Archdiocese of St Andrews
Encyclopedia
The Diocese or Archdiocese of St Andrews was a territorial episcopal jurisdiction in early modern and medieval Scotland
. It was the largest, most populous and wealthiest diocese
of the medieval Scottish church, with territory in eastern Scotland stretching from Berwickshire
and the Anglo-Scottish border
to Aberdeenshire
.
Although not an archdiocese until 1472, St Andrews was recognised as the chief see of the Scottish church from at least the 11th century. It came to be one of two archdioceses of the Scottish church, from the early 16th century having the bishoprics of Aberdeen
, Brechin
, Caithness, Dunblane
, Dunkeld
, Moray
, Orkney and Ross
as suffragans.
, King of the Picts (died 834), as the founder of the monastery
-church at St Andrews
, but an obituary
of a St Andrews' abbot
is recorded in the Annals of Ulster
for the year 747, around seven decades before this king ruled. The obituary of Túathalán
, the abbot in question, constitutes the earliest literary evidence for St Andrews. It is possible that the church was founded during the reign of Óengus I
, who had been ruling during this time.
Historian Jame Fraser points out that in England both Canterbury
and York
were dedicated to St Peter, with their junior bishoprics dedicated to St Andrew, that is, the churches of Hexham
and Rochester. It is possible thus that St Andrews was established as a bishopric from the outset, junior to to the bishopric of Rosemarkie, which appears originally to have been dedicated to St Peter. It is also possible that the emergence of the cult of St Andrew in the 8th century was connected with the appearance of "Constantine" as a royal name in the era, St Andrew being the patron of Constantinople
.
The diocese's head, the Bishop of St Andrews, came to be regarded as the chief cleric of the kingdom of Scotland, ahead of the Bishop of Glasgow (2nd), the Bishop of Dunkeld
(3rd) and the Bishop of Aberdeen
(4th). The Augustinian account of the foundation of St Andrews, written between 1140 and 1153, notes and comments on a book-cover (cumdach) and the titles of the bishops:
After the archbishopric of York received its first French archbishop, York was claiming the Scottish bishoprics beyond the River Forth
to be its suffragans as part of the hierarchy of the Latin Church
. Because Scotland, north of the Forth, had never been in the Roman Empire
or part of Anglo-Saxon England, it was difficult for the church of York to produce any evidence of its claim, but it was established that Britannia had two archbishops in the Latin hierarchy. The time of Giric (fl. 1100), styled as Archbishop in Scottish sources, St Andrews is claimed to be an "apostolic see" and the "second Rome".
Eadmer
, an Englishman from Canterbury was appointed to St Andrews by Alexander I in 1120, but was force to resign the see soon after because Alexander I would not agree to make the bishopric part of the English church under Canterbury. Although possessing native Scottish bishops until the end of the 11th-century, with Fothad II
or Cathróe
being the last, the diocese was to have no Scottish-born bishops until the accession David de Bernham
in 1239. Despite this, the Scottish see withstood York and Canterbury pressure, delivered through the Pope and the English king. Requests were made to the papacy for an archbishopric at St Andrews, and although these failed, the Scottish bishoprics were recognised as independent in 1192. It was not though until 1472 that St Andrews became a papally-recognized archbishopric.
to Nigg
on the river Dee
near Aberdeen
. Like many other Scottish dioceses, its territory was fragmented in parts. Detached parishes of the bishoprics of Aberdeen
, Dunblane
and Dunkeld
cut up the diocese, while the diocese of Brechin
lay entirely within its boundaries.
The bishops possessed a castle in St Andrews, and manors through their diocese fortified during the episcopate of William de Lamberton
: Inchmurdo, Dairsie, Monimail, Torry, Kettins and Monymusk, all north of the Forth, and Stow of Wedale, Lasswade
, and Liston
in Lothian. There was also an important episcopal manor at Tyninghame near Dunbar
.
When it became an archdiocese in 1472, the other 12 Scottish sees became its suffragans. In 1392, however, the diocese of Glasgow became an archbishopric too, taking Dunkeld, Dunblane, Argyll, and Galloway (as well as Glasgow) away from St Andrews. Within a few decades Dunkeld and Dunblane were back under St Andrews, though the bishopric of the Isles was transferred to Glasgow later.
Scotland in the Late Middle Ages
Scotland in the late Middle Ages established its independence from England under figures including William Wallace in the late 13th century and Robert Bruce in the 14th century...
. It was the largest, most populous and wealthiest diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of the medieval Scottish church, with territory in eastern Scotland stretching from Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
and the Anglo-Scottish border
Anglo-Scottish border
The Anglo-Scottish border is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 154 km between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land border...
to Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
.
