Henry Wemyss (died 1541) was a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

from the 16th century

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a la ...

. He appears in the sources in 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 ...

for the first time in 1517, and rose to become

Bishop 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 7th ...

in 1526, a position he held until his death in 1541.

Biography

Origin

He was said to have been the son of John Wemyss, fifth son of Sir John Wemyss of Wemyss, by a daughter of Sir John Arnot of Arnot (in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

); if true, this would make him a relative of David Arnot, sometime

who resigned that bishopric in Wemyss' favour; Robert Keith thought he may have been related to King

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and duri ...

, as a brother, but this was a mistake based on textual misreading (mispunctuating) which resulted in Henry's name being confused with that of

James Stewart, Earl of Moray James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (c. 1531 – 23 January 1570) was a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland. A supporter of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, he was the regent of Scotland for his ...

, the King's actual brother.

Earlier career

Henry is found as the

Official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

of the

diocese of Galloway The Diocese of Galloway was one of the thirteen (after 1633 fourteen) dioceses of the pre-1689 Scottish Church. The Diocese was led by the Bishop of Galloway and was centred on Whithorn Cathedral. In the Middle Ages, there was only one archd ...

on 8 February 1517, and again on 16 January 1522; the last known holder of this position occurred on 12 March 1512, so that Henry must have taken this position at some point between 1512 and 1517. Henry was

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 ...

of the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Auchterderran Auchterderran () is a village in Fife, Scotland. It is sometimes thought as part of the larger village, Cardenden, although Cardenden is part of the parish of Auchterderran. The name derives from Scottish Gaelic, although the first element, urcha ...

(''Outherdekan''), Fife, in the

diocese of St Andrews The Archdiocese of St Andrews (originally the Diocese of St Andrews) was a territorial episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in early modern and medieval Scotland. It was the largest, most populous and wealthiest diocese of the mediev ...

, and is found to be

Archdeacon of Galloway The Archdeacon of Galloway was the only archdeacon in the medieval Diocese of Galloway (Whithorn), acting as a deputy of the Bishop of Galloway. The following is a list of archdeacons: List of archdeacons of Galloway * Robert, fl. 1154 x 1186 * ...

on 9 December 1522; like his position as Official, it is not known when he ascended the archdeaconry, and the last occurrence of a predecessor occurs on 9 November 1513.

Bishopric of Galloway

Henry Wemyss received provision to the

(with the position of

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 ...

) when David Arnot resigned his bishopric on 23/4 January 1526; Arnot retained right of return upon any future vacancy and half of the revenue of the diocese. Although Arnot also resigned his position as

Commendator of Tongland In canon law, commendam (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical ...

for, once again, a lifelong pension and with right of return on vacancy, Arnot may have effectively held on to

Tongland Abbey Tungland or Tongland Abbey was a Premonstratensians, Premonstratensian monastic community located in Tongland in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It was probably founded circa 1218 by Alan, Lord ...

for a few more years; repeated crown nominations of Wemyss to Tongland failed, apparently because of Arnot, while William Stewart, a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbishop ...

, also got crown nomination until the Pope finally agreed to give Bishop Henry Wemyss

in commendam In canon law, commendam (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical ...

'' in 1530, with Stewart resigning his rights. The commend of

Dundrennan Abbey Dundrennan Abbey, in Dundrennan, Scotland, near to Kirkcudbright, was a Cistercian monastery in the Romanesque architectural style, established in 1142 by Fergus of Galloway, King David I of Scotland (1124–53), and monks from Rievaulx Abbey. Th ...

came into Wemyss' possession after a crown nomination on 11 December 1529, to which he was admitted on 24 April 1530. Henry also retained the Archdeaconry of Galloway after becoming bishop, at least until he resigned the position to Patrick Arnot on 11 February 1531. Bishop Wemyss was a frequent attender of parliament, and his name occurs frequently as a witness to charters under the

Great Seal of Scotland The Great Seal of Scotland ( gd, Seala Mòr na h-Alba) is a principal national symbol of Scotland that allows the monarch to authorise official documents without having to sign each document individually. Wax is melted in a metal mould or matrix ...

.Dowden, ''Bishops'', p. 373. He appeared for the last time in the latter capacity on 14 March 1541. He died soon after this date, and was certainly dead by 21 May. On 25 May,

Andrew Durie Andrew Durie (died 1558), bishop of Galloway and abbot of Melrose, was the son of John Durie of Durie in Fife, and brother to George Durie, abbot of Dunfermline and archdeacon of St. Andrews. Biography Early career and abbacy of Melrose Bot ...

Abbot of Melrose The Abbot and then Commendator of Melrose was the head of the monastic community of Melrose Abbey, in Melrose in the Borders region of Scotland. The abbots of the earlier Northumbrian foundation from Lindisfarne are not included here. The seco ...

, was put in charge of the vacant temporalities of Galloway and Tongland; Durie indeed succeeded Wemyss to these positions later in the year. There survive some correspondences between Bishop Henry Wemyss and William Kennedy,

Abbot of Crossraguel The Abbot of Crossraguel was the leader of the Cluniac monastic community of Crossraguel Abbey, near Maybole in Carrick, south-west Scotland. It was founded in 1260s by Donnchadh mac Gille Brigte, earl of Carrick with monks from Paisley Abbey. Ow ...

, written in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

. Bishop Henry and Abbot William have been said to have been close friends. Two letters sent by Bishop Wemyss, dated to 5 July, and to 5 December 1536, survive; the first was addressed to "Jhone Makmaister and maister Patrik Ryschert", officials at

Crossraguel Abbey The Abbey of Saint Mary of Crossraguel is a ruin of a former abbey near the town of Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Although it is a ruin, visitors can still see the original monks’ church, their cloister and their dovecot (pigeon tower ...

, and the second to Abbot William; they concern certain revenues pertaining to one Ninian Boyd and his land at ''Culmoyr'' (''Cùl Mòr'', "big back"), over which the bishop may have had rights; ''Culmoyr'' was in the now defunct parish of ''Clashant'', later belonging to the MacDowall kindred of Garthland. Bishop Wemyss' signature has survived on the letter to Abbot William.See illustration in Blair & Morris (eds.), ''Charters'', vol. i, between p. 98 and p. 99.

Notes

References

* Blair, F. C. Hunter, & Morris, J. A., ''Charters of the Abbey of Crosraguel'', 2 vols., (Edinburgh, 1886) * Brunton, George, & Haig, David, ''An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice from its Institution in 1532'', (Edinburgh, 1832) * 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) * Keith, Robert, ''An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops: Down to the Year 1688'', (London, 1824) * Paul, James Balfour, ''

The Scots Peerage ''The Scots Peerage'' is a nine-volume book series of the Scottish nobility compiled and edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, published in Edinburgh from 1904 to 1914. The full title is ''The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert ...

'', Vol. II, (Edinburgh, 1905) * Watt, D. E. R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969) * Watt, D. E. R. & Shead, N. F. (eds.), ''The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries'', The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wemyss, Henry 15th-century births 1541 deaths Bishops of Galloway (pre-Reformation) Scottish abbots 16th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops