Roger de Beaumont (died 1202) was
Bishop of St Andrews (Cell Rígmonaid) (elected 1189; consecrated 1198).
Life
He was the son of
Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester Born in 1121 (died 1190) was an English nobleman, one of the principal followers of Henry the Young King in the Revolt of 1173–1174 against his father King Henry II. He is also called Robert Blanchemai ...
. Roger's position as a younger son of the
Earl of Leicester meant that Roger had to seek a fortune elsewhere, and did so within the church. Robert was a second cousin of
William I of Scotland, being the great-grandson and grandson of
Elizabeth of Vermandois respectively.
[Cowan Vol I, p. 80. William's mother Ada de Warenne was daughter of Elizabeth of Vermandois' second husband the 2nd Earl of Surrey, whereas Roger's father was a grandson of her first marriage to the 1st Earl of Leicester.] At Williiam's court Beaumont managed to obtain favour, eventually reaching the position of
Chancellor of the King, a post which usually functioned as a prelude to ascending a high-ranking bishopric.
Bishop of Saint Andrews
So it was that, at
Perth in April 1189, he was elected Bishop of St. Andrews. Roger, nevertheless, had to wait nine years for consecration, which was finally performed in 1198 at
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 fourt ...
by the
Bishop of Moray
The Bishop of Moray or Bishop of Elgin was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Moray in northern Scotland, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. If the foundation charter of the monastery at Scone is reliable, then the Bishopric of Moray ...
and the
Bishop of Aberdeen.
During his time as chancellor, Beaumont had been party to the negotiations surrounding the nullification of the treaty of
Falaise
Falaise may refer to:
Places
* Falaise, Ardennes, France
* Falaise, Calvados, France
** The Falaise pocket was the site of a battle in the Second World War
* La Falaise, in the Yvelines ''département'', France
* The Falaise escarpment in Quebec ...
, and had lobbied the Pope to secure the independence of the Scottish church from the claims of both
Nidaros
Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss () was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth (Old Norse: ''óss'') of the River Nid (the present-day Nidelva).
Althou ...
and
York to superiority. These demands of the pope were both met, with
Clement III issuing a
Bull in 1188 confirming that church in Scotland was answerable only to the Holy See. The following year, 8 months after Beaumont's election as bishop, the English King
Richard I nullified the Treaty of Falaise, and recognised the independence of the Church.
Bishop Roger was witness to the foundation charter of
Inchaffray Abbey
Inchaffray Abbey was situated by the village of Madderty, midway between Perth and Crieff in Strathearn, Scotland. The only traces now visible are an earth mound and some walls on rising ground which once (before drainage) formed an island where ...
in 1200, as earlier he had been for the
Abbey of Arbroath
Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to the deceased Saint Thomas Becket, wh ...
in 1178, and it was during his tenure as Bishop that the first
St Andrews Castle was built as an episcopal palace.
His episcopate came to an end when he died at
Cambuskenneth
Cambuskenneth ( gd, Camas Choinnich ) is a village in the city of Stirling, Scotland. It has a population of 250 and is the site of the historic Cambuskenneth Abbey. It is situated by the River Forth and the only road access to the village is alo ...
on 7 July 1202. He was buried at St. Andrews. The next bishop of the see was
William de Malveisin.
References
Notes
Sources
*Cowan, Samuel, ''The Lord Chancellors of Scotland'' Edinburgh 1911
*Dowden, John, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaumont, Roger De
12th-century births
1202 deaths
Bishops of St Andrews
Roger
Younger sons of earls
Lord chancellors of Scotland
13th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops
12th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops