Adam de Darlington [Derlingtun] (died 1296) was a 13th century English

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

 churchman based in the Kingdom of Scotland

Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...

. Adam's name occurred for the first time in a Moray

Diocese of Moray

The Diocese of Moray was one of the most important of the medieval dioceses in Scotland. It was founded in the early years of the 12th century by David I of Scotland under its first bishop, Gregoir...

 document datable between 1255 and 1271, where he was named as the Precentor

Precentor

A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is "præcentor", from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" ....

 of Fortrose Cathedral

Fortrose Cathedral

Fortrose Cathedral was the episcopal seat of the medieval Scottish diocese of Ross. 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...

. He seems to have been introduced into the diocese of Ross

Diocese of Ross

The Diocese of Ross was an ecclesiastical territory or diocese in Scotland in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period. The Diocese was led by the Bishop of Ross, and was based at Fortrose. The diocese had only one Archdeacon, the Archdeacon of Ross, first attested in 1223 with the appearance of...

, along with others from the north-east of England, by Bishop Robert de Fyvie

Robert de Fyvie

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...

, who may have been descended from the area.

After the death of Bishop Robert, sometime between 17 November 1292 and 18 November 1295, two elections were conducted by the cathedral chapter

Cathedral chapter

In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...

 of Ross: one elected Precentor Adam and the other elected Thomas de Dundee

Thomas de Dundee

Thomas de Dundee, also called Thomas Nicholay, was a Scottish prelate who held the bishopric of Ross during the First War of Scottish Independence...

. Darlington travelled to the papal curia, but on or before 18 November, resigned his right to Dundee.

He did however obtain a bishopric, becoming Bishop of Caithness

Bishop of Caithness

The Bishop of Caithness was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Caithness, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first referenced bishop of Caithness was Aindréas, a Gael who appears in sources between 1146 and 1151 as bishop. Aindréas spent much if not all of his career outside his...

. On 26 April 1296, as Precentor of Ross he was provided to the Caithness diocese, vacant since the death of Alan de St Edmund

Alan de St Edmund

Alan de St Edmund was a 13th-century English cleric and administrator of the Roman Catholic Church. His name suggests a connection with Bury St. Edmunds Abbey in Suffolk, but there is no direct evidence. He was the chaplain of Hugh of Evesham, another Englishman, from the diocese of Worcester, who...

 in 1291, and consecrated by Hugh Aycelin

Hugh Aycelin

Hugh Aycelin was a French Cardinal.-Life:He entered the Order of Dominicans in his youth and became Master of Sacred Palace ca. 1286. Pope Nicholas IV created him Cardinal-Priest of S. Sabina in the consistory of 16 May 1288...

, Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia. He was not to be bishop long however, perhaps not even long enough to visit his new bishopric. He died at Siena

Siena

Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...

 some time before 17 December 1296, when Andrew, Abbot of Coupar Angus

Abbot of Coupar Angus

The Abbot of Coupar Angus was the head of the monastic community and lands of Coupar Angus Abbey, on the boundary between Angus and Gowrie in Scotland. The abbot David Bane was granted the mitre in 1464...

, was provided to the now vacant see of Caithness.