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The Bishop of Aberdeen was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nechtan. It appears that the episcopal seat had previously been at Mortlach (Mòrthlach), but was moved to Aberdeen during the reign of King David I of Scotland. The names of three bishops of Mortlach are known, the latter two of whom, "Donercius" and "Cormauch" (Cormac), by name only. The Bishop of Aberdeen broke communion with the Roman Catholic Church after the Scottish Reformation. Following the Revolution of 1688, the office was abolished in the Church of Scotland, but continued in the Scottish Episcopal Church. A Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen was recreated in 1878.
Beóán of Mortlach is the first of the three known Bishops of Mortlach. His name, which could also be written in non-Gaelic contexts as Beanus, Beoanus and Beyn, means "lively one". Walter Bower, following John of Fordun, tells us that the bishopric was founded by king Máel Coluim II of Scotland in the seventh year of his reign as thanks to God for victories over the Scandinavians, and tells us that "the first bishop was Beyn, a saintly man, worthy of the episcopal office, elevated to this see by the Lord Pope Benedict VIII at the king's request". The Aberdeen Registrum records a charter granted to Bishop Beóán by King Máel Coluim at Forfar, granting the bishop the churches and lands of Clova and the unidentified Dulmech. The Aberdeen Breviary commemorated "Bishop Beóán" as a saint on 26 October. Another Beóán, perhaps the one mentioned in the Life of St. Cathróe of Metz, was commemorated on 16 December, and the two were often confused.
Donercius or Donort is the second Bishop of Mortlach according to the list of the Aberdeen Registrum. He is known only by name. Skene says that "Donercius has all the appearance of a fictitious name". Whether the name is fictitious or a corruption cannot be known from the existing evidence. His alleged predecessor Beóán is known to have been bishop in the reign of King Máel Coluim II of Scotland, so if Donercius really did exist, he was certainly bishop in the 11th century.
Fetternear Bishop's Palace is an archaeological site of what was one of the palaces of the medieval bishops of Aberdeen. It is near Kemnay in Aberdeenshire. Later, a ruined tower-house and mansion of Fetternear House were built on part of the site.
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.
Richard de Potton [de Poiton, de Pottock, de Poito] was a 13th-century English bishop. His name was likely derived his name from the town of Potton in Bedfordshire, England.
Peter de Ramsay [Ramsey] was a 13th-century cleric based in Scotland. His background and origins are obscure. He was the son of a "cleric in minor orders" and an unmarried girl and, according to John of Fordun, he was of "noble birth". He was probably the son of Ness de Ramsey, a baron of Fife.
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.
Gilbert de Stirling was an early 13th-century bishop of Scotland. His background is unclear, perhaps coming from a burgess family of Stirling; he emerges in 1228 as the newly elected Bishop of Aberdeen, succeeding the recently deceased Adam de Kalder, after Matthew the Scot had turned down his own election in order to become Bishop of Dunkeld.
William Stewart was a late medieval Scottish prelate. Born around 1490 in Glasgow, he was the son of Thomas Stewart of Minto. Details about his early life are obscure, but it is known that he attended the University of Glasgow before travelling to continental Europe to study theology and canon law. The first benefice he held was the parsonage of Lochmaben, which he was in possession of by July 1528. In the same year he became rector of Ayr, while he had received crown presentation as Provost of Lincluden Collegiate Church in July 1529, a post he would hold along with his new position as Lord High Treasurer of Scotland.
Alexander Gordon was a late medieval Scottish churchman. He was member of the kindred of the Earl of Huntly, being cousin to the reigning earl. He was the third son of James Gordon, Laird of Haddo.
Robert Forman was a late medieval Scottish churchman. He was the son of one Janet Blackadder and her husband, a Berwickshire landowner named Nicholas Forman of Hatton. Sometime before 11 February 1500, he was made Precentor of Glasgow. He was Dean of Glasgow from 1505, a position he would hold until his death. Between 1506 and 1511 he was also in possession of the Chancellorship of the diocese of Moray.
Adam de Kald [de Kalder, Crail] was an early 13th-century Bishop of Aberdeen. His name, de Kald or de Caral could refer to, among other places, Calder in Nairnshire or Crail in Fife. Either location may mark his origin place, but this is speculation. There is a river in West Yorkshire called Calder. His origins remain obscure.
John was a late 12th century and early 13th century Tironensian monk and bishop. By the time he first appears in the records, as Bishop-elect of Aberdeen in December 1199, he was the prior of Kelso Abbey, that is, deputy to the Abbot of Kelso. He achieved consecration as Bishop of Aberdeen by 20 June 1200, though the date on which this took place is unknown.
Matthew was a 12th-century churchman residing in Scotland. He is the first man known to have held the position of Archdeacon of St Andrews, his first known ecclesiastical post. He occurs in this office in a document which can be dated to some point between August 1147 and June 1152. Bishop Edward, Bishop of Aberdeen, died in 1172 and Archdeacon Matthew was elected as the successor. He was consecrated on 2 April 1172.
Edward [Ēadweard, Eadward, Édouard, Étbard] was a 12th-century prelate based in Scotland. He occurs in the records for the first time as Bishop of Aberdeen in a document datable to some point between 1147 and 1151. His immediate predecessor, as far as the records are concerned, was Bishop Nechtán. The latter can be shown to have been active at least between 1131 and 1132, and possibly as late as 1137. Edward's accession must have occurred, then, sometime between 1131 and 1151, with a date after the 1130s more likely than not.
James Ogilvie was a late medieval Scottish prelate who served as Bishop of Aberdeen. After the death of William Elphinstone, the bishopric of Aberdeen became vacant. Ogilvie was nominated for the vacancy by John Stewart, Duke of Albany. At Rome however, Pope Leo X provided Robert Forman to the vacant see, while the canons of Aberdeen elect Alexander Gordon, allegedly under pressure from the latter's cousin Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly. It was because of this that Ogilvie resigned his rights to this bishopric, and in compensation, became Commendator-Abbot of Dryburgh. During the early days of his commendatorship, it was recorded that he was a canon of the diocese of Aberdeen and the parson of Kinkell, Aberdeenshire. Ogilvie held the commendatorship for merely three years, dying on 30 May 1518.
Nechtan of Aberdeen is the first Bishop of Aberdeen after the seat of the bishopric had been moved to Aberdeen from Mortlach. The only contemporary sources for Bishop Nechtan are charters; he appears as "Nectan escob Abberdeon" in a Gaelic charter recorded in the notitiae on the Book of Deer, a charter which explicitly dates to "the eighth year of the reign of David", that is, 1131. He also appears in a charter granted to him by King David I of Scotland, a charter which the modern editor dates to 1137.
Kincardine O'Neil Hospital was founded in the 13th century in the village of Kincardine O'Neil in Scotland. Almost certainly it served as a traveler's inn and as a hospice for elderly and "poor" men. The hospital was situated adjacent to a bridge over the River Dee and may have been a chantry for the early Bishops of Mortlach. Remains of a building can be seen abutted to the Auld Parish Church in Kincardine O'Neil. This building may have been a later or second hospital. It is also possible that these ruins may have been part of St Erchard's Church - a.k.a. St Marys' or the Auld Kirk.
References
- Jackson, Kenneth H. (ed.), The Gaelic Notes in the Book of Deer: The Osborn Bergin Memorial Lecture 1970, (Cambridge, 1972),
- Innes, Cosmo, Registrum episcopatus Aberdonensis : ecclesie Cathedralis Aberdonensis regesta que extant in unum collecta, 2 Vols, (Spalding and Maitland Clubs, 1845), Vol. ii
- Skene, William Forbes, Celtic Scotland: A History of Ancient Alban, 2nd ed., (Edinburgh, 1887), vol. ii