The Bishop of Ross was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Ross, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first recorded bishop appears in the late 7th century as a witness to Adomnán of Iona's Cáin Adomnáin. The bishopric was based at the settlement of Rosemarkie until the mid-13th century, afterwards being moved to nearby Fortrose and Fortrose Cathedral. As far as the evidence goes, this bishopric was the oldest of all bishoprics north of the Forth, and was perhaps the only Pictish bishopric until the 9th century. Indeed, the Cáin Adomnáin indicates that in the reign of Bruide mac Der Ilei, king of the Picts, the bishop of Rosemarkie was the only significant figure in Pictland other than the king. The bishopric is located conveniently close to the heartland of Fortriu, being just across the water from Moray.
Elisaeus Adougan was a late 14th century and early 15th century Scottish cleric. His name has been said to have occurred for the first time in a papal letter datable to 25 November 1390, but this letter is simply a repetition of another addressed to him, dated 2 August that year; both letters address him as the rector of the parish church of Kirkmahoe, and authorise him to take up the position of provost of the Collegiate Church of Lincluden providing he resigned Kirkmahoe within a period of two years.
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.
Odo Ydonc was a 13th-century Premonstratensian prelate. The first recorded appearance of Odo was when he witnessed a charter by Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick, on 21 July 1225. In this document he is already Abbot of Dercongal, incidentally the first Abbot of Dercongal to appear on record.
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.
Matthew was a 13th-century cleric based in the Kingdom of Scotland. Walter Bower called him Macchabeus, a Latinization (literature) of the Gaelic name Mac Bethad or Mac Beathadh, previously held by a 12th-century bishop. Either Bower is confused or Matthew changed his name or took a pseudonym more appropriate to the environment of the "international" church, a practise not unusual in the period.
Robert Capellanus, was a chaplain of King William I of Scotland and afterwards, Bishop of Ross (1214–1249).
John Fraser [also, more commonly then, Frisel or Frisell] was a late medieval Scottish prelate. Born about 1429, or 1430 if later tradition can be believed, with strong connections to the burgh of Linlithgow, Fraser held a variety of high-level ecclesiastical positions in Scotland, including being the first Dean of Restalrig collegiate church before becoming Bishop of Ross in 1497, a position he held until his death in 1507.
Thomas Hay was a 15th-century Scottish prelate. A canon of the diocese and cathedral of Aberdeen, on the translation of William Elphinstone from Bishop of Ross to Bishop of Aberdeen, Hay was provided as Elphinstone's successor in Ross, this occurring on 16 May 1483. He was probably the Thomas Hay who held the Aberdeen prebend of Turriff.
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.
The Diocese of Ross was an ecclesiastical territory or diocese in the Highland region of Scotland during the Middle Ages and Early Modern period. The Diocese was led by the Bishop of Ross, and the cathedral was, latterly, at Fortrose. The bishops of the Early Church were located at Rosemarkie. The diocese had only one Archdeacon, the Archdeacon of Ross, first attested in 1223 with the appearance of Archdeacon Robert, who was consecrated bishop of Ross on 21 June 1249 x 20 June 1250. There is only one known Dean of Christianty (sic.), one Donald Reid called the dean of christianty of Dingwall on 12 June 1530.
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.
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.
Roger was a churchman based in the 14th century Kingdom of Scotland, and active as Bishop of Ross from 1325 until 1350. Before attaining this position, Roger was a canon of Abernethy; it is possible that Roger was an Augustinian, because it is often thought that Abernethy did not become a collegiate church until some time after 1328, after the marriage of the Abernethy heiress to the Earl of Angus; this however is not certain, as the exact details of Abernethy's transition from being an Céli Dé abbey to an Augustinian priory to a secular college are only vaguely understood.
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.
Laurence de Ergadia was a thirteenth-century Scottish bishop. Probably from the MacDougall kindred of Argyll, Laurence had become a Dominican friar and presumably university graduate before being elected Bishop of Argyll, an election which took place sometime between 1262 and 1264. Although the election was quashed by the Pope in 1264, the Pope gave him a fresh provision to the bishopric. Laurence appears intermittently in the records during his three and a half decade episcopate, but his activities in his own diocese are badly recorded. He died as Bishop of Argyll sometime in either 1299 or 1300.
Jonathan was a churchman and prelate active in late twelfth- and early thirteenth century Strathearn, in the Kingdom of Scotland. He was the Bishop of Dunblane during the time of Gille Brigte of Strathearn, and it was during Jonathan's episcopate that Gille Brigte founded an Augustinian priory at Inchaffray.
Walter de Coventre was a 14th-century Scottish ecclesiastic. There is no direct evidence of his birthdate, his family, or his family's origin, although he may have come from the region around Abernethy, where a family with the name de Coventre is known to have lived. Walter appeared in the records for the first time in the 1330s, as a student at the University of Paris. From there he went on to the University of Orléans, initially as a student before becoming a lecturer there. He studied the arts, civil law and canon law, and was awarded many university degrees, including two doctorates. His studies were paid for, at least partially, by his benefices in Scotland. Despite holding perhaps more than five benefices at one stage, he did not return to Scotland until the late 1350s.
Fortrose Cathedral was the episcopal seat (cathedra) of the medieval Scottish diocese of Ross in the Highland region of Scotland. It is probable that the original site of the diocese was at Rosemarkie, but by the 13th century the canons had relocated a short distance to the south-west, to the site known as Fortrose or Chanonry. According to Gervase of Canterbury, in the early 13th century the cathedral of Ross was manned by Céli Dé (culdees).
Gregory of Brechin was a 13th-century prelate based in the Kingdom of Scotland.
