Jonathan of Dunblane

Last updated

Jonathan
Bishop of Dunblane
Church Roman Catholic Church
See Diocese of Dunblane
In office1195 × 1198–1210
Predecessor Simon
Successor Abraham
Orders
Consecrationunknown
Personal details
Bornunknown
unknown
Died1210
Previous post Archdeacon of Dunblane (1171 × 1191–1198)

Jonathan (died c. 1210) 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.

Contents

Archdeacon & bishop

There was a Jonathan as Archdeacon of Dunblane found in three documents in the later 12th century, documents dating 1178 × 1197, 1191 × 1194 and 1195 × 1198 respectively; an Archdeacon Andrew is attested in the office in a charter of Cambuskenneth Abbey datable to 1165 × 1171, while a successor (John) is attested holding the office of archdeacon 1195 × 1199. [1]

It was almost certainly Archdeacon Jonathan who in became Bishop of Strathearn or Dunblane sometime between 1195 and 1198. [2] The date comes from the fact that he witnessed a charter also witnessed by Gilla Christ, the son of the Earl of Strathearn who died in 1198. [3] He witnessed another charter before 1199, one also witnessed by Matthew (died 1199), Bishop of Aberdeen. [4]

Foundation of Inchaffray

Ruins of the abbey of Inchaffray as depicted in 1794, long after it had gone into ruins. Inchaffray Priory had been promoted to the rank of Abbey in 1221, eleven years after Bishop Jonathan's death. Inchaffray Abbey Ruins 1794.JPG
Ruins of the abbey of Inchaffray as depicted in 1794, long after it had gone into ruins. Inchaffray Priory had been promoted to the rank of Abbey in 1221, eleven years after Bishop Jonathan's death.

His episcopate fell entirely in the reign of Gille Brigte, the mormaer ("earl") or ruler of the province of Strathearn; Jonathan was also the bishop whose episcopate saw the foundation of the Priory of Inchaffray, c. 1200, which took a large proportion of the diocese of Dunblane's churches (and hence revenue) out of the bishopric's control. [5]

In the 1440s, Walter Bower wrote in his Scotichronicon that Gille Brígte:

Divided his earldom into three equal portions. One he gave to the church and bishop of Dunblane, the second to St John the Evangelist and the canons of Inchaffray, the third he kept for himself and his own needs. [6]

Despite the loss as perceived generations later, Bishop Jonathan witnessed the foundation charter of the new monastic house. [7] Moreover, Bishop Jonathan issued his own confirmation of the foundation, expressing his joy at the piety of the mormaer, and declared that

locus quo uocator lingua scottica Inche affren ad exercitum sancti religionis in perpetuam deputetur que secundum sancti augustini regulam inuiolabiliter obseruetur.  "the place called in the Gaelic language Inche Affren is assigned forever to the exercise of religion according to the rule of St Augustine".   [8]

In encouraging the foundation of this monastic house, he was merely following the wishes of his secular patron as well as the actions of his predecessor Simon, who had given the house there its first endowment. [9] Cynthia Neville thought that Jonathan may even have pushed for the foundation of an Augustinian house at this location, in an effort to reform the older Scottish church there. [9]

Remaining episcopate

Jonathan witnessed a charter of Lindores Abbey with Roger de Beaumont (died 1202), Bishop of St Andrews. [4] In 1203, Jonathan acted as a papal judge-delegate along with the Bishop of Dunkeld, in order to resolve a dispute between the Abbot of Dunfermline and the Abbot of Cambuskenneth over the teinds of the church of Eccles (St Ninians, Stirling); the matter was not resolved in Jonathan's consistorial court, and it was committed to five papal mandatories. [10]

The Scotichronicon of Walter Bower claimed that he died in 1210. [11] He was buried at Inchaffray Abbey. [4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Watt & Murray, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 116.
  2. ↑ Cockburn, Medieval Bishops, p. 31; Watt & Murray, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 99.
  3. ↑ Lindsay et al., Charters, Bulls and Other Documents, no. 3, at p. 3; Erkenbald, Abbot of Dunferline (died 1198 also), witnessed that charter too; see Dowden, Bishops, p. 194.
  4. 1 2 3 Dowden, Bishops, p. 194.
  5. ↑ Neville, Native Lordship, pp. 150–51.
  6. ↑ Walter Bower, Scotichronicon, viii.72, in David J. Corner et al., Scotichronicon, vol. 4, p. 459.
  7. ↑ Lindsay et al., Charters, Bulls and Other Documents, no. 11, at p. 10.
  8. ↑ Lindsay et al., Charters, Bulls and Other Documents, no. 10, pp. 9-10, 179-80.
  9. 1 2 Neville, Native Lordship. p. 132.
  10. ↑ Cockburn, Medieval Bishops, p. 31, says the Bishop of Dunkeld was John, Dowden, Bishops, p. 194, says it was Richard de Prebenda.
  11. ↑ Cockburn, Medieval Bishops, p. 36; Dowden, Bishops, p. 194; Watt & Murray, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 116.

Related Research Articles

Gille Brigte, Earl of Strathearn Scottish Earl (1150-1223)

Gille Brigte of Strathearn (1150–1223), sometimes also called Gilbert, is the 3rd Earl or Mormaer of Strathearn.

Clement was a 13th-century Dominican friar who was the first member of the Dominican Order in Britain and Ireland to become a bishop. In 1233, he was selected to lead the ailing diocese of Dunblane in Scotland, and faced a struggle to bring the bishopric of Dunblane to financial viability. This involved many negotiations with the powerful religious institutions and secular authorities which had acquired control of the revenue that would normally have been the entitlement of Clement's bishopric. The negotiations proved difficult, forcing Clement to visit the papal court in Rome. While not achieving all of his aims, Clement succeeded in saving the bishopric from relocation to Inchaffray Abbey. He also regained enough revenue to begin work on the new Dunblane Cathedral.

Abraham of Strathearn

Abraham was an early 13th-century Scottish cleric who held the position of Bishop of Dunblane. He was a chaplain to the Mormaer of Strathearn, Gille Brígte.

Michael Ochiltree [Ouchtre] was a 15th-century Scottish prelate and administrator. A close associate of King James I of Scotland, from the late 1410s he rose in rank from canon to Dean of Dunblane and then Bishop of Dunblane. He was responsible for the coronation of King James II of Scotland, and he obtained a grant from the crown which allowed the comparatively small diocese of Dunblane to attain historically unprecedented viability.

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".

Alexander Stewart was a 14th-century Scottish bishop. Probably from Menteith, he appears in the sources from the first half of the 1340s, possessing a university degree and holding the position of Archdeacon of Ross. He was active at the papal curia in the second half of the decade as a papal chaplain and administrator, before being provided as Bishop of Ross in 1350, a position he held until his death in 1371.

Albin of Brechin 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.

Fionnlagh MacCailein or Finlay Colini was a medieval Scottish bishop. Both his early life and the details of his career as Bishop of Dunblane are not well known, however it is known that he held the latter bishopric between 1403 and his death in 1419. He was part of the circle of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, and was one of the many clerics from west and central Gaelic-speaking Scotland who benefited from the latter's patronage. He is said to have authorised the construction of the first bridge over the river Allan at Dunblane.

Dúghall of Lorne [or de Ergadia] was a late 14th century and early 15th century prelate in the Kingdom of Scotland. Probably a MacDúghaill (MacDougall) from the province of Lorne in Argyll, he appears to have studied at the University of Oxford before returning to Scotland for an ecclesiastical and administrative career. He obtained benefices in the diocese of Argyll, Dunkeld, Dunblane and St Andrews, and acted as the secretary and chaplain of Robert Stewart, Earl of Fife, before becoming Bishop of Dunblane. He held the bishopric of Dunblane until his death in 1403.

Laurence is the first Bishop of Dunblane to be known by name. A document dating to 27 February 1155, had an M. de Dunblan, but no more is known of this man and it is unlikely that M. is a mistake for La..

Simon is the third known 12th century Bishop of Dunblane. Nothing is known of Simon's background as there are numerous Simons in Scotland in this period, both native and foreign. There is a Symon de Liberatione who witnessed a charter of King William the Lion and whom Watt and Murray suggested may have been the later Bishop of Dunblane, while there was in the same decade a local landholder and ecclesiastical patron in the diocese of Dunblane called Simón son of Mac Bethad.

Nicholas de Balmyle

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.

Nicholas of Arbroath

Nicholas O. Tiron, Abbot of Arbroath and Bishop of Dunblane, was a late 13th-century and early 14th-century churchman in the Kingdom of Scotland. Little is known about Nicholas until he appeared on 21 November 1299, holding the position of Abbot of Arbroath in a charter of that abbey; the last attestation of his predecessor Henry can be dated to 16 October 1296, so that Nicholas must have become abbot sometime in between these two dates.

Andrew Magnus was a 14th-century Scottish prelate. Of unknown background, he is recorded for the first time in a document dating to 28 November 1365, holding the position of Archdeacon of Dunblane. Having merely been collated to this position by an ordinary, perhaps the Bishop of Dunblane Walter de Coventre, he received a fresh papal provision on 6 January 1367.

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

Richard de Pontefract O. P. was an English Dominican friar active during the reign King Edward II. On 25 June 1320, King Edward petitioned the papacy for Richard to fill the see of Dunblane, vacant by the death of Nicholas de Balmyle. Although King Edward probably did not expect to have much luck, because of the circumstances of Wars of Scottish Independence, Edward claimed the right of patronage to Scottish sees. The vacant bishopric was eventually filled by Maurice, the Abbot of Inchaffray.

William O. Tiron. was a late 13th-century Tironensian abbot and bishop in the Kingdom of Scotland. He appears in the extant sources for the first time on 25 April 1276; he is Abbot of Arbroath. According to the Scotichronicon, the work of the 15th-century historian Walter Bower, William's predecessor Adam de Inverlunan had died in 1275, so William probably became abbot in either that year or in 1276.

James Chisholm

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.

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.

Walter I was a 12th-century Augustinian Anglo-Norman prelate active in the kingdom of Scotland.

References

Religious titles
Preceded by
Andrew		 Archdeacon of Dunblane/Muthill
1171 × 1191–1198		Succeeded by
John
Preceded by
Simon 		Bishop of Dunblane
1195 × 1198–1210		Succeeded by
Abraham
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.