Robert Crichton (died 1585) was a 16th-century Scottish Catholic cleric.

Biography

He was the son of Sir Patrick Crichton,

Laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

of Cranstoun. Robert was a younger son and chose an ecclesiastical career. From 1517 he was Provost of St Giles Collegiate Church. Additionally, he was

Precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...

Dunkeld Cathedral Dunkeld Cathedral is a Church of Scotland place of worship which stands on the north bank of the River Tay in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Built in square-stone style of predominantly grey sandstone, the cathedral proper began in 1260 a ...

between 1530 and 1534, and in 1532 almost took part in an exchange with Walter Maxwell for the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

ship of the

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 King Davi ...

. Crichton was the nephew of George Crichton,

Bishop of Dunkeld The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the firs ...

, and in 1543 had been appointed

coadjutor The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

and successor to his uncle. As it turned out, 1543 was the year before Bishop George's death, and so when the latter event took place in January 1544, Robert regarded himself as the rightful bishop. However, this had taken place without the consent of the Scottish government.Dowden, ''Bishops of Scotland'', pp. 88-92; Watt, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 100. The government thus ignored the appointment, and placed John Hamilton in charge instead. Robert litigated against Hamilton in the

Papal see The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the bishop of the apostolic episcopal see ...

, until in 1547 Hamilton was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to the archbishopric of St Andrews Instead of giving into Crichton's claims, however, in 1549 the Governor of Scotland,

James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Châtellerault, 2nd Earl of Arran ( – 22 January 1575), was a Scottish nobleman and Regent of Scotland during the minority of Mary, Queen of Scots from 1543 to 1554. At first pro- English and Protestant, he conv ...

, gave the crown nomination to

Donald Campbell Donald Malcolm Campbell, (23 March 1921 – 4 January 1967) was a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only person to set both world land a ...

, Abbot of Coupar Angus.Watt, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 100. The dispute continued into 1553, with Campbell failing to secure papal recognition. When

Mary of Guise Mary of Guise (; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1538 until 1542, as the second wife of King James V. She was a French people, French noblewoman of the ...

took over the government from Châtellerault in 1554, she acknowledged Crichton's position and Campbell appears to have given up his claims to the bishopric. Crichton was therefore uncontested Bishop of Dunkeld, and accordingly resigned his position as Provost of St Giles. Towards the end of the decade Protestantism took hold in Scotland, and in 1560 the Scots formally broke their ecclesiastical ties with Rome. Crichton, along with John Hamilton,

Archbishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews (, ) 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 (), the Archdiocese of St Andrews. The name St Andrews is not the town ...

, William Chisholm,

Bishop of Dunblane The Bishop of Dunblane or Bishop of Strathearn was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunblane or Strathearn, one of medieval Scotland's thirteen bishoprics. It was based at Dunblane Cathedral, now a parish church of the Church of Scotlan ...

, and Gavin Hamilton,

Abbot of Kilwinning The Abbot of Kilwinning (later Commendator of Kilwinning) was the head of the Tironensian monastic community and lands of Kilwinning Abbey, Cunningham (now in North Ayrshire), founded between 1162 and 1167. The patron is not known for certain, but ...

, were the only prelates to dissent from the Reformation Parliament of 1560. When the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Nicholas de Gouda visited Scotland in the summer of 1562 to initiate a

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

, Crichton was the only cleric to give him an interview. Crichton's solid Catholicism was further revealed four years later when he assisted with the Catholic

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

of the infant Prince James in 1566. Crichton was a firm supporter of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, and was one of the castilians who held

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

in her name between 1570 and 1573. For this he was forfeited by Parliament in 1571 and when in 1573 the castle was captured by

James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (c. 1516 – 2 June 1581) was a Scottish nobleman. He played a leading role in the murders of Queen Mary's confidant, David Rizzio, and king consort murder of Lord Darnley, Henry Darnley. He was the last of th ...

, Crichton was imprisoned in

Blackness Castle Blackness Castle is a 15th-century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Falkirk, Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by George Crichton, 1st Earl of Caithness ...

.Dowden, ''Bishops of Scotland'', p. 93; Hewitt, "Castilians in Edinburgh (act. 1570–1573)". In 1576 he was transferred to Edinburgh and kept in the ward of

Lord Seton Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are e ...

. He was restored to the bishopric of Dunkeld on 22 August 1584, but died in March 1585. He was buried, with the King's permission, in the St Giles', Edinburgh.Dowden, ''Bishops of Scotland'', p. 93; Watt, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 100

Biography

References

Further reading