Although not an archdiocese until 1472, St Andrews was recognised as the chief see of the Scottish church from at least the 11th century. It came to be one of two archdioceses of the Scottish church, from the early 16th century having the bishoprics of Aberdeen
Diocese of Aberdeen
Diocese of Aberdeen was one of the 13 dioceses of the Scottish church, before the abolition of the episcopacy in 1689.-Early history:...
, Brechin
Diocese of Brechin
The pre-Reformation Diocese of Brechin or Diocese of Angus was one of the thirteen historical dioceses of Scotland. The diocese was believed to have been founded by Bishop Samson in 1153, and based at the cathedral in Brechin, Angus...
, Caithness, Dunblane
Diocese of Dunblane
The Diocese of Dunblane or Diocese of Strathearn was one of the thirteen historical dioceses of Scotland, before the abolition of episcopacy in the Scottish Church in 1689. Roughly, it embraced the territories covered by the old earldoms of Strathearn and Menteith. The diocese was founded by the...
, Dunkeld
Diocese of Dunkeld
The Diocese of Dunkeld was one of the 13 historical dioceses of Scotland preceding the abolition of Episcopacy in 1689.-History:It is thought that the diocese was constituted as far back as the middle of the ninth century. The first occupant was styled Bishop of Fortriu, the name by which the...
, 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...
, Orkney and 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...
as suffragans.
Origins
One Pictish king-list credits Óengus IIÓengus II of the Picts
Óengus mac Fergusa was king of the Picts , in modern Scotland, from about 820 until 834. Tradition associates him with the cult of Saint Andrew and the Flag of Scotland....
, King of the Picts (died 834), as the founder of the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
-church at St Andrews
St Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
, but an obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
of a St Andrews' abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
is recorded in the Annals of Ulster
Annals of Ulster
The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...
for the year 747, around seven decades before this king ruled. The obituary of Túathalán
Túathalán
Túathalán was an 8th century abbot of Cennrigmonaid. He is known only from his obituary in the Annals of Ulster. Cennrigmonaid, literally "head of the king's pastureland", is a site associated with later St. Andrews, and is probably that site's former name...
, the abbot in question, constitutes the earliest literary evidence for St Andrews. It is possible that the church was founded during the reign of Óengus I
Óengus I of the Picts
Óengus son of Fergus , was king of the Picts from 732 until his death in 761. His reign can be reconstructed in some detail from a variety of sources.Óengus became the chief king in Pictland following a period of civil war in the late 720s...
, who had been ruling during this time.
Historian Jame Fraser points out that in England both Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
and York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
were dedicated to St Peter, with their junior bishoprics dedicated to St Andrew, that is, the churches of Hexham
Hexham
Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...
and Rochester. It is possible thus that St Andrews was established as a bishopric from the outset, junior to to the bishopric of Rosemarkie, which appears originally to have been dedicated to St Peter. It is also possible that the emergence of the cult of St Andrew in the 8th century was connected with the appearance of "Constantine" as a royal name in the era, St Andrew being the patron of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
.
Bishops of the Scots
Bishop of Dunkeld
The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th century cleric named Cormac...
(3rd) and the Bishop of Aberdeen
Bishop of Aberdeen
The Bishop of Aberdeen was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th century cleric named Nechtan...
(4th). The Augustinian account of the foundation of St Andrews, written between 1140 and 1153, notes and comments on a book-cover (cumdach) and the titles of the bishops:
...[F]rom ancient times they have been called bishops of St Andrew, and in both ancient and modern writings they are found called "High Archbishops" or "High Bishops of the Scots". Which is why Fothad, a man of the greatest authority, caused to be written on the cover of a gospel book these lines:
'Fothad, who is High Bishop of the Scots, made this cover for an ancestral gospel-book'.
So now in the ordinary and common speech they are called Escop Alban, that is, "Bishops of Alba".
After the archbishopric of York received its first French archbishop, York was claiming the Scottish bishoprics beyond the River Forth
River Forth
The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...
to be its suffragans as part of the hierarchy of the Latin Church
Latin Church
The Latin Church is the largest particular church within the Catholic Church. It is a particular church not on the level of the local particular churches known as dioceses or eparchies, but on the level of autonomous ritual churches, of which there are 23, the remaining 22 of which are Eastern...
. Because Scotland, north of the Forth, had never been in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
or part of Anglo-Saxon England, it was difficult for the church of York to produce any evidence of its claim, but it was established that Britannia had two archbishops in the Latin hierarchy. The time of Giric (fl. 1100), styled as Archbishop in Scottish sources, St Andrews is claimed to be an "apostolic see" and the "second Rome".
Eadmer
Eadmer
Eadmer, or Edmer , was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his contemporary archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his Vita Anselmi, and for his Historia novorum in Anglia, which presents the public face of Anselm...
, an Englishman from Canterbury was appointed to St Andrews by Alexander I in 1120, but was force to resign the see soon after because Alexander I would not agree to make the bishopric part of the English church under Canterbury. Although possessing native Scottish bishops until the end of the 11th-century, with Fothad II
Fothad II of Cennrígmonaid
Fothad II was the bishop of St Andrews for most of the reign of King Máel Coluim III mac Donnchada . Alternative spellings include Fodhoch, Fothach and Foderoch, and Fothawch . A "Modach filius Malmykel" is mentioned in a grant, dated 1093, as the bishop of S. Andrews...
or Cathróe
Cathróe of Cennrígmonaid
Cathróe is the twelfth alleged Bishop of St. Andrews according to the bishop-list of Walter Bower. He is one of 4 bishops-elect listed by Bower; that is, he is the second of Giric, Cathróe, Eadmer and Godric. As with the other 3, Bower is our only source...
being the last, the diocese was to have no Scottish-born bishops until the accession David de Bernham
David de Bernham
David de Bernham was Chamberlain of King Alexander II of Scotland and subsequently, Bishop of St. Andrews. He was elected to the see in June 1239, and finally consecrated, after some difficulties, in January, 1240. He died in 1253, and was buried at Nenthorn, near Kelso.-References:*Dowden, John,...
in 1239. Despite this, the Scottish see withstood York and Canterbury pressure, delivered through the Pope and the English king. Requests were made to the papacy for an archbishopric at St Andrews, and although these failed, the Scottish bishoprics were recognised as independent in 1192. It was not though until 1472 that St Andrews became a papally-recognized archbishopric.
Extent and possessions
Papal assessors in the late 13th century put the diocese's income at just over 8000 pounds, twice that recorded for the diocese of Glasgow. The diocese was the largest in the medieval Kingdom of Scotland territorially, stretching from Berwick-upon-TweedBerwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....
to Nigg
Nigg, Aberdeen
Nigg is an area of Aberdeen, Scotland, south of the River Dee. The area has a bay known as the Bay of Nigg or Nigg Bay, immediately south of a coastal golf course, and a farm that is also a visitor attraction, known as Doonies Farm.-History:...
on the river Dee
River Dee, Aberdeenshire
The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen...
near Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
. Like many other Scottish dioceses, its territory was fragmented in parts. Detached parishes of the bishoprics of Aberdeen
Diocese of Aberdeen
Diocese of Aberdeen was one of the 13 dioceses of the Scottish church, before the abolition of the episcopacy in 1689.-Early history:...
, Dunblane
Diocese of Dunblane
The Diocese of Dunblane or Diocese of Strathearn was one of the thirteen historical dioceses of Scotland, before the abolition of episcopacy in the Scottish Church in 1689. Roughly, it embraced the territories covered by the old earldoms of Strathearn and Menteith. The diocese was founded by the...
and Dunkeld
Diocese of Dunkeld
The Diocese of Dunkeld was one of the 13 historical dioceses of Scotland preceding the abolition of Episcopacy in 1689.-History:It is thought that the diocese was constituted as far back as the middle of the ninth century. The first occupant was styled Bishop of Fortriu, the name by which the...
cut up the diocese, while the diocese of Brechin
Diocese of Brechin
The pre-Reformation Diocese of Brechin or Diocese of Angus was one of the thirteen historical dioceses of Scotland. The diocese was believed to have been founded by Bishop Samson in 1153, and based at the cathedral in Brechin, Angus...
lay entirely within its boundaries.
The bishops possessed a castle in St Andrews, and manors through their diocese fortified during the episcopate of William de Lamberton
William de Lamberton
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...
: Inchmurdo, Dairsie, Monimail, Torry, Kettins and Monymusk, all north of the Forth, and Stow of Wedale, Lasswade
Lasswade
Lasswade is a civil parish and village in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River North Esk, nine miles south of Edinburgh city centre, between Dalkeith and Loanhead...
, and Liston
Kirkliston
Kirkliston is a village and civil parish within the City of Edinburgh in Scotland. It sits on the historic route between Edinburgh and Queensferry, the gateway to Fife and the north. Today, it is bypassed by the A90...
in Lothian. There was also an important episcopal manor at Tyninghame near Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
.
When it became an archdiocese in 1472, the other 12 Scottish sees became its suffragans. In 1392, however, the diocese of Glasgow became an archbishopric too, taking Dunkeld, Dunblane, Argyll, and Galloway (as well as Glasgow) away from St Andrews. Within a few decades Dunkeld and Dunblane were back under St Andrews, though the bishopric of the Isles was transferred to Glasgow later.