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The Church of St Mary on the Rock or St Mary's Collegiate Church, was a secular college of priests based on the seaward side of St Andrews Cathedral, St Andrews, just beyond the precinct walls . It is known by a variety of other names, such as St Mary of the Culdees, Kirkheugh and Church of St Mary of Kilrymont.^[1]

Contents 1 Céli Dé of Cennrighmonaidh 2 Second cathedral chapter 3 Collegiate Church 4 Endowments 5 Location and building 6 Leaders of the religious house 6.1 List of known provosts 7 Notes 8 References 9 Alexander Bur 9.1 Early years 9.2 Background 9.3 Bishop of Moray 9.4 Notes

[edit] Céli Dé of Cennrighmonaidh

St Mary's Collegiate Church has its origins in Kilrymont monastery and its group of canons called "Culdees" or Céli Dé ("Vassals of God"). These priests served a side altar in the Cathedral throughout the twelfth-century and into the thirteenth-century. The Céli Dé were headed by an abbot. The only abbot whose name is recorded is Gille Críst, the "abbot of the Céli Dé" recored 1172 x 1178 feuing out lands to the steward of the Bishop of St Andrews, though an unnamed abbot is recorded again in the 1180s.^[2]

Until the foundation of the Augustinian priory in 1140, the Céli Dé and the seven clerics known as the personae (parsons) are the the only known clerics of the cathedral.^[3] The new Augustinian monastic canons were intended to become the main clergymen of the cathedral, serving its main altar, and Pope Eugenius III in 1147 confirmed the rights of the Augustinian canons and their prior to elect the Bishop of St Andrews.^[4]

It is likely on a number of grounds that Bishop Robert, an Augustinian himself from Nostell, intended that the Céli Dé would become Augustinians, bringing their property into the new Cathedral Priory. This is not what happened, and although another papal bull of 1147 ordered that upon the death of each Céle Dé an Augustinian should take his place, they were still there in 1199 when the priory recognised their holdings to be permanent.^[5]

canons at St Andrews are still referred to as Céli Dé in 1332.^[6]

[edit] Second cathedral chapter

Professor G. W. S. Barrow argued that from the episcopates of Roger de Beaumont and William de Malveisin the bishops of St Andrews were promoting the Céli Dé as a second cathedral chapter . Barrow compared this with the attempts of the archbishops of Canterbury Baldwin and Hubert Walter to establish a secular college dedicated to St Thomas which would act as a second chapter and as a counter the power of the monks and prior; but Barrow thought a more apt parallel was the archbishopric of Dublin.^[7]

In 1163, Archbishop Lorcán Ua Tuathail had converted his diocesan canons into the the Augustinian Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. John Comyn, the first Anglo-Norman Archbishop of Dublin, created a new collegiate church at St Patricks parish church, a collegiate church his successor Henry de Loundres turned into a second cathedral. In both the Dublin and Canterbury examples, the bishop had to deal with a pre-established monastic cathedral chapter under a prior, and in both cases the bishop sought to subvert the prior and chapter's power in his own interest.^[8]

The Céli Dé are found in close association with, in fact allied to, the bishop, from Beaumont's episcopate onwards, and the two frequently occur together in disputes with the prior of St Andrews. For instance, sometime between 1202 and 1216, Bishop William de Malveisin absolved the sentence of excommunication which had been imposed by the prior (obviously as part of a dispute), and again in 1220 the papal legate "Master James" was commisioned by the Pope Honorius III to resolve a dispute between the Augustinians and their prior with Bishop William and "certain clergy of St Andrews commonly called Céli Dé" (quosdam clericos de S. Andrea, qui Keledei vugariter appellantur).^[9]

The Céli Dé were claiming the right to participate in episcopal elections from 1239 onwards, when they participated (at the king's insistence) in the election of David de Bernham.^[10] Following the death of Bishop David, in 1253 after the chapter had elected Robert de Stuteville, the Céli Dé and the Archeacon Abel de Gullane protested to the papacy that the election was invalid, owing to the exclusion of the Céli Dé from the process.^[11] Gullane was a papal chaplain, and Pope Innocent IV quashed the election of Robert de Stuteville, providing Gullane as the new legal bishop. No jugdment appears to have been offered on the right of the Céli Dé to voted in capitular elections.^[12]

[edit] Collegiate Church

For some of the above reasons, it was G. W. S. Barrow's contention that the Gaelic-speaking Céli Dé were gradually replaced by the clerks and personal dependents of the early 13th century bishops.^[13] By 1250, these French or English-speaking Céli Dé had moved to the church of St Mary, and had been granted the status of a secular college or collegiate church.^[14] This has probably happened in either 1248 or 1249, when the Church of St Mary's as a separate institution from the cathedral is mentioned for the first time.^[15]

The first known provost of the church was Master Adam de Malkarviston, attested on November 7, 1250.^[16] There were in addition to the provost, six canons.^[17] The new status does not appear to have effected use of the name Céli Dé immediately, as the church is still called "St Marys of the Céli Dé" in 1344.^[17] The Church of St Mary became a chapel royal as early as 1286 x 1296, and remained as such until the erection of the Chapel Royal at Stirling in 1501.^[18] It is likely that the deanery of the Chapel Royal from 1429 until 1501 formed a prebend within the Church of St Mary.^[19]

A papal priledge dated January 26, 1386, admitted the Provost of St Mary's to the chapter of St Andrews; he became one of the three secular dignitaries of the chapter, along with the diocese's two archeadecons:

Ad perpetuam rei memoriam. At the petition of king Robert, the pope hereby constitutes as a secular dignity with cure of the cathedral of St Andrews, that dignity of the Chapel Royal of St Andrews, immediately subject to the Apostolic See, which is commonly known as the provostship of St Andrews, assigning to the provost and his successors a stall in the choir and a place in the chapter, with a voice in the election of the bishop, or of any other office, and in all capitular acts and negotiations, and the said provost nevertheless remaing subject to the bishop, who has the power to correct him, and if necessary even deprive him of office. Although in the cathedral there are no dignities, there are two archdeaconries which are reckoned as dignities, and the seculars holding them have stalls in the choir and places in the chapter, with a voice in all capitular matters. Avignon, 9 Kal. Feb., anno 9.^[20]

In the 1440s, the Chancellor of the Church of St Mary was added to the chapter of the cathedral (1447 x 1449), but this lasted less than two decades, being dissolved between 1461 and 1462.^[21]

[edit] Endowments

The exact number of the church's prebends through the course of history is unclear, but in the time of Bishop Henry Wardlaw there were eight prebends. These were probably "Cairns and Cameron", "Kinglassie and Kingask", Lambieletham, "Durie and Rumgally", Kinkell, Kinaldy, Fetteresso, and Strathbrock.^[21] The Céli Dé held Lambieletham since the twelfth-century when they obtained it in exchange for Strathkinness; according to the sixteenth-century Book of Assumptions the provostry of St Mary's held the lands of Kinkell, lands under the control of the Céli Dé in the 1170s.^[22]

Most of the others too were probably ancient Céli Dé, though Fetteresso and Strathbrock were not, being endowed to the college by Bishop Henry Wardlaw in 1425 and in 1435 x 1436 respectively.^[21] Arbuthnott (before 1447), Ballingry (before 1461), Benholm (before 1477) and Dysart (1477) were added later in the fifteenth-century, and Idvies (before 1547) was added in the sixteenth.^[21] Another may have been created during the time of Archbishop Andrew Forman (abp 1514–1521).^[21] There were allegedly thirteen prebends at the time of the Reformation.^[21]

[edit] Location and building

The church is located at Kirkheugh or Kirkhill. This location, where the modern North Street and South Street converge, may have been the original location of the religious site before the construction of a new cathedral building slightly to the west (the remains of which constitute St Rule's Tower) by Robert, Bishop of St Andrews.^[23] There are burials in the vicinity of Kirkheugh that pre-date the alleged eighth-century century foundation of the monastery, and point to a small religious community from the sixth-century.^[24] There were also a number of tenth-century cross-slabs found in the grounds.^[25] The church was said by John Lesley to have been pulled down by reforming Protestants in June 1559.^[21]

The extant foundations of the church show that it was cross-shaped, and possessed no aisle.^[25] The length of the transepts cannot be determined, but the choir was longer than the nave.^[25] The nave seems to represent the earliest of the three detectable building phases.^[25] The altar lay at the eastern end of the choir.^[25] The sedilia on the southern wall is lost, as are the sacristy and the accommodation for the canons and the provost.^[25]

[edit] Leaders of the religious house

[edit] List of known provosts

• Adam de Makerstoun, x 1250-1280 x 1287
• William Comyn, 1287-1329^[26]
  • John Benstede, 1298^[27]
  • William de Rasen, 1309^[28]
• John de Roxburgh, 1329 x 1342-1342 x 1363
• Gilbert Armstrong, 1362 x 1363-1373 x 1376
• William de Dalgarnoch, 1376-1376 x 1377
• Duncan Petit, 1376 x 1381-1397 x 1398
• Robert de Lany, 1397 x 1405-1432 x 1437
• Hugh Kennedy, 1437-1454
• John Kennedy, 1454 x 1456-1472 x 1477
• William Scherar, 1472 x 1477-1477 x 1480
• James Allardice, 1477 x 1480-1506 x 1507
• James Kincragy, 1506 x 1508-1539 x 1540
• James Lermont, 1540-1578
  • Patrick Bellenden, 1554^[29]
• Thomas Buchanan, 1578-1599
• Robert Buchanan, 1599-1618
• Possession of the Archbishop of St Andrews in 1625

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Anderson, Marjorie O., "The Celtic Church in Kinrimund", in the Innes Review, vol. 25 (1974), pp. 67-76
• Anderson, Marjorie O., "", in G. W. S. Barrow (ed.), The Scottish Tradition: Essays in Honour of Ronald Gordon Cant, (Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh, 1974), pp. 1-13
• Ash, Marinell, "The Diocese of St Andrews under its 'Norman' Bishops", in the Scottish Historical Review, vol. 55 (1976), pp. 105-26
• Barrow, G. W. S., "The Clergy at St Andrews", in G. W. S. Barrow (ed.), The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century, 2nd Ed. (Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2003), ISBN 0-780748-618033
• Cowan, Ian B., & Easson, David E., Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland, With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man, 2nd Ed. (Longman, London and New York, 1976), ISBN 0-582-12069-1
• Fawcett, Richard, Foster, Sally & Tabraham, Chris, St Andrews Cathedral, (Historic Scotland, Edinburgh, 2003), ISBN 1-903570-91-3
• Watt, D. E. R., & Murray, A. L. (eds.), Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae Medii Aevi Ad Annum 1638, Rev. Ed. (The Scottish Record Society, New Series, Volume 25, Edinburgh, 2003), ISBN 0-902054-19-8

[edit] Alexander Bur

Alexander Bur

Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Senior posting
See	Diocese of Moray
Title	Bishop of Moray
Period in office	1174/5 — 1199
Consecration	1175
Predecessor	John de Pilmuir
Successor	William de Spynie
Religious career
Priestly ordination	x 1343
Previous bishoprics	None
Previous post	Archdeacon of Moray
Personal
Date of birth	1320s or 1330s
Place of birth	Aberdeenshire.
Place of death	Spynie Castle, Moray, May 15, 1397

Alexander Bur was a 14th century Scottish cleric.

[edit] Early years

He was probably from somewhere in Aberdeenshire, although that is not certain and is only based on the knowledge that Aberdeenshire is where other people of his name come from in this period.^[1] He entered the service of King David II of Scotland sometime after 1343, perhaps coming to David's exiled court at Château-Gaillard. Although Alexander by this point in time already held prebends in both the bishopric of Aberdeen and the bishopric of Dunkeld (where he also held a canonry ), on that date King David petitioned Pope Clement VI for another canonry in the bishopric of Moray.^[2] Alexander had become a royal clerk had obtained a Licentiate in Canon Law by 1350. By the latter date, upon the death of Adam Penny (or Adam Parry), Archdeacon of Moray, Alexander himself became Archdeacon.^[3]

In the autumn of this year King David II made an expedition into the north, apparently to escape the effects of the Black Death.^[4] However David was also re-establishing his authority in the area, which involved seizing the castle of Kildrummy from its owner, Thomas, Earl of Mar. Soon after David reached Kildrummy, John de Pilmuir, Bishop of Moray, died. So David work to secure the election of his close follower, Alexander Bur, as the successor to Pilmuir. David had moved to secure the episcopal castle at Spynie, and his presence there undoubtedly made sure that the canons carried out the king's will.^[5] Alexander was at Avignon on in late December, 1362, where he is mentioned as "bishop-elect and confirmed" of Moray,^[6] but he was not consecrated by the Pope until March 30, 1363.^[7]

[edit] Background

David's interest in Moray was determined by the events which occurred during his exile and minority. The earldom of Moray had been granted to Thomas Randolph in 1312 as male entail by his father Robert I, and the grant specified that it would revert to the crown upon lack of male issue. The last earl by these specifications was John Randolph, who died in 1346. The absence of the king after the death of John Randolph meant that the king could not not take immediate physical possession. David's uncle Robert Stewart was able to take advantage of this situation and take much of it into his own control. Stewart had become Earl of Atholl in 1342^[8] and Earl of Strathearn in 1357^[9] making him the most powerful magnate in the central highlands and giving him a border on the Moray earldom. Moreover, in 1355 he married Euphemia de Ross, the widow of the dead earl, giving him a potentially legitimate claim to the whole earldom.^[10] Stewart and his ally and son-in-law John of Islay had been encroaching on the the earldom's territory, and by the 1360s Robert had obtained overlordship of Stratha'an, Badenoch and Strathspey, while John made similar incursions into Lochaber. These encroachments would be formally recognized only in the 1370s when Robert himself became King Robert II.^[11]

It was therefore important to David to secure control of the remainder of the earldom, specifically the Moray lowlands. In 1359, David enfiefed the lordship of Urquhart to William, Earl of Sutherland. He had granted all of the earldom within the shire of Inverness to Henry de Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster in 1359.^[12] The remainder of the earldom seems to have been left to the nominal possession of Patrick V, Earl of March, who had married the daughter of the last earl and was coveting a claim to the title for his sons.^[13] It is unclear if David recognized March's claim to even the title of the earldom, and it is notable that David regranted the territory of Gilbert V, Lord of Glencairnie by tailzie.^[14] David was bringing the lessers lords of the old earldom into direct relationship with himself, passing over any intermediate magnate, such as an earl of Moray.^[15] The other main authority in Moray was the bishop. He was both one of the main landowners in the province, and the highest spiritual authority. By securing his own appointment to the newly vacant diocese in 1362/3, David would have been hoping to effectively re-establish the crown's position in the province. It is also clear that the powers of regality enjoyed by the old earls, whereby the earl had total legal authority within his dominions except in regard to treason, were taken away by the king.^[16] The demolition of the old earldom of Moray and the abolition of comital powers of regality cleared the way for the bishop to reassert his authority as a direct dependent on the king.

[edit] Bishop of Moray

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[edit] Notes