George Vaus (died 1508) was a Scottish prelate of the late 15th and early 16th century.

Career

Possessing a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, he became a

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...

Wigtown Wigtown ( (both used locally); gd, Baile na h-Ùige) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart. I ...

, and on 9 December 1482, he was provided the

bishopric of Galloway 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 7t ...

. He was consecrated by 9 October 1483, when he appeared before the lords auditors on behalf of his nephew, Patrick Vaus, the future Prior of Whithorn, for whom George was tutor. Patrick was involved in a suit concerning certain lands, against Sir William Stewart of

Dalswinton Dalswinton is a small village in the historical county of Dumfriesshire in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland. It is located about northwest of Dumfries. To the east of the village a wind farm has been built with a capacity of 30&nb ...

and his wife, Euphame, who was Patrick's grandmother. The suit ended in Patrick's favour. On 13 March 1503/4, George Vaus was one of the bishops in Parliament. In 1504, he became

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the

Chapel Royal The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also applie ...

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, a position which King

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

had recently decided to attach permanently to the bishops of Galloway.

Death and Burial

The date of Bishop Vaus' death is not known precisely, but two circumstances provide a range: (a) he was alive on 25 October 1507, and (b) James IV attended a

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

for the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

of the bishop on 30 January 1508. Nor is the site of his burial is unknown, but historian Richard Oram has suggested he may have been interred at Whithorn Priory, where he oversaw extensive renovations, and, indeed, on the left side of the priory's doorway, there is a carved angel bearing the bishop's arms.

Reputation

Bishop George Vaus has been characterized as "a very worldly man who fits easily into the rather distorted stereotype of the late medieval, pre-Reformation cleric." He had two illegitimate children: a son Abraham, who was gifted by his father with the lands of Portincalzie in the

Rhins of Galloway gd, Na Rannaibh , photo = File:Luce Bay.jpg , photo_width = , photo_alt = , photo_caption = Looking south over the Rhins of Galloway towards Luce Bay , map = UK Scotland , map_width = ...

; and a daughter Margaret, who married Patrick Dunbar of Clugston. He was, moreover, a frequent practicer of nepotism.

References

Sources

* Donaldson, Gordon, "The Bishops and Priors of Whithorn", in ''Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarians Society: Transactions and Journal of Proceedings'', Third Series, vol. 27 (1950), pp. 127–54 * Dowden, John, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912) * Watt, D. E. R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaus, George 15th-century births 1508 deaths Year of birth unknown Bishops of Galloway (pre-Reformation) 15th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops 16th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops