Samson of Brechin is the first known
Bishop of Brechin
The Bishop of Brechin is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Brechin or angus, Scotland, Angus, based at Dundee. Brechin Cathedral, Brechin is a parish church of the established (presbyterian) Church of Scotland. The diocese had a long-es ...
. He appears as a witness in a charter granted 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 ...
to the community of
Deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
, recorded in the ''notitiae'' in the margins of 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 ...
''. The charter dates to some point between the years 1140 and 1153, although it can probably be pinned down to the year 1150. There certainly was a bishopric of Brechin in 1150, as there exists another charter of King David's, this time granted to the bishop (unnamed) and ''Céli Dé'' of Brechin. It is known that Samson was still bishop in the reign of King
Máel Coluim IV (1153–1165), appearing as a witness as late as 1165 in a charter of Richard,
Bishop of St. Andrews
The Bishop of St. Andrews ( gd, Easbaig Chill Rìmhinn, sco, Beeshop o Saunt Andras) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews ( gd, Àrd-easbaig ...
.
Samson was a native cleric of Brechin. He was very likely the son of
Léot, an earlier
Abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
of
Brechin, and father of Domnall, a later Abbot of Brechin.
[See, ]Dauvit Broun
Dauvit Broun, FRSE, FBA ( en, David Brown) (born 1961) is a Scottish historian and academic. He is the professor of Scottish history at the University of Glasgow. A specialist in medieval Scottish and Celtic studies, he concentrates primarily on ...
"Genealogical chart of ruling family of the Church of Brechin"
, Jackson, ''op. cit.'', p. 61 and Lawrie, ''op. cit.'', p. 331. This family story probably explains the origins of the Brechin bishopric, that is, the Bishopric of Brechin, like other Scottish bishoprics, had its origins in the older
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
''Céli Dé'' monastic community, and perhaps a hereditary ruling family.
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)
External links
Dauvit Broun's list of 12th century Scottish Bishops
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samson of Brechin
12th-century deaths
Bishops of Brechin (pre-Reformation)
12th-century Scottish bishops
Medieval Gaels from Scotland
Year of birth unknown