Abraham was an early 13th-century Scottish cleric who held the position of

Bishop of Dunblane The Bishop of Dunblane or Bishop of Strathearn was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunblane or Strathearn, one of medieval Scotland's thirteen bishoprics. It was based at Dunblane Cathedral, now a parish church of the Church of Scotla ...

. He was a chaplain to the

Mormaer of Strathearn Earl or Mormaer of Strathearn is a title of Scottish nobility, referring to the region of Strathearn in southern Perthshire. Of unknown origin, the mormaers are attested for the first time in a document perhaps dating to 1115. The first known mo ...

, Gille Brígte. There are no exact accounts of his origin, but his name and the background suggest he was a native Scot from

Strathearn Strathearn or Strath Earn (, from gd, Srath Èireann) is the strath of the River Earn, in Scotland, extending from Loch Earn in the West to the River Tay in the east.http://www.strathearn.com/st_where.htm Derivation of name Strathearn was on ...

. There is no evidence to the contrary. Neville wrote that his "Hebrew name conceals an English provenance", but in fact the Hebrew name is more consistent with established Gaelic-naming patterns than with English or French ones. He was a son of a priest, and had at least one son of his own, Arthur by name. Evidence from the charters of

Inchaffray Abbey Inchaffray Abbey was situated by the village of Madderty, midway between Perth and Crieff in Strathearn, Scotland. The only traces now visible are an earth mound and some walls on rising ground which once (before drainage) formed an island where ...

shows that he was bishop-elect by some date between the years 1210 and 1214.Lindsay, Dowden, and Thomson, ''Charters, Bulls and Other Documents'', nos. 18 & 19, pp. 25-6; D. E. R. Watt, ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969), p. 75. A charter from

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, who ...

shows he had been consecrated by 4 December 1214.Watt, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 74. The date of his death is not known, but Radulf was bishop-elect in an Arbroath document datable between 1223 and 1225.

Notes

References

* Clancy, Thomas Owen, "Scotland, the ‘Nennian’ Recension of the Historia Brittonum, and the Lebor Bretnach", in Simon Taylor (ed.), ''Kings, Clerics and Chronicles in Scotland, 500–1297'', (Portland, 2000), pp. 87–107 * Cockburn, James Hutchison, ''The Medieval Bishops of Dunblane and Their Church'', (Edinburgh, 1959) * Lindsay, William Alexander, Dowden, John, and Thomson, John Maitland, (eds.), ''Charters, Bulls and Other Documents relating to the Abbey of Inchaffray Chiefly from the Originals in the Charter Chest of the Earl of Kinnoull'', (Publications of the Scottish History Society, vol. 56, 1908) * Neville, Cynthia J., ''Native Lordship in Medieval Scotland: The Earldoms of Strathearn and Lennox, c. 1140–1365'', (Dublin, 2005) * Theiner, Augustin, ''Vetera monumenta Hibernorum et Scotorum historiam illustrantia, quae ex Vaticani Neapolis ac Florentiae'', (Rome, 1864) * Watt, D. E. R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969) {{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham of Strathearn 12th-century births 1220s deaths Bishops of Dunblane Medieval Gaels from Scotland 13th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops