The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the

Diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to t ...

, one of the largest and more important of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the first known abbot dates to the 10th century, and it is often assumed that in Scotland in the period before the 12th century, the roles of both bishop and abbot were one and the same. The Bishopric of Dunkeld ceased to exist as a Catholic institution after the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. It was part of the wider European Protestant Refo ...

but continued as a royal institution into the 17th century. The diocese was restored (with a different boundary) by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

on 4 March 1878; it is now based in the city of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mi ...

List of known abbots

Dunkeld Abbey was an offshoot of Iona, perhaps founded in the early 9th century, in the reign of Caustantín mac Fergusa, King of the Picts. It is not clear when its abbots got independence from the Abbots of Iona, but a notable event is the alleged transfer of the relics of Columba to Dunkeld during the reign of the Scoto-Pictish king Cináed mac Ailpín. Its abbots, like many Gaelic abbots of the period, took a strong role in secular affairs, hence the term "lay abbot". The following is a list of known abbots of Dunkeld; the list is not exhaustive. While it is true that medieval churchmen took an active part in secular affairs (some fought in battles), that didn't make them in any sense "lay." They were still consecrated bishops or abbots. A "lay abbot" was the secular lord of the abbey's lands. Since an abbey's property was often extensive, it was lucrative plum. Medieval monarchs enjoyed considerable authority over the church, and doubtless, these positions were awarded to royal favorites.

List of known pre-Reformation bishops

The Bishopric of Dunkeld was one of the largest in medieval Scotland. However, in 1200, half of its territory was used to create the new Bishopric of Argyll.

List of Schism anti-bishops

List of post-Reformation bishops

Church of Scotland succession

In 1560 the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

broke its ties with Rome.

Scottish Episcopal Church succession

Roman Catholic succession

The Bishop of Dunkeld is the Ordinary of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Diocese of Dunkeld in the Province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh. The diocese covers an area of 9,505 km². The see is in the

City of Dundee Dundee City Council is the local government authority for the City of Dundee. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. History Dundee City became a single-tier council in 1996, under the Local Government ...

where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew. The post

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

diocese was restored by

on 4 March 1878. The Right Reverend Stephen Robson is the 9th bishop of the diocese since its restoration. (Any dates appearing in italics indicate ''de facto '' continuation of office. The start date of tenure below is the date of appointment or succession. Where known, the date of installation and ordination as bishop are listed in the notes together with the post held prior to appointment.)

Notes

References

* Broun, Dauvit, "Dunkeld and the origin of Scottish identity", in ''Innes Review'' 48 (1997), pp. 112–124, reprinted in ''Spes Scotorum: Hope of Scots'', eds. Broun and Clancy (1999), pp. 95–111. * Dowden, John, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912) * Hudson, Benjamin T., "Kings and Church in Early Scotland", in ''The Scottish Historical Review, Vol. 73, (October, 1994), pp. 145–70 * Watt, D.E.R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969) * Keith, Robert, ''An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops,'' Edinburgh, 1824, pp. 99,100

External links

Annals of Ulster
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop Of Dunkeld Bishop of Dunkeld Christianity in Dundee