Gregory of Brechin
Gregory of Brechin (died 1242x1246) was a 13th-century prelate based in the Kingdom of Scotland.
Gregory Gregoir | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Brechin | |
 Brechin Cathedral with "Irish" round tower | |
| See | Brechin |
| In office | 1218–1242x1246 |
| Predecessor | Hugh |
| Successor | Albin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12th century unknown |
| Died | 1242 x 1246 unknown |
| Previous post | Archdeacon of Brechin |
Gregory's name appears for the first time in an Arbroath Abbey document dating between 1189 and 1198, when he is holding the office of Archdeacon of Brechin.[1] He is the first known archdeacon in the diocese of Brechin.[1] Following the death of Bishop Hugh in 1218, he is elected Bishop of Brechin; the papacy issued a mandate to the bishop of St Andrews for his confirmation and consecration on 15 December 1218.[2]
Gregory is found as a papal judge-delegate in 1219, 1224 and 1225.[3] He was present at the royal council in Forfar in 1225, and at Dundee in 1230.[3] He appears in another Arbroath document dating to 1242, his last appearance in contemporary sources.[4]
During Gregory's time the cathedral was run by Scottish priests called Céli Dé, governed until at least the early part of Gregory's episcopate by a prior named Máel Brigte (Mac Léoit, "MacLoud").[5] The old abbots of Brechin were in the process of becoming the secular Mac in Aba (filius Abbe, "MacNab") lords of Glen Esk.[6] Soon after Gregory's death these priests "by change of name" came to be "styled as canons".[7] Gregory may have been responsible for this nominal change.[8]
Gregory died sometime between his last appearance in 1242, and 1246 when the papacy mandated the confirmation of his successor Albin.[9]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by None or Unknown |
Archdeacon of Brechin 1189x1198–1218 |
Succeeded by Adam |
| Preceded by Hugh |
Bishop of Brechin 1218–1242x1246 |
Succeeded by Albin |
Notes
- Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 72
- Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, pp. 53, 72
- Dowden, Bishops, p. 175
- Dowden, Bishops, p. 175; Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 53
- Barrow, "The Lost Gàidhealtachd", p. 112
- Barrow, "The Lost Gàidhealtachd", p. 113
- Cowan and Easson, Medieval Religious Houses, p. 47
- Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 57
- Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 53
References
- Barrow, G. W. S. (1992), "The Lost Gàidhealtachd", in Barrow, G. W. S. (ed.), Scotland and its Neighbours in the Middle Ages, London: The Hambledon Press, pp. 105–26, ISBN 1-85285-052-3
- Cowan, Ian B.; Easson, David E. (1976), Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man (2nd ed.), London and New York: Longman, ISBN 0-582-12069-1
- Dowden, John (1912), Thomson, John Maitland (ed.), The Bishops of Scotland : Being Notes on the Lives of All the Bishops, under Each of the Sees, Prior to the Reformation, Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons
- Watt, D. E. R.; Murray, A. L., eds. (2003), Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638, The Scottish Record Society, New Series, Volume 25 (Revised ed.), Edinburgh: The Scottish Record Society, ISBN 0-902054-19-8, ISSN 0143-9448