Oswald, O. Cist. (died after 1417) was a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monk and bishop in the late 14th century and early 15th century. There is an Oswald Botelere (Butler) granted a safe-conduct, along with 12 others, to enter England and study at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, in 1365, but this Oswald Butler cannot be shown to be the same as the later Oswald of Glenluce. The outbreak of the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon bo ...

meant that when

Adam de Lanark Adam de Lanark, O.P. (died 1378) was a 14th-century Scottish Dominican friar and prelate. Possibly from a Lanark burgess family, he was a Dominican and a priest by 1356, and by 1364 was styled '' Magister'', indicating the completion of a lon ...

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 ...

, died in 1378, the two popes,

Urban VI Pope Urban VI ( la, Urbanus VI; it, Urbano VI; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death in October 1389. He was the most recent pope to be elected from outside the ...

and

Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

, supported alternative successors to the see. Oswald, whose earlier details are badly documented, at this point was claustral prior (deputy-abbot) of

Glenluce Abbey Glenluce Abbey, near to Glenluce, Scotland, was a Cistercian monastery called also ''Abbey of Luce'' or ''Vallis Lucis'' and founded around 1190 by Rolland or Lochlann, Lord of Galloway and Constable of Scotland. Following the Scottish Reformatio ...

and was elected locally to fill the vacant diocese. Sometime after 18 April 1378, he was provided to the bishopric by Urban, and consecrated before 26 March 1379, when he received a safe-conduct from King

Richard II of England Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father die ...

to pass through England on business with Urban. He was supported by Urban, but with 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 la ...

allied to Clement, Oswald had difficulties retaining possession of his see.Watt, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 131. After

Ingram de Ketenis Ingram de Ketenis (alternatively spelled de Kethenys; died 1407 or 1408) was a medieval cleric from Angus in Scotland. A graduate of the University of Paris, he was Archdeacon of Dunkeld for over half a century. During his time, he received ...

rejected his own provision to the diocese by Clement, the Franciscan friar and staunch Clementine Thomas de Rossy became Oswald's rival. It is likely that Oswald had possession for a brief period, and while Oswald did appeal to Clement to uphold his election, he had lost the litigation with de Rossy by 21 October 1381. The next years are unclear, but on 5 May 1388, Richard II issued Oswald "bishop of Galway" a safe-conduct into England because Oswald had to flee Galloway to preserve his life. Oswald spent the remainder of his days in England, acting as a suffragan of the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, carrying out various duties on his behalf; he is found as a suffragan of Cardinal

Thomas Langley Thomas Langley ( – 20 November 1437) was an English prelate who held high ecclesiastical and political offices in the early to mid-15th century. He was Dean of York, Bishop of Durham, twice Lord Chancellor of England to three kings, a ...

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

, in 1406 and in 1416.Dowden, ''Bishops'', p. 376. While his death is unrecorded, he died sometime in 1417 or after, as the last notice of his existence occurs between September and December 1417.

Notes

References

* 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., ''A Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Graduates to A. D. 1410'', (Oxford, 1977) * Watt, D. E. R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oswald of Glenluce 14th-century births 15th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Bishops of Galloway (pre-Reformation) Cistercians Scottish priors 14th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops