Spynie was a seaport, burgh and ancient parish in Moray, Scotland, that survives as a small hamlet and civil parish. [1] It is the location of the ruins of Spynie Palace, which was the principal residence of the Bishops of Moray between the 12th and 17th centuries, [2] and the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Spynie, which served as the cathedral of the Diocese of Moray between 1207 and 1224. [3]
Large deposits of oyster and cockle shells in the area provide evidence of human habitation going back to the neolithic period, [4] and artefacts from Bronze Age occupation, including axes, pottery and shell deposits have been found on the site of the later settlement. [5]
Spynie developed as a seaport on the south shore of Loch Spynie, [6] a much larger body of water in the medieval period than the present day, and one that was open to the sea until the late 15th century. [7] Holy Trinity Church was in existence by the 12th century and possibly earlier [8] and was, alongside Birnie and Kinneddar, one of the early centres of the Bishops of Moray. [9]
Bishop John de Pilmuir is recorded in the mid 14th century having deepened the channel between Spynie and the sea by sinking boats to change the flow of water. [10] Later in the century Bishop Alexander Bur was forced to defend the rights of the port of Spynie against challenge from the Earl of Moray and burgesses of Elgin, making a "protestation" that for more than a century the bishops "had and were accustomed to have the fishers of sea fish living in the toun of Spynie with their wives and families, sailing from Spynie out to sea and bringing back their boats with fish through the same port". [10]
In 1451 all of the lands belonging to the church in Moray were combined into the barony of Spynie. [11] Spynie itself was erected into a burgh of barony on 4 July 1451, with its inhabitants having the right to conduct fishing, fishmongery, butchery and brewing, and hold a weekly market and an annual fair. [12] In 1459 grain is recorded as being exported from Spynie to Leith. [13]
The customs from the port were granted to the Earl of Moray in 1566, but the town was already in decline - the value of rentals in Spynie had declined from £10 per year in 1565 to £5 per year in 1574. [13] The silting up of Loch Spynie removed Spynie's access to the sea, and by the end of the 17th century the town had disappeared. [13]
Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland parish church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation and permitted to fall into disrepair. Part of the old abbey church continued in use at that time and some parts of the abbey infrastructure still remain.
Elgin is a town and formerly a royal burgh in Moray, on the North Coast of Scotland. It is the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the floodplain where the town of Birnie is. There, the church of Birnie Kirk was built in 1140 and serves the community to this day.
Lossiemouth is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the past 250 years and consists of four separate communities that eventually merged into one. From 1890 to 1975, it was a police burgh as Lossiemouth and Branderburgh.
Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, called the Wolf of Badenoch, was a Scottish royal prince, the third son of King Robert II of Scotland by his first wife Elizabeth Mure. He was Justiciar of Scotia and held large territories in the north of Scotland. He is perhaps best remembered for his destruction of the royal burgh of Elgin and its cathedral. His sobriquet was earned due to his notorious cruelty and rapacity, but there is no proof that it was used during his lifetime.
Elgin Cathedral is a historic ruin in Elgin, Moray, north-east Scotland. The cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was established in 1224 on land granted by King Alexander II outside the burgh of Elgin and close to the River Lossie. It replaced the cathedral at Spynie, 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 increasing to 23 by 1242. A damaging fire in 1270 resulted in a significantly enlarged building. It remained unaffected by the Wars of Scottish Independence, but again 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 again suffered an incendiary attack by the followers of the Lord of the Isles.
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.
Duffus is a village and parish in Moray, Scotland.
Spynie Palace, also known as Spynie Castle, was the fortified seat of the Bishops of Moray for about 500 years in Spynie, Moray, Scotland. The founding of the palace dates back to the late 12th century. It is situated about 500 m from the location of the first officially settled Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Moray, Holy Trinity Church in present-day Spynie Churchyard. For most of its occupied history, the castle was not described as a palace — this term first appeared in the Registry of Moray in a writ of 1524.
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.
John de Winchester was a 15th-century English cleric who distinguished himself as an administrator and bishop in Scotland. Winchester was a student of canon law from 1418, graduating with a bachelorate in 1421.
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.
Alexander Bur was a 14th-century Scottish cleric. It is highly possible that Bur came from somewhere in or around Aberdeenshire, although that is not certain and is only based on the knowledge that Aberdeenshire is where other people bearing his surname come from in this period. He entered the service of King David II of Scotland sometime after 1343, perhaps as a member of David's exiled court at Château Gaillard. Although Alexander by this point in time already held prebends in both the bishopric of Aberdeen and the bishopric of Dunkeld, on that date King David petitioned Pope Clement VI for another canonry in the bishopric of Moray. Alexander had become a royal clerk and had obtained a Licentiate in Canon Law by 1350. By the latter date, upon the death of Adam Penny, Archdeacon of Moray, Alexander himself became Archdeacon.
Birnie Kirk is a 12th century parish church located near Elgin, in Moray, Scotland. It was the first cathedral of the Bishop of Moray and is one of the oldest in Scotland to have been in continuous use. The graveyard, symbol stone and archaeological remains under the church have been designated a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland.
Inverness-shire is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in population, with 67,733 people or 1.34% of the Scottish population.
Kinneddar is a small settlement on the outskirts of Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland, near the main entrance to RAF Lossiemouth. Long predating the modern town of Lossiemouth, Kinneddar was a major monastic centre for the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu from the 6th or 7th centuries, and the source of the important collection of Pictish stones called the Drainie Carved Stones. The Kirk of Kinneddar was the cathedral of the Diocese of Moray between 1187 and 1208, and remained an important centre of diocesan administration and residence of the Bishop of Moray through the 13th and 14th centuries.
Leswalt is a village and civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It lies between Portpatrick and Stranraer in the Rhins of Galloway, part of the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish covers around 8 square miles (21 km2).
Hospitals in medieval Scotland can be dated back to the 12th century. From c. 1144 to about 1650 many hospitals, bedehouses and maisons Dieu were built in Scotland.
Loch Spynie is a small loch located between the towns of Elgin and Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland. Close to Spynie Palace, the ancient home of the bishops of Moray, it is an important wildlife habitat which is protected as a Ramsar Site.
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.
Kintrae is a hamlet in the parish of Spynie, Moray, Scotland, originally located on the southern shore of Loch Spynie. The name is Celtic, meaning “the top of the tide”.