Archbishop of St Andrews

"Primate of Scotland" redirects here; not to be confused with the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland or the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

The Bishop of St. Andrews (Scottish Gaelic: Easbaig Chill Rìmhinn, Scots: Beeshop o Saunt Andras) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews (Scottish Gaelic: Àrd-easbaig Chill Rìmhinn), the Archdiocese of St Andrews.

Saint Andrew depicted on a coat-of-arms of the burgh, now in the St. Andrews Museum

The name St Andrews is not the town or church's original name. Originally it was Cellrígmonaid ("church of the king's mounth" hence Cill Rìmhinn) located at Cennrígmonaid ("head of the king's mounth"); hence the town became Kilrymont (i.e. Cellrígmonaid) in the non-Gaelic orthography of the High Middle Ages. Today St Andrews has replaced both Kilrymont (and variants) as well as the older English term Anderston as the name of the town and bishopric.

The bishopric itself appears to originate in the period 700–900. By the 11th century, it is clear that it was the most important bishopric in Scotland.

List of known abbots

There had been a monastery there since the 8th century. It was probably taken over by Céli Dé monks in the 9th or 10th centuries, and these survive into the 14th century. It is the Gaelic abbey, rather than the continental priory, that the abbot was in charge of; the importance of the Céli Dé abbey has come down into the modern era in the street names of St. Andrews.

Only a few abbots are known. It is often thought that the position of Abbot and Bishop were the same until the Norman era, but clear evidence for this is lacking.

Incumbent	Dates	Notes
Túathalán	d. 747	His death in the Annals of Ulster constitutes our first literary evidence of any religious establishment at St. Andrews (then called by the Gaelic name Cennrigmonaid).
Unknown number of unnamed abbots		Probably all the bishops before Fothad II, and perhaps before Turgot, were also abbots of the Céli Dé community.
Gille Críst	fl. 1172–1178	That he is called abbot is evidence that the Céli Dé community were maintaining their independence from the priory in the period.

List of known bishops

The pre-11th century "bishop of the Scots" may have had no fixed seat before finally settling at St Andrews.

Incumbent	Dates	Notes
Cellach I	fl. 878–906	Bishop during the reign of Giric, and was still bishop in 906.
Fothad I	d. 963	Bishop during the reign of King Idulb. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba has his death in the period 962–966. According to the Annals of the Four Masters, he died in 963.
Máel Ísu I	955/6–963/4	According to Bower, he reigned for 8 years.
Cellach II	fl. 966–971	According to Bower, he reigned for 25 years.
Máel Muire	fl. late-10th century
Máel Ísu II	fl. late 10th century/early 11th century
Ailín	fl. early 11th century
Máel Dúin	d. 1055	The Annals of Tigernach place his death at 1055.
Túathal	1055–59	The Annals of Tigernach place his predecessor's death at 1055, and Bower tells us he was bishop for 4 years, which makes a bishopric of 1055–59 likely, although it is possible that he did not succeed immediately.
Fothad II	1059?–1093	He performed the marriage of King Malcolm III of Scotland to Margaret (c. 1070). According to the Annals of Ulster, died in 1093.
Giric	1093–1107	He appears in Version A of the Foundation Legend of St. Andrews. He is almost certainly the Gregorius mentioned by Bower.
Cathróe	1093–1107	He is one of four bishops-elect listed by Bower (Giric, Cathróe, Eadmer and Godric). As the list is in chronological order, only Cathróe can have been bishop elect before Turgot, Eadmer being bishop-elect in 1120, after the death of Turgot.
Turgot of Durham	1107–1115
Eadmer	el. 1120–1121	Never consecrated.
Robert of Scone	1123/24–1159	Previously Prior of Scone.
Ernald	1160–1162	Abbot Waltheof of Melrose was offered the position before Ernald, but refused it.
Richard the Chaplain	1163–1178
Hugh the Chaplain	1178–1188	Opposed by John the Scot
John Scotus	1178–1188	Opposed to Bishop Hugh. Never took possession of the see.
Roger de Beaumont	1189–1202
Geoffrey de Liberatione	postulated 1202	Bishop of Dunkeld, his postulation was rejected by the Pope, so he remained at Dunkeld.
William de Malveisin	1202–1238	Previously Bishop of Glasgow.
David de Bernham	1239–1253	previously Chamberlain
Robert de Stuteville	el. 1253	not consecrated; never took possession of the see.
Abel de Gullane	1254
Gamelin	1255–1271
William Wishart	1271–1279
William Fraser	1279–1297
William de Lamberton	1297–1328
Alexander de Kininmund	el. 1328	Appears to have been elected but was superseded by John Bane.
James Bane	1328–1332
William Bell	el. 1332–1342	bishop-elect, spent ten years at the papal court, probably without obtaining confirmation
William de Landallis	1342–1385
During the Great Schism (1378–1417), Scotland recognized the Pope at Avignon, who recognized the following bishops:
Stephen de Pa	1385–1386	Not consecrated; never took possession of the see. Was captured by pirates on his way to continental Europe, and kept prisoner in England.
Walter Trail	1385–1401
Thomas Stewart	el. 1401–1402	Never consecrated. He was the bastard son of King Robert II of Scotland, and renounced his rights soon after his election.
Walter de Danielston	el. 1402	Not consecrated.
Gilbert de Greenlaw	postulated 1403	Not consecrated. He had been Bishop of Aberdeen, but Pope Benedict XIII refused to confirm his postulation, and instead appointed Henry Wardlaw.
Henry Wardlaw	1403–1440
In opposition, the Pope at Rome appointed the following bishops, none of whom took possession of their see.
Alexander Neville	trans. 1388–1392	Exiled Archbishop of York, Pope Urban VI appointed him to St. Andrews. Died in 1392.
Thomas Arundel	trans. 1398–1399	Exiled Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Boniface IX appointed him to St. Andrews before being restored to Canterbury the next year.
John Trevor	trans. 1408–1410	Formerly Bishop of St. Asaph. Died in 1410.
After the conclusion of the Schism, the pope recognized the following bishops.
James Kennedy	1440–1465
Patrick Graham	1465–1472/8	Elevated to archbishop in 1472.

