William Bell (bishop)

Last updated

William Bell (died 1343) was a 14th-century Bishop of St Andrews. His origins are not clear, but he was holding the canonry in the diocese of Glasgow by 20 January 1312. He was a commissary of Bishop William de Lamberton in a case between Dunfermline Abbey and one of the abbey's vicars in early 1312. He was part of William de Lamberton's close group of associates, his familia. In 1328, he was involved in playing an administrative role in drawing up a treaty at Holyrood Abbey between King Robert I of Scotland and the English crown.

By this point in time he was holding the title "Master", and hence an academic qualification. In the following year he became Dean of Dunkeld Cathedral. He still held the latter position until the early 1341's, but probably resigned soon after Bell moved to become a canon of St Andrews. He was elected to succeed James Bane as Bishop of St Andrews perhaps sometime soon after the death of Bane on 22 September 1332, though Walter Bower claimed he was elected earlier, on 19 August.

Bell travelled to the Papal court based at Avignon to receive Papal confirmation, but in doing this his efforts were blocked by opposition and counter-nominations from representatives of the English crown. He does not appear to have obtained Papal confirmation, and in February 1342 resigned the rights acquired by election to facilitate the Pope's preferred candidate William de Landallis. He returned to Scotland with the new bishop, re-entered St Andrews Cathedral Priory as an Augustinian canon, and died on 7 February 1343. Bell was apparently blind at the time of his death only a decade later, and it is not known if this had anything to do with the Papacy's decision.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Wardlaw</span> Bishop of Saint Andrews from 1404 to 1440

Henry Wardlaw was a Scottish church leader, Bishop of St Andrews and founder of the University of St Andrews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dryburgh Abbey</span> Former monastery in Scotland

Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November (Martinmas) 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland. The arrival of the canons along with their first abbot, Roger, took place on 13 December 1152.

William Turnbull was a Scottish politician and bishop, credited with founding Jedburgh Grammar School and the University of Glasgow. He served as the Bishop of Glasgow, from 1448 to 1454 and was the first Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William de Lamberton</span> Scottish bishop

William de Lamberton, sometimes modernized as William Lamberton, was Bishop of St Andrews from 1297 until his death. Lamberton is renowned for his influential role during the Scottish Wars of Independence. He campaigned for the national cause under William Wallace and later Robert the Bruce. As Bishop of St Andrews, the most powerful seat in Scotland, Bishop Lamberton along with Bishop Robert Wishart of Glasgow conducted the coronation of Robert the Bruce as King Robert I. Lamberton would go on to have a vital role in the formulation of the Declaration of the Clergy 1310 and the Declaration of Arbroath which would lead to Scottish Independence.

James Bane was Bishop of St. Andrews for a brief period in the early 14th century. In his earlier career, James had been a canon of Aberdeen and prebendary of Cruden.

William de Landallis was a 14th-century Bishop of St. Andrews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbot of Scone</span>

The Abbot of Scone, before 1163 x 4, Prior of Scone, and then by the beginning of the 16th century, the Commendator of Scone, was the head of the community of Augustinian canons of Scone Abbey and their lands. The priory was established by King Alaxandair mac Maíl Choluim sometime between 1114 and 1120, and was elevated to the status of an abbey in 1163 or 1164. The abbey was turned into a secular lordship for William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie in 1581, but was forfeited when the earl was executed in 1584, given to William Foularton in the same year, but restored to the earl's son, James Ruthven, 2nd Earl of Gowrie. An independent secular lordship was established for David Murray in 1608.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David I and the Scottish Church</span>

Historical treatment of David I and the Scottish church usually emphasises King David I of Scotland's pioneering role as the instrument of diocesan reorganisation and Norman penetration, beginning with the bishopric of Glasgow while David was Prince of the Cumbrians, and continuing further north after David acceded to the throne of Scotland. As well as this and his monastic patronage, focus too is usually given to his role as the defender of the Scottish church's independence from claims of overlordship by the Archbishop of York and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

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.

Reinald Macer [also called Reginald] was a medieval Cistercian monk and bishop, active in the Kingdom of Scotland during the reign of William the Lion. Originally a monk of Melrose Abbey, he rose to become Bishop of Ross in 1195, and held this position until his death in 1213. He is given the nickname Macer in Roger of Howden's Chronica, a French word that meant "skinny".

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.

Roger de Balnebrich [de Balnebrech, de Balnebriech, de Ballinbreth] was a 14th-century Scottish churchman. Roger received a university education, being styled Magister ("Master") by August 1313, though it is not known where he took his degree; the degree, however, was almost certainly done in canon law. His name derives either from Ballinbreich in Fife or Balnabriech, in Brechin, Angus.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albin of Brechin</span> Prelate of the Kingdom of Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas de Balmyle</span> Roman Catholic bishop

Nicholas de Balmyle, also called Nicholas of St Andrews, was a Scottish administrator and prelate in the late 13th century and early 14th century. A graduate of an unknown university, he served his earliest years as a clergyman at St Andrews, moving on to hold churches in Lothian as well as deputising to two archdeacons of Lothian.

William de Cambuslang was a 14th-century Scottish churchman, presumably coming from a family based at or originating from Cambuslang near Glasgow.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory of Brechin</span> Bishop of Brechin

Gregory of Brechin was a 13th-century prelate based in the Kingdom of Scotland.

References

Religious titles
Preceded by Bishop of St Andrews
(Cill Rìmhinn)

13321342
Probably not consecrated
Succeeded by