Matthew (died 1274) was a 13th-century cleric based in the

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 l ...

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Sc ...

called him ''Macchabeus'', a

Latinization (literature) Latinisation (or Latinization) of names, also known as onomastic Latinisation, is the practice of rendering a ''non''-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly found with historical proper names, including personal names and toponyms, and in ...

of the Gaelic name ''Mac Bethad'' or ''Mac Beathadh'', previously held by a 12th-century bishop. Either Bower is confused or Matthew changed his name or took a pseudonym more appropriate to the environment of the "international" church, a practise not unusual in the period. He was given the title of ''Magister'' ("Master") by Bower, indicating the completion of a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

education and more particularly of a Masters' degree at some stage in his life, but details of this have not survived and the title may be spurious.Dowden, ''Bishops'', p. 213; Watt, ''Dictionary'', p. 385. He is found as

succentor The succentor ("under-singer") is the assistant to the precentor, typically in an ancient cathedral foundation, helping with the preparation and conduct of the liturgy including psalms, preces and responses. In English cathedrals today, the prie ...

of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

of Ross in a Moray document dating between 1255 and 1271; he is the first person known to have held this position, and probably the first to have held this new position under the new cathedral constitution of 1256. After the death of

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, Bishop of Ross, Matthew was part of the team of five ''compromissarii'' (delegated electors) who voted for the new bishop; as it happened, it was Matthew who was elected. He travelled to the papal court at Orvieto, along with the archdeacon

Robert de Fyvie Robert de Fyvie lso de Fyvin(d. 1292 × 1295) was a prelate based in the Kingdom of Scotland in the last quarter of the 13th century. Perhaps coming from Fyvie in Formartine, from a family of Teesdale origin, Robert was Archdeacon of Ross and ...

, and without waiting very long, was consecrated by

Pope Gregory X Pope Gregory X ( la, Gregorius X; – 10 January 1276), born Teobaldo Visconti, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 September 1271 to his death and was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. He was ...

personally (''per nos ipsos'') by 28 December 1272, on which date a mandate was issued authorising him to proceed to his bishopric. Presumably after returning to Ross, he travelled back to continental Europe to attend the Second Council of Lyon in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, held in the summer of 1274. There, according to Bower, he died (of unspecified causes); Bower on this occasion calls him ''Magister Matthaeus episcopus Rossensis'', "Master Matthew Bishop of Ross" rather than ''Macchabeus''. Whether or not Bower's claim about his death at

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

s is true, the bishopric was certainly vacant by the following Christmas.Watt, ''Dictionary'', p. 386; Watt, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 267.

Notes

References

* Bartlett, Robert, ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'', (Oxford, 2000) * Dowden, John, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912) * Innes, Cosmo Nelson, ''Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis; E Pluribus Codicibus Consarcinatum Circa A.D. Mcccc., Cum Continuatione Diplomatum Recentiorum Usque Ad A.D. Mdcxxiii'', (Edinburgh, 1837) * Watt, D. E. R., ''A Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Graduates to A. D. 1410'', (Oxford, 1977) * Watt, D. E. R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969) {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthew 1274 deaths 13th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops Bishops of Ross (Scotland) Year of birth unknown