Walter Wardlaw was a 14th century bishop of Glasgow. He was the son of a Sir Henry Wardlaw of Torry, a middling knight of Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

. Before becoming bishop, Walter was a canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, a Master of Theology

Master of Theology

A Master of Theology is an advanced theological research degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries.-North America:In North America, the Master of Theology is considered by the Association of Theological Schools to be the minimum educational credential for teaching...

 and archdeacon

Archdeacon

An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...

 of Lothian

Lothian

Lothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....

. He was at 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...

, and a roll of the year 1349 has one "Master William de Wardlaw" in the English Nation. By this stage, he was already a canon of Glasgow, with a prebend in Glasgow and another in the diocese of St Andrews. Yet a petition of 1349 to the papacy has Walter requesting the church of "Dunenach" in the diocese 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...

. By 1359, he is rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of Erol and archdeacon of Lothian.

After the death on 27 January 1367 of William Rae

William Rae (bishop)

William Rae was a 14th century bishop of Glasgow. His background is obscure, although it is known that before ascending to the bishopric he was a precentor of the diocese of Glasgow. On the death of John Wishart in 1338, William was elected to the see...

, Bishop of Glasgow, Pope Urban V

Pope Urban V

Pope Urban V , born Guillaume Grimoard, was Pope from 1362 to 1370.-Biography:Grimoard was a native of Grizac in Languedoc . He became a Benedictine and a doctor in Canon Law, teaching at Montpellier and Avignon...

, who had previously reserved 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...

 for his own appointment, advanced Walter as bishop. The canons of Glasgow had already elected him, but the pope declared the election void before himself providing the same man to the bishopric. On 23 December 1383, during the Western Schism

Western Schism

The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. Two men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance . The simultaneous claims to the papal chair...

 in which 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...

 sided with the Avignon Papacy

Avignon Papacy

The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon, in modern-day France. This arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown....

, Avignon Pope Clement VII made Walter a 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...

 priest (without title, that is, title to any church 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...

 to which he would have been theoretically attached). In the following year, on 24 November 1384, the same pope granted Wardlaw with the powers of a legate

Papal legate

A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....

 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 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...

. At this point in time, cardinals had to "vacate" their bishoprics upon becoming a cardinal, and so Wardlaw ceased using the title "Bishop of Glasgow". However, after a papal grant he retained administration of the diocese and continued to use his Glaswegian episcopal 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...

. Walter was frequently used as a diplomat for the Scottish crown in its relations with the Kingdom of England

Kingdom of England

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

. For instance, in June, 1369, Walter was ambassador in England, and in 1384, he was one of the plenipotentiaries involved in negotiating the truce of 1384. Henry Wardlaw

Henry Wardlaw

Henry Wardlaw was a Scottish church leader, Bishop of St Andrews and founder of the University of St Andrews.He was a son of II Laird of Wilton Henry Wardlaw who was b. 1318, and a nephew of Walter Wardlaw Henry Wardlaw (died 6 April 1440) was a Scottish church leader, Bishop of St Andrews and...

, future Bishop of St Andrews, was Walter's nephew. Henry was one of three nephews to whom Walter offered patronage and assistance gaining benefices.

Wardlaw probably died in September 1387.