episcopal Church of Scotland until the Revolution of 1688. Episcopacy in the established church in Scotland was permanently abolished in 1689. The Bishops fortified seat for over 500 years was at Spynie Palace.
John Scotus was a 12th-century bishop of St. Andrews and Dunkeld.
Adam of Melrose was Abbot of Melrose and Bishop of Caithness, famously burned to death by the husbandmen of Caithness. At the time, Caithness was part of the Jarldom of Orkney, which formed part of the Kingdom of Norway.
Gilbert de Moravia, later known as Saint Gilbert of Dornoch, or Gilbert of Caithness, was the most famous Bishop of Caithness and founder of Dornoch Cathedral. His name may suggest that he came from the semi-Gaelicized family of Flemish origin who were Lords of Duffus, and who during Gilbert's episcopate would create the Earldom of Sutherland under Gilbert's possible cousin, William de Moravia, 1st Earl of Sutherland.
Andreas de Moravia was a 13th-century Scottish bishop. He was a younger son of Hugh de Moravia, from the family of Flemish origin who were lords of Duffus and other areas in the Greater Moray region in this period. In the time of Bishop Bricius' episcopate (1203–1222), there was a man called "Andreas" who was rector of the church of St. Peter at Duffus, and this may well have been this Andreas. He may also have been a native Scot.
Walter Capellanus was a prominent Roman Catholic bishop and political figure in the Kingdom of Scotland during the reigns of William the Lion and Alexander II.
William de Bondington was a 13th-century Chancellor of Scotland and a bishop of Glasgow.
John was an early 12th-century Tironensian cleric. He was the chaplain and close confidant of King David I of Scotland, before becoming Bishop of Glasgow and founder of Glasgow Cathedral. He was one of the most significant religious reformers in the history of Scotland. His later nickname, "Achaius", a latinisation of Eochaid would indicate that he was Gaelic, but the name is probably not authentic. He was in fact a Tironensian monk, of probable French origin.
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.
The Archdeacon of Moray was the only archdeacon in the Diocese of Moray, acting as a deputy of the Bishop of Moray. The archdeacon held the parish churches of Forres and Edinkillie as a prebends since 1207. The following is a list of known historical archdeacons:
The Diocese of Moray was one of the most important of the medieval dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Its territory was in central northern Scotland.
William was a 12th-century prelate based in the Kingdom of Scotland. He occurs in the records for the first time as Bishop of Moray in 1152 x 24 May 1153, late in the reign of King David I of Scotland (1124–53) witnessing a grant from that monarch of the church of Clackmannan to the Abbot of Cambuskenneth. The precise date of his accession is unknown but was probably in 1152.
Richard de Lincoln was a medieval Anglo-Norman prelate. Although of English origin, he was a royal clerk in the administration of King William of Scotland. With royal support, he was elected Bishop of Moray on 1 March 1187 and was consecrated at St Andrews on 15 March by Bishop Hugh. His appointment during the rebellion of Donald MacWilliam in the north was to a dilapidated diocese. Only after MacWilliam's defeat in July could Bishop Richard begin the strengthening of his see. His episcopate marked an increase in royal patronage directed at the diocese of Moray. He witnessed many charters during his episcopate. He died in 1203, and was succeeded by Bricius de Douglas.
Archibald was a Scottish prelate best known for involvement in a dispute with the Pope.
William of Douglas was a medieval nobleman living in Clydesdale, an area under the control of the King of the Scots.
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.
Holy Trinity Church, Spynie was until 1735 the parish church of Spynie, Moray in north-east Scotland, and served as the cathedral of the Diocese of Moray between 1207 and 1224.
Events from the 1220s in the Kingdom of Scotland.