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The Bishop of Galloway, also called the Bishop of Whithorn, was the eccesiastical head of the Diocese of Galloway, said to have been founded by Saint Ninian in the mid-5th century. The subsequent Anglo-Saxon bishopric was founded in the late 7th century or early 8th century, and the first known bishop was one Pehthelm, "shield of the Picts". According to Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical tradition, the bishopric was founded by Saint Ninian, a later corruption of the British name Uinniau or Irish Finian; although there is no contemporary evidence, it is quite likely that there had been a British or Hiberno-British bishopric before the Anglo-Saxon takeover. After Heathored (fl. 833), no bishop is known until the apparent resurrection of the diocese in the reign of King Fergus of Galloway. The bishops remained, uniquely for Scottish bishops, the suffragans of the Archbishop of York until 1492 when Galloway was placed under the new Archbishopric of Glasgow. The diocese disappeared during the Scottish Reformation, but was recreated by the Catholic Church in 1878, although now based at Ayr.
[edit] Historical Bishopric
[edit] List of known Anglo-Saxon bishops of Whithorn
| Tenure |
Incumbent |
Notes |
| d. 735 |
Pehthelm |
|
| d. 764 |
Frithwald |
|
| d. 776 |
Pehtwine |
|
| bp. 777 |
Æthelberht |
Was translated to the bishopric of Hexham in 789. |
| d. 803 |
Beadwulf |
|
| fl. 833 |
Heathored |
He is the last known Anglo-Saxon bishop of Whithorn. The see may have disappeared until resurrected under the reign of King Fergus of Galloway, or we may just have no names. |
[edit] List of known bishops of Galloway/Whithorn
| Tenure |
Incumbent |
Notes |
| 1128-1154 |
Gille Aldan |
|
| 1154-1186 |
Christian |
|
| 1189-1209 |
John |
|
| 1209-1235 |
Walter |
|
| 1235-1253 |
Gilbert |
|
| 1235 |
Odo Ydonc (elect) |
Elected a month after Gilbert, lost litigation and therefore was never consecrated, and never took possession of see. |
| 1253-1293 |
Henry |
|
| 1294-1324 x 1326 |
Thomas de Dalton |
Also called Thomas de Kircudbright and Thomas de Galloway. |
| 1326-1355 |
Simon de Wedale |
|
| 1355-1358 x 1359 |
Michael MacKenlagh |
|
| 1358 x 1359-1362 x 1363 |
Thomas MacDowell (elect) |
|
| 1363-1378 |
Adam de Lanark |
|
| el. 1378x1379; cons. 1379 |
Oswald |
Anti-Bishop of the Western Schism. Consecrated with the support of the Archbishop of York and Pope Urban VI, in opposition to the other Galloway bishops, who were supporter of the Avignon Pope. Never took possession of see. |
| 1378 x 1379 |
Ingram de Ketenis |
Resigned of own free will. |
| 1379-1393 x 1394 |
Thomas de Rossy |
|
| 1409-1412 x 1415 |
Elisaeus Adougan |
|
| 1412 x 1415 |
Gilbert Caven (elect) |
Pope Benedict XIII rejected his election in favour of Thomas de Butil. |
| 1415-1422 x 1422 |
Thomas de Buittle |
|
| 1422-1450 |
Alexander Vaus |
Previously Bishop of Caithness. |
| 1450-1458 |
Thomas Spens |
Translated to the Bishopric of Aberdeen in 1457. |
| 1458-1480 x 1482 |
Ninian de Spot |
He was a dean of Glasgow, and remained such; the reasons are not known. |
| 1482-1508 |
George Vaus |
He was a dean of Glasgow, and remained such; the reasons are not known. |
| 1508-1509 |
James Beaton |
Became Archbishop of Glasgow instead. |
| 1509-1526 |
David Arnot |
|
| 1526-1541 |
Henry Wemys |
|
| 1541-1558 |
Andrew Durie |
|
| 1559-1575 |
Alexander Gordon |
Scottish Reformation of 1560 broke links with the Roman Catholic Church; Gordon himself became a protestant. Bishopric now part of the Church of Scotland. |
| 1575-1586 |
John Gordon |
Roger Gordon got crown provision and a mandate for consecration, but never actually became bishop. John Gordon resigned in 1586 in favour of his brother George. |
| 1586-1588 |
George Gordon |
|
| 1588-1605 |
Vacant |
Due to hostility to episcopacy in Scotland, there was a lull in appointing new bishops in this period, though no bishops in possession were deposed. |
| 1605-1612 |
Gavin Hamilton |
|
| 1612-1619 |
William Coupar |
|
| 1619-1634 |
Andrew Lamb |
Translated from the bishopric of Brechin. |
| 1635-1638 |
Thomas Sydserf |
Along with every other bishop in Scotland, he was deprived of his bishopric in 1618. He became bishop of Orkney in 1661 after The Restoration and the renewal of episcopacy. He died in 1663. |
| 1661-1674 |
James Hamilton of Broomhill |
First bishop after the renewal of episcopacy. |
| 1676-1679 |
John Paterson |
Translated to the bishopric of Edinburgh. |
| 1679 |
Arthur Ross |
Previously Bishop of Argyll. He was translated to the Archbishopric of Glasgow, and later became Archbishop of St Andrews. |
| 1680-1687 |
James Aitken |
Previous Bishop of Moray. Resided mostly in Edinburgh; it was thought unreasonable for him to be expected to permanently reside in such a rebellious province. |
| 1687-1688 |
John Gordon |
Deprived of bishopric after the abolition of episcopacy in the Church of Scotland in 1688. |
[edit] List of the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galloway, Scotland
The modern Bishop of Galloway is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galloway in the Province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh.
The diocese was resurrected on 4 March 1878 from the Vicariate Apostolic of the Western District. The church of Saint Andrew in Dumfries served as pro-cathedral until it was destroyed by a fire in May 1961 and the seat moved to Ayr in 1962. The current bishop is the Right Reverend John Cunningham, the 7th Bishop of Galloway. The diocese covers an area of 9,332 km². The see is in the town of Ayr where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd which was built in 1957.
(Any dates appearing in italics indicate de facto continuation of office. The start date of tenure below is the date of appointment or succession. Where known, the date of installation and ordination as bishop are listed in the notes together with the post held prior to appointment.)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Clancy, T. O. "The real St Ninian," in The Innes Review, 52 (2001)
- Dowden, John, The Bishops of Scotland, ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
- Hudson, Benjamin T., "Kings and Church in Early Scotland", in The Scottish Historical Review', Vol. 73, (October, 1994), pp. 145-70
- Oram, Richard, The Lordship of Galloway, (Edinburgh, 2000)