List of archbishops

The bishopric of St Andrews was elevated into an archbishopric in 1472 by Pope Sixtus IV. The Scottish church broke with Rome in the Scottish Reformation of 1560.

Incumbent	Dates	Notes
Patrick Graham	1472–1478	Deposed for corruption and insanity in 1478.
William Scheves	1478–1497	Coadjutor since 1476.
James Stewart, Duke of Ross	1497–1504
Alexander Stewart	1504–1513	Killed at the Battle of Flodden
John Hepburn	el. 1513	Elect, not accepted by the Pope.
Innocenzo Cybo	1513–1514	He was the nephew of Pope Leo X, and appointed by the Pope instead of John Hepburn. Owing to lack of support in Scotland, an exchange was made with Archbishop Forman of Bourges.
William Elphinstone	1513–1514	Received crown nomination and chapter postulation for translation from bishopric of Aberdeen but died without possession on 25 October 1514. It is not known whether or not the Pope would have accepted his translation.
Gavin Douglas	1513–1514	Received crown nomination after death of Elphinstone; was not accepted by the Pope and became Bishop of Dunkeld instead.
Andrew Forman	1514–1521	Bishop of Moray, Archbishop of Bourges, obtained St Andrews through exchange with Cibo.
James Beaton	1522–1539
David Beaton	1539–1546	Coadjutor since 1537.[1] Also became a cardinal in 1538[2] and papal legate in 1544.[3]
John Hamilton	1547–1571
Gavin Hamilton	1571	Coadjutor since 1551.
John Douglas	1571–1574
Patrick Adamson	1575–1592
George Gledstanes	1604–1615
John Spottiswoode	1615–1638
Abolition of Episcopacy 1638–1661
James Sharp	1661–1679	First Archbishop of the Restoration Episcopacy.
Alexander Burnet	1679–1684
Arthur Rose	1684–1689 (1704)
In 1689, episcopacy was declared abolished in the Church of Scotland, but continued in the Scottish Episcopal Church: see Archbishop of St Andrews (Episcopal Church)
In 1878, 300 years after the Scottish Reformation, the Roman Catholic hierarchy was re-established. For the bishops (and their predecessors prior to the restoration of the Catholic see) of St Andrews in the continued Catholic tradition, see Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh

See also

• Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh (for modern Catholic Archbishopric of St Andrews and Edinburgh)
• Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane (for modern Episcopalian Bishopric of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane)