Thomas Vaus (also de Vaus, Vause) was a 15th-century Scottish royal official and cleric. He was a graduate of the University of Paris, being admitted there as a Bachelor ad eundem in 1445, graduating as a Licentiate in 1447. [1] At some stage he completed an M.A., and bore the title of "Master". His brother Martin Vaus, later Dean of Ross, was at Paris with him. [1] He became Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland and secretary of King James II of Scotland. [2]
On 8 May 1456, he was provided to succeed James Inglis as Dean of Glasgow Cathedral. [3] In the following year, Vaus was provided to bishopric of Galloway, vacant on the expected translation of Thomas Spens to the bishopric of Aberdeen on 21 November 1457. Unfortunately for Vaus, Spens' translation to Aberdeen was not effective, and while Spens was indeed successfully translated to Aberdeen in the following year, it was Ninian Spot, not Vaus, who on 15 December 1458 got the new provision to Galloway. The reasons for this change are not clear, but Thomas never became a consecrated Bishop of Galloway nor did he ever attain another bishopric.
In 1468, he exchanged the deanery of Glasgow with James Lindsay to become Precentor of Elgin Cathedral ("Precentor of Moray"). [4] He was Dean of Fortrose Cathedral ("Dean of Ross") following the death of the previous dean David Ogilvie; this occurred perhaps as early as 18 May 1457, that is if Vaus is the same as the "Thomas Ross" provided in that year; he was certainly provided to the deanery by 21 October 1458,. [5] This provision involved him in litigation with one David Balfour, who was said to have been in possession of the deanery on 25 June 1463. [5] Thomas in turn was said to have been in possession of the deanery on 27 September 1466; but sometime between the last date and 14 May 1468 Thomas resigned it to the Bishop of Aberdeen, who in turn collated Thomas' brother Martin to the deanery. [5]
Thomas Vaus resigned, sometime between 4 August 1478 and 8 June 1480, the precentorship of Moray to his relative Alexander Vaus, not to be confused with Alexander Vaus the bishop. Little is heard of Thomas after this. [6]
The Diocese of Aberdeen was originally believed to be the direct continuation of an 11th-century bishopric at Mortlach in present-day Moray. However, this early date and also the first bishops were based on a misinterpretation and reliance on early charters found in the cartulary of Aberdeen Cathedral that are now known to be false. The first recorded bishop of the diocese was Nectan, who was mentioned in the Book of Deer around 1132. The first direct written evidence of a bishop in Aberdeen is found in a papal bull addressed to Bishop Edward in 1157. This bull acknowledges the existence of his cathedral, discusses the formation of a chapter, and marks the start of the expansion of the diocesan structure.
Ingram Lindsay [Ingeram de Lindesay], Doctor in Canon Law, was a 15th-century Scottish cleric. Despite being of illegitimate birth - one of several sons of an unmarried nobleman and an unmarried woman - he nevertheless managed in the end to pursue a successful ecclesiastical career.
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 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.
Andrew Stewart was a 15th-century Scottish prelate and administrator.
Alexander Vaus [Vause, de Vaus] was a late 14th century and 15th century Scottish prelate. Said to have been the younger son of one Patrick Vaus, he apparently held "church livings" in Galloway as early as 1421.
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.
Ninian Spot [de Spot] was a royal clerk and prelate in the 15th century Kingdom of Scotland. He spent much of his youth at university, eventually obtaining Master's Degree.
David Arnot was a Scottish prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the Bishop of Galloway (Scotland) from 1509 to 1526. He was from the Arnot family of Arnot, Fife.
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 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.
John Bullock O.S.A. was an Augustinian canon and prelate active in the 15th century Kingdom of Scotland. While earning a university degree between 1409 and 1417, Bullock gained several benefices in Scotland, and claimed the headship of St Andrews Cathedral Priory before becoming Bishop of Ross in 1418. He held the latter position until his death, which occurred in either 1439 or 1440.
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.
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.
Alexander de Kylwos – written alternatively as Frylquhous, Kylquos, and a variety of other forms – was a Scottish churchman and prelate active in the second half of the 14th century. He is known to have held senior positions in three bishoprics, and senior offices in two, before being elected and appointed Bishop of Ross in 1371. Though his episcopate is relatively obscure, he seems to have spent almost all of it inside or around his province, was closely associated with William III and Euphemia I, successive rulers of Ross, and was an associate of the famous Alexander Bur, Bishop of Moray, during the latter's struggle with Alexander Stewart, the son of the King later known by the nickname "Wolf of Badenoch".
John Spalding was a 15th-century churchman based at Brechin in Angus, Scotland. Spalding became Dean of Brechin in 1456; he was confirmed in this position by the Pope on 5 October 1458.
James Chisholm, Bishop of Dunblane, was the eldest son of Edmund Chisholm, the first Chisholm to own the estate of Cromlix in Dunblane parish, Strathearn, having moved from the Scottish Borders. In his early years as a clergyman, he was a chaplain to King James III of Scotland; the king apparently sent him to Rome for some time.
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).