The Diocese of Moray was one of the most important of the medieval dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Its territory was in central northern Scotland.

History

It was founded in the early years of the 12th century by

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 ...

under its first bishop, Gregoir. It was suppressed in 1638 and never revived as a titular see.

Bishops of Moray

Bishop Bricius organised the constitution of the church, but it was Bishop Andreas who increased the number of dignitaries and prebend canons and was responsible for gaining large grants of land from his kinsmen, the powerful de Moravia lords, as well as from the king. In the year of his death, Andreas changed the cathedral's constitution to mirror that of

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. Other bishops made a lasting impact on the diocese; probably the most important of these was

Alexander Bur Alexander Bur (died 1397) was a 14th-century Scottish cleric. It is highly possible that Bur came from somewhere in or around Aberdeenshire, although that is not certain and is only based on the knowledge that Aberdeenshire is where other peopl ...

(1362–1397), who championed the right of the Moray church to retain its property against a ruthless magnate,

Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, Alasdair Mór mac an Rígh, and called the Wolf of Badenoch (1343 – c. 20 July 1405), was the third surviving son of King Robert II of Scotland and youngest by his first wife, Elizabeth Mure of Rowallan. He w ...

, called the "Wolf of Badenoch". Apparently the see served repeatedly as a stepping stone: * Bishop Henry de Lichton (18 May 1414 – April 1422) went on to become bishop of

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 ...

* Andrew Forman (26 November 1501 – 1514) became

Metropolitan Archbishop Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

, first of

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

(France) (15 July 1513 – 1514), then of

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

(1514 – 11 March 1521) The last of the Roman Catholic bishops was Patrick Hepburn, who alienated almost all of the lands pertaining to the church at the time of the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke with the Pope, Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Church of Scotland, Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterianism, Presbyterian in ...

Other officials

In 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 ...

, Charles Fyvie (of Inverness) was Dean of the United Diocese of Moray, Ross and Argyle in 1846 until the dioceses were reconfigured, then Dean of Moray and Ross until 1849, when he was succeeded by William C. A. Maclaurin (of Elgin).

Extent and deaneries

The diocese covered a large area extending from Huntly in the east, within a few miles of the Knoydart Peninsula in the west and, in the south-west, to the Atlantic Ocean at an inlet of

Loch Linnhe Loch Linnhe () is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. The part upstream of Corran is known in Gaelic as (the black pool, originally known as Loch Abar), and downstream as (the salty pool). The name ''Linnhe'' is derived from the Gaelic w ...

in Lochaber. It was divided into the four deaneries of Elgin,

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, Strathbogie and Strathspey. Each of these deaneries contained a number of parishes that provided the mensal and prebendal means for the church.

Elgin

* Altyre * Alves * Auldearn * Birnie * Dallas * Dipple * Duffus * Dundurkas * Dyke * Elgin * Elchies * Essil * Forres * Fothervays—''now Edinkillie'' * Kinneddar * Lhanbryde * Logie Fythenach—''now Ardclach'' * Moy * Ogstoun * Rafford * Rothes * Spynie * Urquhart

Inverness

* Abertarff * Abriachan * Brackley—''now Brackla'' * Convinth * Croy * Dalarossie * Dalcross * Daviot * Dores * Ewan or Barevan—''now Cawdor'' * Ferneway * Inverness * Kintallirgy—''now Kiltarlity'' * Lunnin—''now Moy'' * Lundechty—''now Dunlichity'' * Petty * Urquhart * Wardlaw—''now Kirkhill''

Strathspey

*Abernethy * Advie * Alvie * Cromdale * Duthil * Insh * Inverallan * Inveravon * Kincardine * Kingussie * Logie Kenny—''now Laggan'' * Rothiemurcus

Strathbogie

* Aberchirder—''now Marnoch'' * Aberlour * Arndilly—''now Boharm'' * Botary * Botriphnie * Drumdelgie * Dunbennan * Edendiack * Essie * Grantully—''now Gartly'' * Glass * Inverkethney * Keith * Kinnoir * Rothiemay * Ruthven * Rhynie

Cathedrals

The early Moray bishops did not have a fixed seat but took their cathedrals to the

culdee The Culdees ( ga, Céilí Dé, "Spouses of God") were members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England in the Middle Ages. Appearing first in Ireland and subsequently in Scotland, attac ...

centres at Birnie,

Kinneddar Kinneddar is a small settlement on the outskirts of Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland, near the main entrance to RAF Lossiemouth. Long predating the modern town of Lossiemouth, Kinneddar was a major monastic centre for the Pictish kingdom of Fortri ...

and lastly

Spynie Spynie was a seaport, burgh and ancient parish in Moray, Scotland, that survives as a small hamlet and civil parish. It is the location of the ruins of Spynie Palace, which was the principal residence of the Bishops of Moray between the 12th and ...

Spynie Cathedral

Bishop

Bricius de Douglas Bricius (sometimes anglicized as Brice, died 1222) was prior of Lesmahagow and afterward bishop of Moray (Gaelic ''epscop Muireb''; Latin ''episcopus Moraviensis''). In this period, the name ''Bricius'' is more often a Latinization of the G ...

finally obtained permission from

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...

on 7 April 1206 to fix the cathedral at the Church of the Holy Trinity at

. Authorisation was also granted to create a chapter of eight canons to administer the cathedral. The chapter based its constitution on that of Lincoln Cathedral. It is possible that this decision may have been influenced by the fact that Bricius' immediate predecessor was Bishop Richard de Lincoln.

Elgin Cathedral

Bricius saw that Spynie was too remote from those it sought to serve; to ensure the safety of the clergy, he petitioned the pope to allow the church to be moved to the relative safety of Elgin. It was not until after his death, however, that this was achieved under the episcopate of Bishop

Andreas de Moravia Andreas de Moravia (or Andrew of Moray) was a 13th-century Scottish bishop. He was a younger son of Hugh de Moravia, from the family of Flemish origin who were lords of Duffus and other areas in the Greater Moray region in this period. In the t ...

, and with the authority of

Pope Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of importa ...

and King Alexander II on 19 July 1224.Cant, Robert: ''Historic Elgin and its Cathedral'', Elgin: Elgin Society, 1974, p. 23

Footnotes

Sources and references

GigaCatholic, with three incembeut bishop biography links
{{Catholic Church in Scotland

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

Diocese of Moray The Diocese of Moray was one of the most important of the medieval dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Its territory was in central northern Scotland. History It was founded in the early years of the 12th century by David I ...

History of the Scottish Highlands