Andreas or Aindréas of Caithness († 1184) was the first known

bishop of Caithness The Bishop of Caithness was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Caithness, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first referenced bishop of Caithness was Aindréas, a Gael who appears in sources between 1146 and 1151 as bishop. Ai ...

and a source for the author of ''

de Situ Albanie ''De Situ Albanie'' (or ''dSA'' for short) is the name given to the first of seven Scottish documents found in the so-called Poppleton Manuscript, now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. It was probably written sometime between 1202 ...

''. Aindréas was a

native Scot Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ...

, and very likely came from a prominent family in

Gowrie Gowrie () is a region in central Scotland and one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It covered the eastern part of what became Perthshire. It was located to the immediate east of Atholl, and originally included the area aroun ...

, or somewhere in this part of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He was a prominent landowner in Gowrie,

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

and

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, and it is likely that he was a brother of one Eòghan "of Monorgan", another Gowrie landlord. At some stage in his career, he was a monk of

Dunfermline Abbey Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland parish church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was confiscated and sacked in 1560 during the S ...

(see below), though it is not known if this was before or during his period as bishop of Caithness. The date of his accession to the bishopric is unknown, but he was certainly

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

by the year 1146 AD. The latter date is the latest date for Aindréas' first

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

appearance (as bishop) in the ''notitiae'' written on the margins of the ''

Book of Deer The ''Book of Deer'' () (Cambridge University Library, MS. Ii.6.32) is a 10th-century Latin Gospel Book with early 12th-century additions in Latin, Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It contains the earliest surviving Gaelic writing from Scotland ...

''. It is not known for certain that Aindréas ever visited Caithness, but his successor John certainly did. If Aindréas did, he would have been based at

Halkirk Halkirk () is a village on the River Thurso in Caithness, in the Highland council area of Scotland. From Halkirk the B874 road runs towards Thurso in the north and towards Georgemas in the east. The village is within the parish of Halkirk, a ...

. It is probably no coincidence that the erection of the Scottish diocese of Caithness, and imposition of a Gaelic bishop, coincided with the introduction of Harald (Aralt), son of the Earl or

Mormaer of Atholl In early medieval Scotland, a mormaer was the Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a '' Toísech'' (chieftain). Mormaers were equivalent to English earls or Continental ...

Matad, as ruler of the formerly Norse-ruled province. Bishop Aindréas is a frequent witness to the charters of Kings

David I David I may refer to: * David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399 * David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741) * David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881) * David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048) * David I of Scotland ...

, Maol Caluim IV and

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

. The author of the early 13th century historical tract known as ''de Situ Albanie'' ( En: ''On the Place of Scotland'') cites Aindréas as a source for his second list of

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

kingdoms, and describes him as "a trustworthy informant ... a venerable man, bishop of Caithness, by nation a Gael (''nacione Scoctus'') and monk of Dunfermline".Quoted & translated by Dauvit Broun, "The Seven Kingdoms in De Situ Albanie: A Record of Pictish political geography or imaginary Map of ancient Alba?" in E.J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), ''Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era'', (Edinburgh, 2000, rev. 2005), p. 28. He died at

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

on 29 December 1184.

Notes

References

* Barrow, G.W.S., "David I of Scotland", in ''Scotland and its Neighbours in the Middle Ages'', (London, 1992), * Broun, Dauvit, "The Seven Kingdoms in De Situ Albanie: A Record of Pictish political geography or imaginary Map of ancient Alba?" in E.J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), ''Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era'', (Edinburgh, 2000, rev. 2005), pp. 24–42 * Crawford, Barbara Elizabeth, "Peter's Pence in Scotland", in G.W.S. Barrow (ed.), ''The Scottish Tradition: Essays in Honour of Ronald Gordon Cant'', (Edinburgh, 1974), pp. 14–22 *

Dowden, John John Dowden /d͡ʒɒn ˈdaʊdən/ (29 June 1840 – 30 January 1910) was an Irish-born bishop and ecclesiastical historian. He served in the Scottish Episcopal Church as the Bishop of Edinburgh. Life He was born in Cork on 29 June 1840, ...

, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912) * Jackson, Kenneth H. (ed), ''The Gaelic Notes in the Book of Deer: The Osborn Bergin Memorial Lecture 1970'', (Cambridge, 1972)

External links

Dauvit Broun's list of 12th century Scottish Bishops
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aindreas of Caithness 12th-century births 1184 deaths Bishops of Caithness Clergy from Angus, Scotland Clergy from Perth and Kinross Medieval Gaels from Scotland 12th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops Scottish landowners 12th-century landowners