Clement of Dunblane
Encyclopedia
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
(or "bishopric of Strathearn
") 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
.
He faced a similar challenge with the impoverished bishopric of Argyll
in the 1240s. He was given the job of restoring the viability of the diocese
and installing a new bishop; this involved forming a close relationship with King Alexander II of Scotland
. Clement was with the king during his campaign in Argyll
in 1249 and was at his side when he died during this campaign. In 1250 Clement had been able to install a new bishop in Argyll and had become one of the Guardians appointed to govern Scotland during the minority
of King Alexander III
. By 1250 he had established a reputation as one of the most active Dominican reformers in Britain
. Clement helped to elevate Edmund of Abingdon
and Queen Margaret
to sainthood. After his death, he received veneration
as a saint himself, although he was never formally canonised
.
in 1219. The latter source, however, is often highly unreliable, and cannot be fully trusted. The historian Archie Duncan
was cautious about a date as firm and early as 1221, and wrote that Clement "had entered the Dominican order by the later 1220s". Although "Clement" is neither a Scottish
nor an English
name, the large number of French
-speakers in both Scotland and England
during this period means that this consideration carries limited weight; indeed "Clement" need not even have been his birth-name. The diocese of Dunblane was entirely Gaelic-speaking in Clement's day, and in this era it was often frowned upon for a bishop to be ignorant of the language of his diocese. If this had been a consideration in Clement's later appointment, then this would strongly suggest that Clement was in fact a Scot. It is worth adding that Clement was later noted for his skill in languages. Clement received his university education at either the University of Oxford
or the University of Paris
, perhaps at both of these institutions. There is a possibility that he can be identified more fully as "Clement Rocha". A "Father Clement Rocha" was the owner of a manuscript
from the period now held in Edinburgh
. This, however, says nothing more about his background.
The Dominican Order had its origins in the reformist ideology of Dominic de Guzmán, later Saint Dominic
. By 1219, Dominic had established houses as far apart as Paris, Bologna
, Madrid
and Segovia
; at his death in 1221, there were 21 houses. Expansion of the order continued into England as houses were established at Oxford in 1221 and London in 1224. There were five houses in England by 1230, by which time the Order was poised to enter Scotland. Later tradition had it that the Dominican Order entered Scotland in 1230, encouraged by King Alexander II and William de Malveisin
, Bishop of St Andrews. However, the earliest certain date for the foundation of a Dominican house in Scotland is 1234.
These details form the context for Clement's appearance in Scotland and his selection as the new Bishop of Dunblane
. Three years had passed since the death of the last bishop, Osbert
. Since there was no electoral college
for the diocese, Pope Gregory IX
charged the bishops of St Andrews, Brechin
and Dunkeld
, to find and nominate a suitable replacement. There can only be informed speculation regarding the choice of Clement. Importantly, perhaps, King Alexander was later noted for "his concern for building churches for the Friars Preacher [Fratrum precipue Predicatorum]". The status of the Dominicans at the cutting edge of religious reform, together with Clement's background, may have been the decisive factors. At any rate, Clement was consecrated as bishop at Wedale on 4 September 1233, by William de Malveisin, Bishop of St Andrews. His consecration meant that he was the first Dominican in the British Isles to obtain a bishopric. This has prompted the historian Archie Duncan to comment that "the choice of the first friar-bishop ... can only be called daring".
, essentially confined to the earl
doms of Strathearn
and Menteith
. Size was a problem for providing the bishopric with adequate income, a problem compounded by the fact that Gille Brígte
, Mormaer of Strathearn, had established Inchaffray Priory
in 1200 (promoted to Abbey in 1221). In the 1440s, Bower wrote that Gille Brígte:
. Dunblane had its origins in an older Gaelic monastic establishment, that is, in an institution with an abbot
-bishop heading a relatively informal establishment of smaller cells with little geographical compactness. Dunblane emerged as a bishopric in 1155, probably, like bishoprics with a similar history (e.g. Brechin
), having changed in little more than name. There was a community of Céli Dé
at Muthill
until at least the end of the 13th century, and the base for the archdeaconry of the diocese appears to have varied between there and Dunblane until the time of Bishop Clement. The bishopric itself appears to have been without a single base, although it was probably associated with both locations.
Clement visited the papal court to present his difficult situation. In spring 1237, the Pope wrote to the Bishop of Dunkeld that:
In response to Clement's visit, moreover, the Pope had empowered the Bishops of Dunkeld, Brechin and St Andrews to take action to rescue the bishopric. He told these bishops that,
So the Pope's help was two-sided. It made Clement's task vis-à-vis these institutions easier, but on the other hand the possibility had emerged that Dunblane could disappear as an episcopal centre.
, Lindores Abbey
, Cambuskenneth Abbey
, Arbroath Abbey
, the nunnery of North Berwick and the Hospital of Brackley
, Northamptonshire
. These agreements did not constitute complete success. Clement was able to recover some revenue, but in fixed payments liable to real decline by way of inflation. Moreover, he had to concede permanent canonries to several of the abbots, concessions which would give them a role in the election of his successors. Another partial set-back took place. Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith
, had decided to found a monastery
in his earldom and take up the income of Menteith's churches to do it; the whole of Menteith constituted nearly half of the diocese. Despite the Pope's previously helpful behaviour towards Clement's cause, he granted the earl permission to found the new monastery. The earl established Inchmahome Priory
in the Lake of Menteith
in 1238. Walter and Clement came to conflict over the new priory's rights, but in the same year an agreement was drawn up in a meeting of churchmen at Perth
. The agreement placed most of Menteith's churches under the control of the earl; however, Clement obtained several concessions, including the right to receive episcopal dues from the new priory. Overall, Clement's successes were considerable considering the opposition which he faced, but even after his death, only 12 of the 26 parish churches in the diocese were under the bishop's direct control.
Although his successor Robert de Prebenda
claimed that the income of the see
was still inadequate, it was nevertheless enough for Clement to begin building a new cathedral. This was despite the virtual hostility of the earl of Menteith and what Cynthia Neville
has noted as the lack of interest by the earls of Strathearn, evidenced by their reluctance to bestow patronage on the bishopric. Neville's explanation for this is that "the bishops' ambition represented a challenge to their proprietary interests". It has been suggested that Clement dismantled the small church building which had served Dunblane previously, before beginning work. The cathedral was constructed in the Gothic manner
, beginning with the "Lady Chapel"; the Lady Chapel was used while the rest of the cathedral was being built. It is possible that the cathedral of Dunblane was completed during Clement's episcopate, and it is almost certain that most of it was.
Clement's position as Bishop of Dunblane provided the opportunity to participate on the larger national and international stage. In 1241, the Cistercian general chapter began postulating the Pope about the saintliness of Edmund of Abingdon
, formerly Archbishop of Canterbury
. In the following year, various clerics wrote pieces and compiled evidence supporting this Edmund's claim to sainthood. Clement was one of these clerics. Edmund's saintliness was endorsed by Pope Innocent IV
in 1246. Clement took part in a similar campaign in 1249. He was part of the movement to canonise Queen Margaret
, one of the ancestors of the contemporary Scottish kings. Clement was appointed to investigate her saintliness, and in the following year Margaret too was canonised. Meanwhile, in 1247, Pope Innocent IV gave Clement the more onerous and demanding appointment of papal tax collector. Clement was charged with collecting one twentieth of all ecclesiastical revenues within the Kingdom of the Scots. The purpose was to finance a new crusade
, and Clement's appointment was part of a money-raising initiative carried out throughout Western Christendom.
Perhaps Clement's most significant activities were, however, in relation to the bishopric of Argyll
. In 1241, Argyll's last bishop, William, had been drowned while at sea. Argyll was the poorest bishopric in Scotland, and the area lacked strong royal authority, and hence good royal protection. In the following six years, no one had taken up the vacant bishopric. From at least 1247, then, Clement was given charge of the diocese. He was essentially being asked to do for Argyll what he had previously done for Strathearn. The sources are quite thin on this ground, but by 1249 he had brought at least one more church into the control of the bishopric. On 23 December 1248, he was also authorised by the Pope to appoint, with the agreement of the Bishop of Glasgow, a new bishop for Argyll. In January 1249, Clement was given permission to move the cathedral of Argyll, based on Lismore
, to the mainland. Clement's problem seems to have been with the ruler of Argyll, Eóghan. The lack of royal authority in Argyll made it difficult for the national and international church to exercise control in the province; at the same time, establishing a strong bishopric in the area was vital to integrating the area fully into the kingdom, an aim cherished by the contemporary king, Alexander II
. Thus Alexander's goal and Clement's goal were essentially one and the same. It is impossible to be more specific, but in 1249, King Alexander II launched an expedition against Eóghan. The king was attempting to force Eóghan, whose lands lay within both the overlordship of the Kingdom of Scotland
and the Kingdom of Norway, to renounce his allegiance to the King of Norway. Eóghan told Alexander that he was unable to do this. The contemporary historian Matthew Paris
wrote that:
. Moreover, by 1255 Eóghan had given his full allegiance to the Scottish crown, albeit because of lack of favour given to him by the King of Norway.
Clement's close association with the late King Alexander II and his reputation as a successful bishop made him a key political figure during the minority of Alexander III
. Clement was on the Council of Guardians, the small group of nobles and clerics who were to "govern" Scotland until the end of Alexander III's boyhood. The governing Council broke down around two rival factions, one centred around Walter Comyn and the other around Alan Durward
. There is little evidence about Clement's activities in regard to the Council, but he was associated with the Comyn faction, who enjoyed the ascendency after Walter gained control of government in 1251. In 1255, the Durwards staged a coup at Roxburgh
and ousted the "Comyn faction" from effective power. Unfortunately for Alan Durward, Comyn's supporter Gamelin
, who had been placed in the bishopric of St Andrews and excluded from his diocese by Durward, had fled to the papal court and convinced the Pope to excommunicate Alan. The sentence was delivered by Bishop Clement and the abbots of Melrose
and Jedburgh
. This is Clement's last known act.
.jpg)
The Chronicle of Melrose
reports Clement's death under the year 1258. Clement's legacy was to be remembered as the restorer of the diocese of Dunblane and the builder of its cathedral. Thus for future generations, Clement became the father-figure of the see. Clement was later commemorated as a saint, though there is no record of formal canonisation. He was commemorated on 19 March, meaning that was almost certainly believed to have been the date of his death. Clement's death was also noted by Walter Bower
, a Lowland Scottish historian writing in the 1440s, who included the following obituary:
of St Dominic), all of which are now lost.
Some historians have been ambiguous about Clement's episcopate. For instance, Cynthia Neville, despite acknowledging that "the successful reform of the see was, in fact, accomplished almost exclusively as a consequence of the efforts of Clement and his successors", nevertheless expresses some scepticism about his achievements and notices his failure to gain the patronage of the native rulers of Strathearn. Others have been more enthusiastic. The ecclesiastical historian and former minister of Dunblane Cathedral, James Hutchison Cockburn, agreed with Bower's eulogy and declared that the "title" of sainthood "would have been worthily bestowed". Archie Duncan, more recently, stated that Clement "clearly enjoyed a reputation far wider than his domestic accomplishments alone would explain" and concluded that Clement "represents the occasional triumph of the ideal of reform of church life over the careerism which generally motivated thirteenth-century clergy".
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
who was the first member of the Dominican Order in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
to become a bishop. In 1233, he was selected to lead the ailing diocese of 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...
in 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...
, and faced a struggle to bring the bishopric of Dunblane
Bishop of Dunblane
The Bishop of Dunblane or Bishop of Strathearn was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunblane/Strathearn, one of medieval Scotland's thirteen bishoprics. It was based at Dunblane Cathedral, now a parish church of the Church of Scotland. The bishopric itself certainly derives from an older...
(or "bishopric of Strathearn
Strathearn
Strathearn or Strath Earn is the strath of the River Earn, in Scotland. It extends from Loch Earn in Perth and Kinross to the River Tay....
") 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
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
court
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...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. While not achieving all of his aims, Clement succeeded in saving the bishopric from relocation to Inchaffray Abbey
Inchaffray Abbey
Inchaffray Abbey was situated by the village of Madderty, midway between Perth and Crieff in Strathearn, Scotland. The only trace now visible is an earth mound and some walls on the island where the abbey once stood.-History:...
. He also regained enough revenue to begin work on the new Dunblane Cathedral
Dunblane Cathedral
Dunblane Cathedral is the larger of the two Church of Scotland parish churches serving Dunblane, near the city of Stirling, in central Scotland.-History:...
.
He faced a similar challenge with the impoverished bishopric of Argyll
Bishop of Argyll
The Bishop of Argyll or Bishop of Lismore was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Argyll, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. It was created in 1200, when the western half of the territory of the Bishopric of Dunkeld was formed into the new diocese. The bishops were based at Lismore...
in the 1240s. He was given the job of restoring the viability 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...
and installing a new bishop; this involved forming a close relationship with King Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II was King of Scots from1214 to his death.-Early life:...
