Nechtan of Aberdeen is the first

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 ...

after the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

of the bishopric had been moved to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

from Mortlach. The only contemporary sources for Bishop Nechtan are charters; he appears as "Nectan escob Abberdeon" in a Gaelic charter recorded in the ''notitiae'' on the ''

Book of Deer The ''Book of Deer'' (''Leabhar Dhèir'' in Gaelic) (Cambridge University Library, MS. Ii.6.32) is a 10th-century Latin Gospel Book with early 12th-century additions in Latin, Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It contains the earliest survivin ...

'', a charter which explicitly dates to "the eighth year of the reign of David", that is, 1131. He also appears in a charter granted to him by King

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Malcolm ...

, a charter which the modern editor dates to 1137. Later Medieval authorities make specific claims about dates.

Hector Boece Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Abe ...

, for instance, wrote that Nechtan became bishop in 1122, and that Nechtan ruled Mortlach for 14 years, and a further 17 years at Aberdeen. Moreover, Gavin Dunbar, a 16th-century

Archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of the ...

, wrote in his ''Epistolare'' that Nechtan's see was moved from Mortlach to Aberdeen in the year 1125, partially contradicting the account of Boece. Neither source is particularly reliable.For all this, see John Dowden, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912), p. 98.

Notes

References

*Dowden, John, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912) *Jackson, Kenneth H. (ed), ''The Gaelic Notes in the Book of Deer'' (The Osborn Bergin Memorial Lecture 1970), (Cambridge, 1972) *Lawrie, Sir Archibald, ''Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153'', (Glasgow, 1905) {{authority control 11th-century births 12th-century deaths Bishops of Aberdeen Medieval Gaels from Scotland 12th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops