The Bishop of Caithness was the ecclesiastical head of the 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 Caithness

Caithness

Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...

, one of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first referenced bishop of Caithness was Aindréas, a Gael

Gaels

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....

 who appears in sources between 1146 and 1151 as bishop. Aindréas spent much if not all of his career outside his see.

Other bishops before Aindréas are possible, but none is documented. King David I of Scotland

David I of Scotland

David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...

, is credited with founding many bishoprics, and it is possible that Caithness was one of them. Little documented history exists before the reign of King David.

The earliest bishops resided at Halkirk

Halkirk

Halkirk is a village on the River Thurso in Caithness, in the Highland council area of Scotland. From Halkirk the B874 road runs towards Thurso in the north and towards Georgemas in the east...

, with a castle at Scrabster. Bishop Gilbert de Moravia

Gilbert de Moravia

Gilbert de Moravia , later known as Saint Gilbert of Dornoch, was the most famous Bishop of Caithness and founder of Dornoch Cathedral....

 moved the episcopal seat to Dornoch

Dornoch

Dornoch is a town and seaside resort, and former Royal burgh in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east...

 in what is now Sutherland

Sutherland

Sutherland is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic administrative county of Scotland. It is now within the Highland local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh , Asainte , and Cataibh...

 (then regared as part of Caithness), and the bishopric remained at 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...

 for the remainder of its existence. The Bishopric of Caithness' links with Rome ceased to exist after the Scottish Reformation

Scottish Reformation

The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...

, but continued, saving temporary abolition between 1638 and 1661, under the episcopal Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

 until the Revolution of 1688. Episcopacy in the established church in Scotland was permanently abolished.

Tenure	Incumbent	Notes
-	See left	Some lists give Angerius Brito; this is in fact Bishop Angerius of Catania in Sicily. Catania and Caithness were often written identically. See G. W. S. Barrow G. W. S. Barrow Geoffrey Wallis Steuart Barrow DLitt FBA FRSE is a British historian and academic. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, and arguably the most prominent Scottish medievalist of the last century.... , "Angerius Brito, Cathensis Episcopus", in Traditio, xxvi, (1970), p. 351.
1147 x 1151-1184	Aindréas of Caithness Aindréas of Caithness Andreas or Aindréas of Caithness is the first known bishop of Caithness and a source for the author of de Situ Albanie. Aindréas was a native Scot, and very likely came from a prominent family in Gowrie, or somewhere in this part of Scotland...	First known bishop of Caithness; famously, Aindréas is named as a source by the writer of de Situ Albanie De Situ Albanie De Situ Albanie is the name given to the first of seven Scottish documents found in the so-called Poppleton Manuscript, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris... .
1184 x 1199-1202	John of Caithness John of Caithness John of Caithness is the second known bishop of Caithness, based then at Halkirk. He witnessed various charters in Scotland between the years 1187 and 1199....
1213-1222	Adam of Melrose Adam of Melrose Adam of Melrose was Abbot of Melrose and Bishop of Caithness, famously burned to death by the husbandmen of Caithness.He rose to the position of Abbot in 1207, and on 5 August 1213, was elected to the bishopric of Caithness, then based at Halkirk. On 11 May 1214, he was consecrated by William de...	Formerly Abbot of Melrose; was burned to death in his kitchen by the husbandmen of Caithness.
1222 x 1223-1245	Gilbert de Moravia Gilbert de Moravia Gilbert de Moravia , later known as Saint Gilbert of Dornoch, was the most famous Bishop of Caithness and founder of Dornoch Cathedral....
1246 x 1247-1255	William
1263-1270	Walter de Baltrodin Walter de Baltrodin Walter de Baltrodin [Baltroddi; Baltroddie] was a 13th century Scottish bishop; if his name can be taken as a guide, he came from "Baltrodin" - Baltroddie - in Gowrie...
1272 x 1273	Nicholas	Nicholas had been 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...  of Scone Scone, Scotland Scone is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The medieval village of Scone, which grew up around the monastery and royal residence, was abandoned in the early 19th century when the residents were removed and a new palace was built on the site by the Earl of Mansfield... . Pope Gregory X Pope Gregory X Pope Blessed Gregory X , born Tebaldo Visconti, was Pope from 1271 to 1276. He was elected by the papal election, 1268–1271, the longest papal election in the history of the Roman Catholic Church....  refused to confirm his election because of his "intolerable lack of learning".
1274-1275 x 1278	Archibald Heroch
1278-1279	Richard	Richard had been Dean Dean (religion) A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...  of Caithness. Richard was old and infirm by the time of his election; Pope Nicholas III Pope Nicholas III Pope Nicholas III , born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, Pope from November 25, 1277 to his death in 1280, was a Roman nobleman who had served under eight Popes, been made cardinal-deacon of St...  persuaded Richard to resign his election rights.
1279-1282	Hervey de Dundee	Hervey was elected to the see after the resignation of Bishop Richard. Hervey died on his way for confirmation at the Papal court.
1282-1291	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...
1291 x 1296	John
1296	Adam de Darlington Adam de Darlington Adam de Darlington [Derlingtun] was a 13th century English churchman based in the Kingdom of Scotland. Adam's name occurred for the first time in a Moray document datable between 1255 and 1271, where he was named as the Precentor of Fortrose Cathedral...
1296-1297 x 1304	Andrew de Buchan
1304-1321 x 1327	Fearchar Belegaumbe
1328-1329 x 1341	David
1341-1342	Alan de Moravia
1342-1365 x 1369	Thomas de Fingask
1369-1379 x 1380	Maol Choluim de Drumbreck
1381-1412	Alexander Man
1414-1422	Alexander Vaus Alexander Vaus Alexander Vaus [Vause, de Vaus] was a late 14th century and 15th century Scottish prelate. Said to have been the younger son of one Patrick Vaus , he apparently held "church livings" in Galloway as early as 1421....
1422-1426	John de Crannach John de Crannach John de Crannach was a 15th century Scottish scholar, diplomat and prelate. Originating in the north-east of Lowland Scotland, he probably came from a family associated with the burgh of Aberdeen. Like many of his relatives, he flourished in the 15th-century Scottish church...
1427-1445 x 1446	Robert de Strathbrock
1446-1447 x 1448	John Innes
1448-1477	William Mudy
1478-1484	Prosper Camogli de' Medici	Also known as Prosper Camulio de Janua.
1484	John Sinclair
1501-1517	Andrew Stewart (elder)
1517-1540 x 1541	Andrew Stewart (younger)
1544-1548	Alexander Gordon	Provided by crown to replace Stewart; resigned claim in 1548.
1542-1586	Robert Stewart Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of March Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox then 1st Earl of March was a Scottish nobleman of the family of Stewart of Darnley.-Titles:...	Second son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox was a prominent Scottish magnate. He was the son of Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox, and Elizabeth Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton and Mary Stewart, Princess of Scotland, daughter of King James II of Scotland.The Earl of Lennox had led... , and brother of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox was the 4th Earl of Lennox, and leader of the Catholic nobility in Scotland. He was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox. His grandson was James VI of Scotland.... . He spent many years as "bishop postulate" in England. He became a reformer, although he retained the title of bishop until his death in 1586.
1586-1587	Robert Pont
1600-1604	George Gledstanes George Gledstanes George Gledstanes was an Archbishop of St Andrews during the seventeenth century.-Early life:George Gledstanes was a son of Herbert Gladstanes, clerk of Dundee, and one of the bailies of that town. He was born there between 1560 and 1565, and after spending some time at Dundee Grammar School went...	Translated to Archbishopric of St Andrews Archbishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews and then, as Archbishop of St Andrews , the Archdiocese of St Andrews.The name St Andrews is not the town or church's original name... .
1604-1616	Alexander Forbes
1616-1638	John Abernethy
1638	Robert Hamilton	Episcopacy abolished in Scotland until Restoration of 1661.
1662-1680	Patrick Forbes Patrick Forbes (bishop of Caithness) -Life:Forbes was the third son of John Forbes, minister of Alford, Aberdeenshire, and afterwards of Delft. He studied at the university and King's College of Aberdeen, of which his uncle, the bishop, was chancellor, and took his degree in 1631. Returning to Holland he became an army chaplain...
1680-1688/9	Andrew Wood Andrew Wood (bishop) Andrew Wood was a Scottish prelate from the 17th century. The son of David Wood, Church of Scotland minister, by a daughter of John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray, he followed his father's career in the ministry....	Episcopacy permanently abolished in the Church of Scotland Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation.... . He died aged 76 years old, in 1695.