. Clement was with the king during his campaign in Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
in 1249 and was at his side when he died during this campaign. In 1250 Clement had been able to install a new bishop in Argyll and had become one of the Guardians appointed to govern Scotland during the minority
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of King Alexander III
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...
. By 1250 he had established a reputation as one of the most active Dominican reformers in Britain
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....
. Clement helped to elevate Edmund of Abingdon
Edmund Rich
Edmund Rich was a 13th century Archbishop of Canterbury in England...
and Queen Margaret
Saint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...
to sainthood. After his death, he received veneration
Veneration
Veneration , or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a saint: an angel, or a dead person who has been identified by a church committee as singular in the traditions of the religion. It is practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches...
as a saint himself, although he was never formally canonised
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
.
Early years and background
The Analecta Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum claims that he was "a Scot by birth", and that he was admitted into the Dominican Order of ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1219. The latter source, however, is often highly unreliable, and cannot be fully trusted. The historian Archie Duncan
Archie Duncan
Archibald Alexander McBeth Duncan, FBA, FRHistS, FRSE is a Scottish historian.From 1962 to 1993 he was Professor of Scottish History and Literature at the University of Glasgow. On giving up his professorship, he became Clerk of Senate and Dean of Faculties, retiring from the University in 2000...
was cautious about a date as firm and early as 1221, and wrote that Clement "had entered the Dominican order by the later 1220s". Although "Clement" is neither a Scottish
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....
nor an English
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
name, the large number of French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
-speakers in both Scotland and England
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...
during this period means that this consideration carries limited weight; indeed "Clement" need not even have been his birth-name. The diocese of Dunblane was entirely Gaelic-speaking in Clement's day, and in this era it was often frowned upon for a bishop to be ignorant of the language of his diocese. If this had been a consideration in Clement's later appointment, then this would strongly suggest that Clement was in fact a Scot. It is worth adding that Clement was later noted for his skill in languages. Clement received his university education at either the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
or the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, perhaps at both of these institutions. There is a possibility that he can be identified more fully as "Clement Rocha". A "Father Clement Rocha" was the owner of a manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
from the period now held in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. This, however, says nothing more about his background.
The Dominican Order had its origins in the reformist ideology of Dominic de Guzmán, later Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic , also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers , a Catholic religious order...
. By 1219, Dominic had established houses as far apart as Paris, Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...
; at his death in 1221, there were 21 houses. Expansion of the order continued into England as houses were established at Oxford in 1221 and London in 1224. There were five houses in England by 1230, by which time the Order was poised to enter Scotland. Later tradition had it that the Dominican Order entered Scotland in 1230, encouraged by King Alexander II and William de Malveisin
William de Malveisin
Guillaume or William de Malveisin was Chancellor of Scotland, Bishop of Glasgow and then Bishop of St. Andrews .William Malveisin was probably born in France...
, Bishop of St Andrews. However, the earliest certain date for the foundation of a Dominican house in Scotland is 1234.
These details form the context for Clement's appearance in Scotland and his selection as the new Bishop of Dunblane
Bishop of Dunblane
The Bishop of Dunblane or Bishop of Strathearn was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunblane/Strathearn, one of medieval Scotland's thirteen bishoprics. It was based at Dunblane Cathedral, now a parish church of the Church of Scotland. The bishopric itself certainly derives from an older...
. Three years had passed since the death of the last bishop, Osbert
Osbert of Dunblane
Osbert was an early 13th century cleric who held the position of Bishop of Dunblane . A mandate for a new election was issued in January 1226 after the presumed resignation of Osbert's predecessor Radulf. Osbert's name appears in the cartulary of Cambuskenneth Abbey, dating 1227 x 1231, where he...
. Since there was no electoral college
Electoral college
An electoral college is a set of electors who are selected to elect a candidate to a particular office. Often these represent different organizations or entities, with each organization or entity represented by a particular number of electors or with votes weighted in a particular way...
for the diocese, Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
charged the bishops of St Andrews, Brechin
Bishop of Brechin
The Bishop of Brechin is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Brechin or Angus, based at Brechin Cathedral, Brechin. The diocese had a long-established Gaelic monastic community which survived into the 13th century. The clerical establishment may very well have traced their earlier origins...
and Dunkeld
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...
, to find and nominate a suitable replacement. There can only be informed speculation regarding the choice of Clement. Importantly, perhaps, King Alexander was later noted for "his concern for building churches for the Friars Preacher [Fratrum precipue Predicatorum]". The status of the Dominicans at the cutting edge of religious reform, together with Clement's background, may have been the decisive factors. At any rate, Clement was consecrated as bishop at Wedale on 4 September 1233, by William de Malveisin, Bishop of St Andrews. His consecration meant that he was the first Dominican in the British Isles to obtain a bishopric. This has prompted the historian Archie Duncan to comment that "the choice of the first friar-bishop ... can only be called daring".
Bishopric of Dunblane
The bishopric of Dunblane was a small dioceseDiocese
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...
, essentially confined to the earl
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
doms of Strathearn
Strathearn
Strathearn or Strath Earn is the strath of the River Earn, in Scotland. It extends from Loch Earn in Perth and Kinross to the River Tay....
and Menteith
Menteith
Menteith or Monteith , a district of south Perthshire, Scotland, roughly comprises the territory between the Teith and the Forth. The region is named for the river Teith, but the exact sense is unclear, early forms including Meneted, Maneteth and Meneteth.First recorded as the Mormaerdom of...
. Size was a problem for providing the bishopric with adequate income, a problem compounded by the fact that Gille Brígte
Gille Brigte, Earl of Strathearn
Gille Brigte of Strathearn is the third known Mormaer of Strathearn. He is one of the most famous of the Strathearn mormaers. He succeeded his father Ferchar in 1171. He is often known by the Francization of his name, Gilbert, or by various anglicizations, such as Gilbride, Gilbridge, etc...
, Mormaer of Strathearn, had established Inchaffray Priory
Inchaffray Abbey
Inchaffray Abbey was situated by the village of Madderty, midway between Perth and Crieff in Strathearn, Scotland. The only trace now visible is an earth mound and some walls on the island where the abbey once stood.-History:...
in 1200 (promoted to Abbey in 1221). In the 1440s, Bower wrote 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.If this were not enough, much of the income not granted to Inchaffray had since been given to other religious institutions; some revenue was even controlled by the Bishop of Dunkeld
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...
. Dunblane had its origins in an older Gaelic monastic establishment, that is, in an institution with an 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...
-bishop heading a relatively informal establishment of smaller cells with little geographical compactness. Dunblane emerged as a bishopric in 1155, probably, like bishoprics with a similar history (e.g. Brechin
Bishop of Brechin
The Bishop of Brechin is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Brechin or Angus, based at Brechin Cathedral, Brechin. The diocese had a long-established Gaelic monastic community which survived into the 13th century. The clerical establishment may very well have traced their earlier origins...
), having changed in little more than name. There was a community of Céli Dé
Culdee
Céli Dé or Culdees were originally members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland and England in the Middle Ages. The term is used of St. John the Apostle, of a missioner from abroad recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 806, and of Óengus...
at Muthill
Muthill
Muthill, pronounced , is a village in Perth and Kinross, Perthshire, Scotland. It lies on the former railway line connecting Perth and Crieff, 3 miles south of Crieff. The name possibly derives from Moot hill, a place of judgement....
until at least the end of the 13th century, and the base for the archdeaconry of the diocese appears to have varied between there and Dunblane until the time of Bishop Clement. The bishopric itself appears to have been without a single base, although it was probably associated with both locations.
Clement visited the papal court to present his difficult situation. In spring 1237, the Pope wrote to the Bishop of Dunkeld that:
Bishop Clement ... found the Church so desolated that there was no place in the Cathedral Church where he could lay his head; it had no college of clergy; the divine offices were celebrated in a roofless church and by a rural chaplain only; and the episcopalEpiscopal polityEpiscopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...
revenues were so slender, and had been alienated to such a degree, that they scarcely sufficed to support him for half a year.
In response to Clement's visit, moreover, the Pope had empowered the Bishops of Dunkeld, Brechin and St Andrews to take action to rescue the bishopric. He told these bishops that,
Since the continual care of all the churches is our daily burden, we grant to the said Church [Dunblane], so far as we personally can, and authorise you, if you find the situation to be as described, to assign to the said Bishop, if it can be done without scandal, a quarter of the teinds of all the parish churches of the Diocese of Dunblane, so that under your guidance and that of upright men, he may set aside a suitable portion of them for his own maintenance, and thereafter assign revenues for a dean and canons whom we wish and authorise you to institute there.Failing this, the Pope wrote,
The quarter teinds of all the churches of the Diocese assigned to the Bishop, which are held by laymenLaityIn religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
, you shall transfer with the episcopal seat to the Canons RegularCanons RegularCanons Regular are members of certain bodies of Canons living in community under the Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common...
of St. John in the Diocese [i.e. to Inchaffray Abbey], who shall have power to elect a Bishop in any vacancy.
So the Pope's help was two-sided. It made Clement's task vis-à-vis these institutions easier, but on the other hand the possibility had emerged that Dunblane could disappear as an episcopal centre.
Recovery and rebuilding
In the three or four years after his visit to the papacy, agreements were made with the various institutions who were drawing income from Clement's diocese – namely Coupar Angus AbbeyCoupar Angus Abbey
Coupar Angus Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near Coupar Angus, in central Scotland, on the boundary between Angus and Gowrie.It was founded on the old royal manor of Coupar in 1161 x 1162 with the patronage of Máel Coluim IV , King of Scots, by Cistercian monks from Melrose Abbey...
, Lindores Abbey
Lindores Abbey
Lindores Abbey was a Tironensian abbey on the outskirts of Newburgh in Fife, Scotland. Now a much reduced and overgrown ruin, it lies on the southern banks of the River Tay, about north of the village of Lindores....
, Cambuskenneth Abbey
Cambuskenneth Abbey
Cambuskenneth Abbey is a ruined Augustinian monastery located on an area of land enclosed by a meander of the River Forth near Stirling in Scotland. The abbey is largely reduced to its foundations. The neighbouring modern village of Cambuskenneth is named after it.Cambuskenneth Abbey was founded...
, Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to the deceased Saint Thomas Becket, whom the king had met at the English court...
, the nunnery of North Berwick and the Hospital of Brackley
Brackley
Brackley is a town in south Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Oxford and miles form Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the intersecting trade routes between London, Birmingham and the English Midlands and between Cambridge and Oxford...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. These agreements did not constitute complete success. Clement was able to recover some revenue, but in fixed payments liable to real decline by way of inflation. Moreover, he had to concede permanent canonries to several of the abbots, concessions which would give them a role in the election of his successors. Another partial set-back took place. Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith
Walter Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, jure uxoris Earl of Menteith
Walter Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, jure uxoris Earl of Menteith was the son of William Comyn, Justiciar of Scotia and Mormaer or Earl of Buchan by right of his second wife....
, had decided to found a 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...
in his earldom and take up the income of Menteith's churches to do it; the whole of Menteith constituted nearly half of the diocese. Despite the Pope's previously helpful behaviour towards Clement's cause, he granted the earl permission to found the new monastery. The earl established Inchmahome Priory
Inchmahome Priory
Inchmahome Priory is situated on Inchmahome , the largest of three islands in the centre of Lake of Menteith, close to Aberfoyle, Scotland....
in the Lake of Menteith
Lake of Menteith
The Lake of Menteith , is a loch in Scotland, located on the Carse of Stirling, the flood plain of the upper reaches of the rivers Forth and Teith, upstream of Stirling. Until the early 19th century, the more usual Scottish name of Loch of Menteith was used...
in 1238. Walter and Clement came to conflict over the new priory's rights, but in the same year an agreement was drawn up in a meeting of churchmen at Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
. The agreement placed most of Menteith's churches under the control of the earl; however, Clement obtained several concessions, including the right to receive episcopal dues from the new priory. Overall, Clement's successes were considerable considering the opposition which he faced, but even after his death, only 12 of the 26 parish churches in the diocese were under the bishop's direct control.
Although his successor Robert de Prebenda
Robert de Prebenda
Robert de Prebenda was a 13th century Anglo-French cleric who held the position of Bishop of Dunblane, Scotland....
claimed that the income of the see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
was still inadequate, it was nevertheless enough for Clement to begin building a new cathedral. This was despite the virtual hostility of the earl of Menteith and what Cynthia Neville
Cynthia Neville
Cynthia J Neville, FRHistS, FSAScot is a Canadian historian, medievalist and George Munro professor of history at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Neville's primary research interests are the social, political and cultural history of medieval Scotland, 1000-1500, specifically legal...
has noted as the lack of interest by the earls of Strathearn, evidenced by their reluctance to bestow patronage on the bishopric. Neville's explanation for this is that "the bishops' ambition represented a challenge to their proprietary interests". It has been suggested that Clement dismantled the small church building which had served Dunblane previously, before beginning work. The cathedral was constructed in the Gothic manner
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, beginning with the "Lady Chapel"; the Lady Chapel was used while the rest of the cathedral was being built. It is possible that the cathedral of Dunblane was completed during Clement's episcopate, and it is almost certain that most of it was.
On the wider stage
Edmund Rich
Edmund Rich was a 13th century Archbishop of Canterbury in England...
, formerly Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. In the following year, various clerics wrote pieces and compiled evidence supporting this Edmund's claim to sainthood. Clement was one of these clerics. Edmund's saintliness was endorsed by Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV , born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was pope from June 25, 1243 until his death in 1254.-Early life:...
in 1246. Clement took part in a similar campaign in 1249. He was part of the movement to canonise Queen Margaret
Saint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...
, one of the ancestors of the contemporary Scottish kings. Clement was appointed to investigate her saintliness, and in the following year Margaret too was canonised. Meanwhile, in 1247, Pope Innocent IV gave Clement the more onerous and demanding appointment of papal tax collector. Clement was charged with collecting one twentieth of all ecclesiastical revenues within the Kingdom of the Scots. The purpose was to finance a new crusade
Seventh Crusade
The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, was captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the Bahariyya...
, and Clement's appointment was part of a money-raising initiative carried out throughout Western Christendom.
Perhaps Clement's most significant activities were, however, in relation to the bishopric of Argyll
Bishop of Argyll
The Bishop of Argyll or Bishop of Lismore was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Argyll, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. It was created in 1200, when the western half of the territory of the Bishopric of Dunkeld was formed into the new diocese. The bishops were based at Lismore...
. In 1241, Argyll's last bishop, William, had been drowned while at sea. Argyll was the poorest bishopric in Scotland, and the area lacked strong royal authority, and hence good royal protection. In the following six years, no one had taken up the vacant bishopric. From at least 1247, then, Clement was given charge of the diocese. He was essentially being asked to do for Argyll what he had previously done for Strathearn. The sources are quite thin on this ground, but by 1249 he had brought at least one more church into the control of the bishopric. On 23 December 1248, he was also authorised by the Pope to appoint, with the agreement of the Bishop of Glasgow, a new bishop for Argyll. In January 1249, Clement was given permission to move the cathedral of Argyll, based on Lismore
Lismore, Scotland
Lismore is a partially Gaelic speaking island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. This fertile, low-lying island was once a major centre of Celtic Christianity, with a monastery founded by Saint Moluag and the seat of the Bishop of Argyll.-Geography:...
, to the mainland. Clement's problem seems to have been with the ruler of Argyll, Eóghan. The lack of royal authority in Argyll made it difficult for the national and international church to exercise control in the province; at the same time, establishing a strong bishopric in the area was vital to integrating the area fully into the kingdom, an aim cherished by the contemporary king, Alexander II
Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II was King of Scots from1214 to his death.-Early life:...
. Thus Alexander's goal and Clement's goal were essentially one and the same. It is impossible to be more specific, but in 1249, King Alexander II launched an expedition against Eóghan. The king was attempting to force Eóghan, whose lands lay within both the overlordship of 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...
and the Kingdom of Norway, to renounce his allegiance to the King of Norway. Eóghan told Alexander that he was unable to do this. The contemporary historian Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire...
wrote that:
The king therefore declared Eóghan unfaithful and pursued him hostilely by ship near Argyll; urged, as is said, by the vehement promptings of a certain indiscreet bishop of Strathearn, a friar to wit of the order of the Preachers.This "indiscreet bishop ... friar" was, of course, Clement. Alexander died from ill-health on this expedition, with Clement by his side at his deathbed. Alexander's last act was to make a grant to the bishopric of Argyll. Despite the king's death, the expedition was a success for Clement. There was a new Bishop of Argyll by 27 September 1250; in the longer term, the see continued to be ruled by bishops with no long vacancies until the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. Moreover, by 1255 Eóghan had given his full allegiance to the Scottish crown, albeit because of lack of favour given to him by the King of Norway.
Clement's close association with the late King Alexander II and his reputation as a successful bishop made him a key political figure during the minority of Alexander III
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...
. Clement was on the Council of Guardians, the small group of nobles and clerics who were to "govern" Scotland until the end of Alexander III's boyhood. The governing Council broke down around two rival factions, one centred around Walter Comyn and the other around Alan Durward
Alan Durward
Alan Hostarius was the son of Thomas de Lundin, a grandson of Gille Críst, Mormaer of Mar. His mother's name is unknown, but she was almost certainly a daughter of Máel Coluim, Mormaer of Atholl, meaning that Alan was the product of two Gaelic comital families.Alan was one of the most important...
. There is little evidence about Clement's activities in regard to the Council, but he was associated with the Comyn faction, who enjoyed the ascendency after Walter gained control of government in 1251. In 1255, the Durwards staged a coup at Roxburgh
Roxburgh
Roxburgh , also known as Rosbroch, is a village, civil parish and now-destroyed royal burgh. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland...
and ousted the "Comyn faction" from effective power. Unfortunately for Alan Durward, Comyn's supporter Gamelin
Gamelin (bishop)
Gamelin was a 13th century Bishop of St Andrews. He had previously been the chancellor to King Alexander III of Scotland, as well as Papal chaplain. He was postulated to the see in Lent, 1255, and confirmed by Pope Alexander IV on 1 July 1255, who also agreed to overlook Gamelin's apparent "defect...
, who had been placed in the bishopric of St Andrews and excluded from his diocese by Durward, had fled to the papal court and convinced the Pope to excommunicate Alan. The sentence was delivered by Bishop Clement and the abbots of Melrose
Abbot of Melrose
The Abbot and then Commendator of Melrose was the head of the monastic community of Melrose Abbey, in Melrose in the Borders region of Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1136 on the patronage of David I , King of Scots, by Cistercian monks from Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire...
and Jedburgh
Abbot of Jedburgh
The Abbot of Jedburgh was the head of the Augustinian canons of Jedburgh Abbey, Roxburghshire. It was founded by King David I of Scotland in 1138, and David's grandson and successor Máel Coluim IV ensured its promotion to the status of abbey before 1156...
. This is Clement's last known act.
Death and legacy
Chronicle of Melrose
The Chronicle of Melrose is a medieval chronicle from the Cottonian Manuscript, Faustina B. ix within the British Museum. It was written by unknown authors, though evidence in the writing shows that it most likely was written by the monks at Melrose Abbey. The chronicle begins on the year 735 and...
reports Clement's death under the year 1258. Clement's legacy was to be remembered as the restorer of the diocese of Dunblane and the builder of its cathedral. Thus for future generations, Clement became the father-figure of the see. Clement was later commemorated as a saint, though there is no record of formal canonisation. He was commemorated on 19 March, meaning that was almost certainly believed to have been the date of his death. Clement's death was also noted by Walter Bower
Walter Bower
Walter Bower , Scottish chronicler, was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian.He was abbot of Inchcolm Abbey from 1418, was one of the commissioners for the collection of the ransom of James I, King of Scots, in 1423 and 1424, and in 1433 one of the embassy to Paris on the business of the...
, a Lowland Scottish historian writing in the 1440s, who included the following obituary:
Clement bishop of Dunblane died, that outstanding member of the Order of Preachers, a man most eloquent in translating various tongues, powerful in speech and action in the sight of God and of men. He found the cathedral church of his diocese reduced by the neglect of his predecessors to such a state of decay that the divine offices were celebrated in it scarcely three times a week, as if it were some rural chapel. He built it up to be a hallowed sanctuary, enriched it with lands and possessions, and increased its prestige by adding prebendsSuch flattering sentiments had even been expressed during Clement's lifetime. In 1250, the General Chapter of the Dominican Order met in London, and decreed that:PrebendaryA prebendary is a post connected to an Anglican or Catholic cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon. Prebendaries have a role in the administration of the cathedral...
and canonries.
we grant to Friar Clement of our Order, a bishop of Scotland, after his death, one mass throughout the Order by every friar whomsoever is a priest.Although there survives a sermon almost certainly written by him, Clement was also credited with being a prolific translator and writing four books (including a hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
of St Dominic), all of which are now lost.
Some historians have been ambiguous about Clement's episcopate. For instance, Cynthia Neville, despite acknowledging that "the successful reform of the see was, in fact, accomplished almost exclusively as a consequence of the efforts of Clement and his successors", nevertheless expresses some scepticism about his achievements and notices his failure to gain the patronage of the native rulers of Strathearn. Others have been more enthusiastic. The ecclesiastical historian and former minister of Dunblane Cathedral, James Hutchison Cockburn, agreed with Bower's eulogy and declared that the "title" of sainthood "would have been worthily bestowed". Archie Duncan, more recently, stated that Clement "clearly enjoyed a reputation far wider than his domestic accomplishments alone would explain" and concluded that Clement "represents the occasional triumph of the ideal of reform of church life over the careerism which generally motivated thirteenth-century clergy".