Robert Baron (1596–1639) was a Scottish

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and one of the so-called

Aberdeen doctors The Aberdeen doctors or Doctors of Aberdeen were six divines working at Marischal College and King's College in Aberdeen, Scotland in the seventeenth century. Until 1635, they enjoyed the leadership of Patrick Forbes, Bishop of Aberdeen. They ar ...

. He is commemorated in the

Calendar of saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

on 28 March.

Life

Born in 1596 at

Kinnaird, Gowrie Kinnaird ( gd, An Ceann Àrd, "high headland") is a village in Gowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. It is notable for its 15th-century castle. The four-storeyed Kinnaird Castle was a stronghold of the Threiplands of Fingask, a local Jacobite family. ...

, he was the younger son of John Baron of Kinnaird. After graduating from the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

in 1613, he became a teacher of Philosophy there until, in 1619, he entered the ministry and took charge of parish of

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

. In the latter charge his predecessor had been the famous Patrick Forbes. Charles I of England

He held this position until 27 October 1624, when he was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to Greyfriars parish,

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 ...

. In the following year, on 21 December 1625, he was appointed as the first Professor of Divinity at

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...

, a post he would hold simultaneously with his charge at Greyfriars. In 1627, he earned his

Doctorate in Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

, the thesis for which began a long theological dispute with George Turnbull, a Scottish Jesuit theologian. Baron was a firm supporter of the Anglicanising religious policies of Kings

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. He opposed the National Covenant of 1638 both through preaching and writings, including three tracts that were co-authored with John Forbes, both of whom, along with four others, were referred to by the Presbyterians as "the

". In this year Baron was nominated to be

Bishop of Orkney The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics of Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. Th ...

, but was unable to receive consecration. He fled to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the Spring of 1639 to avoid being forced to sign the National Covenant. He was on his way back to Scotland later in the year, but fell ill and died at

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census reco ...

on 19 August 1639. Baron married once, to Jean ''née'' Gibson, a girl from Strathisla in Aberdeenshire. They had four children. Baron left a great number of published and unpublished works. After his death the Covenanters forced his widow to allow them to see his papers, after which they accused him of Arminianism. Following

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, the crown paid his family £200 in reward for his loyalty to King Charles I.

References

*Thompson, Ian M., "Baron, Robert (c.1596–1639)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 5 May 2007

Life

References

External links

See also