Alan de St Edmund was a 13th-century English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 cleric and administrator of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholicism in Great Britain

Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom refers to the practice of Roman Catholicism in Great Britain and Ireland since the creation of the United Kingdom....

. His name suggests a connection with Bury St. Edmunds Abbey

Bury St. Edmunds Abbey

The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England. Its ruins lie in Bury St Edmunds, a town in the county of Suffolk, England.-History:...

 in Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

, but there is no direct evidence. He was the chaplain

Chaplain

Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

 of Hugh of Evesham

Hugh of Evesham

Hugh of Evesham was a 13th century English churchman, physician and alchemist. Given his name, it is likely that he came from Evesham, Worcestershire. Hugh studied at Oxford University in the 1260s and in 1275, now Archdeacon of Worcester, went to study in Continental Europe...

, another Englishman, from the diocese of Worcester

Anglican Diocese of Worcester

The Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.The diocese was founded in around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the many Anglo Saxon petty-kingdoms of that time...

, who in 1282 was made Presbyter

Presbyter

Presbyter in the New Testament refers to a leader in local Christian congregations, then a synonym of episkopos...

-Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

 of St Laurence in Lucina by Pope Martin IV

Pope Martin IV

Pope Martin IV, born Simon de Brion held the papacy from February 21, 1281 until his death....

. After Hervey de Dundee, bishop-elect 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...

, died while seeking confirmation at the Roman curia

Roman Curia

The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...

, the pope chose Alan - still in Rome - for the bishopric. Alan was provided by Pope Martin on 13 April 1282.

For the remainder of the 1280s his activities are largely obscure. After the death of King Alexander III of Scotland

Alexander III of Scotland

Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...

, Alan was one of the figures who pushed for a marriage between Alexander's granddaughter and heiress Margaret, Maid of Norway

Margaret, Maid of Norway

Margaret , usually known as the Maid of Norway , sometimes known as Margaret of Scotland , was a Norwegian princess who was Queen of Scots from 1286 until her death...

 and Edward of Caernarfon, heir to King Edward I of England

Edward I of England

Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...

. He was one of the three men appointed to negotiate the marriage, the other two being Robert Wishart

Robert Wishart

Robert Wishart was Bishop of Glasgow during the Wars of Scottish Independence and a leading supporter of Robert Bruce. For Wishart and many of his fellow churchmen the freedom of Scotland and the freedom of the Scottish church were one and the same thing...

, Bishop of Glasgow, and John Comyn

John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch

John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lord of Lochaber or John "the Black", also known as Black Comyn, a Scottish nobleman, was a Guardian of Scotland, and one of the six Regents for Margaret, Maid of Norway...

, Lord of Badenoch

Lord of Badenoch

The Lord of Badenoch was a magnate who ruled the lordship of Badenoch in the 13th century and early 14th century. The lordship may have been created out of the territory of the Meic Uilleim, after William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan, Justiciar of Scotia and Warden of Moray defeated Gille...

.

Although the deal was made, Margaret's death in 1290 put an end to this plan, and the ensuing succession debate was mediated by King Edward, now temporary ruler of Scotland. King Edward showed his fellow Englishman Alan favour, and on 12 June 1291, appointed him Chancellor of Scotland and handed over to him the Seal

Seal (device)

A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...

 of Regency. Edward provided one of his own clerks, Walter de Agsmundesham, as an assistant, and ordered the Chamberlain

Chamberlain (office)

A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....

 Alexander de Balliol to pay every month to Bishop Alan 20 merks and to Agsmundesham 10 merks. On 26 October Edward ordered that 40 pieces of oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 be provided to Alan from the forest of Ternaway in Moray

Moray

Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...

 to be used in Dornoch Cathedral

Dornoch Cathedral

Dornoch Cathedral is a parish church in the Church of Scotland, serving the small Sutherland town of Dornoch, in the Scottish Highlands. It was built in the 13th century, in the reign of King Alexander II and the episcopate of Gilbert de Moravia as the cathedral church of the diocese of...

.

Bishop Alan, however, was dead by 12 December, and is last attested on 5 November. King Edward, in honour of Alan's services, ordered that all Alan's bona et catalla, goods and chattels

Personal property

Personal property, roughly speaking, is private property that is moveable, as opposed to real property or real estate. In the common law systems personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In the civil law systems personal property is often called movable property or movables - any...

, which Edward was entitled to by Scottish custom

Custom (law)

Custom in law is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law." Customary law exists where:...

, be delivered to the Prior of Coldingham

Prior of Coldingham

The Prior of Coldingham was the head of the Benedictine monastic community of Coldingham Priory in Berwickshire. Coldingham Priory was founded in the reign of David I of Scotland, although his older brother and predecessor King Edgar of Scotland had granted the land of Coldingham to the Church of...

 - Henry de Horncastre - and to Alan's brother Adam de St Edmund, who was parson

Parson

In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization...

 of the church of Restalrig

Restalrig

Restalrig is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located east of the city centre, west of the A199 road, and to the east of Lochend, with which it overlaps. Restalrig Road is the main route through the area, running from London Road at Jock's Lodge, to Leith Links at the south edge of...

.