Alexander Forbes (1564–1617) was a late 16th-century and early 17th-century senior

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

figure who was a Protestant

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) 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 Nech ...

Life

Born around 1564, he was the son of Helen Graham and her husband John Forbes of Ardmurdo House in the parish of Kinkell, Aberdeenshire near

Inverurie Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Uraidh'' or ''Inbhir Uaraidh'', 'mouth of the River Ury') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and Don, about north-west of Aberdeen. Geography Inverurie is in the vall ...

. He graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1585 from the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, becoming minister of

Fettercairn Fettercairn (, gd, Fothair Chàrdain) is a small village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, northwest of Laurencekirk in Aberdeenshire on the B966 from Edzell. Fettercairn is also reached via the Cairn O' Mount road (B974) from Deeside. The name ...

in the Mearns in 1588, using this position to take an active role in the church politics of the day. As a result, on 22 November 1604, he became

Bishop of Caithness The Bishop of Caithness was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Caithness, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first referenced bishop of Caithness was Aindréas, a Gael who appears in sources between 1146 and 1151 as bishop. Ai ...

, retaining control of Fettercairn, something which created animosity with the anti-episcopal section of the

. Forbes took part in most national church meetings in this period, and was part of the meeting at

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1610 which restored the old authority and powers of bishops. It was in the following year that he was finally consecrated as a bishop, in

Brechin Cathedral Brechin Cathedral dates from the 13th century. As a congregation of the Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, the church is not technically a cathedral, in spite of its name. It is in the Pointed style, but suffered maltreatment in 1806 at ...

. He was alleged to have granted the consent of the Scottish church, dishonestly, to the absolution of the Catholic magnate,

George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly (156213 June 1636) was a Scottish nobleman who took a leading role in the political and military life of Scotland in the late 16th century, and around the time of the Union of the Crowns. Biography The son o ...

, carried out on the king's wishes by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. It was perhaps for this reason that, in 1616, Forbes was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

in place of Bishop Blackburn. This position brought him the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

ship of

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...

. Forbes, however, attempted and failed to succeed

George Gledstanes George Gledstanes (or Gladstanes; c. 1562 – 1615Alan R. MacDonald‘Gledstanes , George (c.1562–1615)’ ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004) was an Archbishop of St Andrews during the seventeenth ce ...

to the Archbishopric of St Andrews, a position he was beaten to by

John Spottiswoode John Spottiswoode (Spottiswood, Spotiswood, Spotiswoode or Spotswood) (1565 – 26 November 1639) was an Archbishop of St Andrews, Primate of All Scotland, Lord Chancellor, and historian of Scotland. Life He was born in 1565 at Greenbank in ...

. He died in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, on 14 December 1617, a figure of hate amongst the hard-line

presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

section of the Scottish church.

Family

He married Christian Straton of Crigie, and had ten children:''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; vol. 7; by Hew Scott *William Forbes, their heir *Col. Alexander Forbes *John Forbes, parson at Auchterlea *Captain Arthur Forbes *George *Bernard *Margaret or Marjory, married Andrew Straton of Warburton, a cousin *Isobel, married George Forbes of Athallan *Jean, married Robert Leighton of Usan

References

* Cooper, James, "Forbes, Alexander (1564–1617)", rev. A. S. Wayne Pearce, in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
, accessed 23 Feb 2007
* Keith, Robert, ''An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops: Down to the Year 1688'', (London, 1924) {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Alexander 1564 births 1617 deaths Alumni of the University of St Andrews Bishops of Aberdeen Bishops of Caithness Chancellors of the University of Aberdeen Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1612 Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1617 Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1617 17th-century bishops of the Church of Scotland Scottish bishops 1560–1638 People from Fettercairn