Otto IV was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218.
The Culdees were members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England in the Middle Ages. Appearing first in Ireland and subsequently in Scotland, attached to cathedral or collegiate churches, they lived in monastic fashion though not taking monastic vows.
Dunsmore is a name with a separate origin in Scotland and England.
The Bishop of Brechin is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Brechin or Angus, based at Dundee. Brechin Cathedral, Brechin is a parish church of the established (presbyterian) Church of Scotland. The diocese had a long-established Gaelic monastic community which survived into the 13th century. The clerical establishment may very well have traced their earlier origins from Abernethy. During the Scottish Reformation, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland gained control of the heritage and jurisdiction of the bishopric. However, the line of bishops has continued to this day, according to ancient models of consecration, in the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Samson of Brechin is the first known Bishop of Brechin. He appears as a witness in a charter granted by King David I of Scotland to the community of Deer, recorded in the notitiae in the margins of the Book of Deer. The charter dates to some point between the years 1140 and 1153, although it can probably be pinned down to the year 1150. There certainly was a bishopric of Brechin in 1150, as there exists another charter of King David's, this time granted to the bishop (unnamed) and Céli Dé of Brechin. It is known that Samson was still bishop in the reign of King Máel Coluim IV (1153–1165), appearing as a witness as late as 1165 in a charter of Richard, Bishop of St. Andrews.
Thomas MacDowell was Bishop of Galloway (1359–1363). He had previously been rector of the parish of “Kyrteum”, and so was certainly a native of Galloway as his Gaelic name further suggests. He was provided to the see by Pope Innocent VI sometime before December 1359. He was consecrated at Avignon by Cardinal Peter, Bishop of Ostia.
Turpin was a 12th-century bishop of Brechin. Turpin has come to the court of king William the Lion as early as 1170, when his name begins to appear in the charters of king William. He was elected to the see of Brechin in 1178, probably with the backing of king William, and consecrated in 1180. He is the first of the non-Gaelic bishops of Brechin. His death date is not known, but it was certainly before the year 1198. He was succeeded by another Norman called Radulphus.
John de Leicester was an early 13th-century bishop of Dunkeld. Before becoming bishop, he had been archdeacon of Lothian. He was elected to the bishopric on 22 July 1211. As bishop-elect, he is present when King William of Scotland paid homage to King John of England in 1212. He had been consecrated by June 1212, when a letter from Pope Innocent III to Walter, bishop of Glasgow, and Radulphus, bishop of Brechin, writes of the election and consecration of John, archdeacon of Lothian. John's episcopate would only last a few years; he died on 7 October 1214. His death occurred at Cramond, Midlothian, and was buried on Inchcolm.
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.
Alexander de Kininmund was a 14th-century Scottish cleric. Although it is not known which one, it is known that in his youth he went to university and achieved a Licentiate in the Arts.
Archibald of Douglas was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of William of Douglas.
Adam de Lanark, O.P. was a 14th-century Scottish Dominican friar and prelate. Possibly from a Lanark burgess family, he was a Dominican and a priest by 1356, and by 1364 was styled Magister, indicating the completion of a long university education. He first appears in the sources, c. 1355/6 as a confessor of King David II of Scotland; he retained this royal position through the 1350s and into the 1360s; Adam received a number of English safe-conducts to visit King David, who for a time was a prisoner in England.
Thomas de Dundee, also called Thomas Nicholay, was a Scottish prelate who held the bishopric of Ross during the First War of Scottish Independence. Coming from a family of Dundee burgesses, he was educated as the University of Bologna, before entering into career in the church.
Albin was a 13th-century prelate of the Kingdom of Scotland. A university graduate, Albin is known for his ecclesiastical career in the diocese of Brechin, centred on Angus in east-central Scotland.
Patrick de Leuchars [also de Locrys or de Lochrys] was a 14th-century administrator and prelate in the Kingdom of Scotland. He first appears in the records in 1344 holding a church in East Lothian, and in 1351 attains national prominence as the new Bishop of Brechin. Bishop Patrick, who would be a core supporter of King David II of Scotland, became Royal Chancellor in the same decade. He held the chancellorship until around 1370, and the bishopric of Brechin until 1383, when he resigned it on account of his old age.
Gregory of Brechin was a 13th-century prelate based in the Kingdom of Scotland.
William Meldrum was a prelate in the late 15th- and early 16th-century kingdom of Scotland. He appears to have come from the Meldrum family of Seggie, as suggested by the otters on his arms.
William de Crachin was a prelate active in the Kingdom of Scotland in the 13th century. The earliest known Dean of Brechin Cathedral, his first appearance in a surviving source comes 22 September 1248, from a document of Arbroath Abbey.
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).
Walter Forrester, bishop of Brechin, was an administrator and prelate in later medieval Scotland. Originating in Angus, he came from a family of English origin who by the end of the 14th century had become well established in Scottish society. A student of the University of Paris and University of Orleans, he began his career at home by the later 1370s.
