Alasdair Caimbeul or Alexander Campbell of Carco (died February 1608) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

and

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

. Coming from a branch of

Clan Campbell Clan Campbell ( ) is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the largest and most powerful of the Highland clans. The Clan Campbell lands are in Argyll and within their lands lies Ben Cruachan. The chief of the clan be ...

in the allegiance of the

Earl of Argyll Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

, his career began in the 1560s still only a minor, serving the Earl of Argyll's interest. He was made

Bishop of Brechin The Bishop of Brechin is a title held successively, since c. 1150: (firstly) by bishops of the Catholic church until the Reformation of 1560; (secondly) by bishops of the Church of Scotland until that church declared itself presbyterian in ...

, and almost immediately alienated the majority of the bishopric's historical resources into the hands of the earl. After some traveling to receive a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

education at

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, he returned to Scotland in the mid-1570s as an adult and resumed his career as minister and (now) titular Bishop of Brechin. He held this position until 1607, a year before his death.

Accession and alienation

A native of

Atholl Atholl or Athole () is a district in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, bordering (in clockwise order, from north-east) Marr, Gowrie, Perth, Strathearn, Breadalbane, Lochaber, and Badenoch. Historically it was a Pictish kingdom, becoming ...

and the son of Eóin Caimbeul (Sir John Campbell), laird of

Ardkinglas Ardkinglas House is a Category A listed country house on the Ardkinglas Estate in Argyll, Scotland. The estate lies on the eastern shore of Loch Fyne, and the house is located close to the village of Cairndow. Dating back to the 14th century and ...

, he was born in the mid-16th century.MacDonald, "Campbell, Alexander". During the minority of King

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

, Alexander's brother Seamus Caimbeul (James Campbell of Ardkinglass), became

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...

. Still a minor, on 6 May 1566, at the instigation of Gilleasbaig Caimbeul, the

, Alasdair Caimbeul was put to the vacant bishopric of Brechin. Crown nomination to the papacy was sent on 21 July 1566, and although Caimbeul was acting with a bishop's authority almost immediately, there is no proof that he had received consecration until he is clearly represented as consecrated-bishop in a document dating to 23 July 1569. The earl's purpose in pushing his young kinsman into the bishopric was made clear by the new bishop's following actions. Bishop Alasdair proceeded to alienate most of the bishopric's lands and revenues, giving the lion's share to the earl. According to the historian Robert Keith, Bishop Alasdair "retained for his successors scarce so much as would be a moderate competency for a minister in Brechin".

Travels

In May 1567, Alasdair Caimbeul received royal licence to leave Scotland, though he was still in the country in July 1569, when he voted against the proposal to annul the divorce between

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 the

Earl of Bothwell Earl of Bothwell was a title that was created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. It was first created for Patrick Hepburn in 1488, and was forfeited in 1567. Subsequently, the earldom was recreated for the 4th Earl's nephew and heir of line, F ...

. Although his activities are difficult to trace, Caimbeul was attending school in

in January 1574, but travelled back to Scotland later in the year with his

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

Andrew Polwart and the latter's friend

Andrew Melville Andrew Melville (1 August 1545 – 1622) was a Scottish scholar, theologian, poet and religious reformer. His fame encouraged scholars from the European continent to study at Glasgow and St. Andrews. He was born at Baldovie, on 1 August 154 ...

, who were in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

by July of the same year.

Later episcopate

After returning to his native country, he resumed his charge as minister and titular Bishop of Brechin, attending general assemblies of the Scottish Church in his capacity as bishop. James Paton,

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 ...

, another Argyll acolyte, accused Caimbeul of giving out pensions on the revenues of his bishopric. This came before the Edinburgh assembly of March 1575, which ordered that John Erskine of Dun, Superintendent for

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

the Mearns Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of north-east Scotland. It is bounded by Abe ...

instruct Caimbeul on the duties befitting a bishop. Five years later, Bishop Alasdair was once again in trouble with the church. He failed to attend a summons issued to him by the

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

assembly of July 1580, and in 1582 another assembly ordered the Presbytery of the Mearns to bring charges against him. The outcome of these charges is, however, not known, as the records do not survive. In the following two decades, though, Caimbeul can be seen to take an active part in establishment politics, attending many assemblies, parliaments and meetings of the privy council, often acting as a supporter of Argyll. Notably, the privy council which met at Brechin in April 1602 denounced him as a traitor, even though Caimbeul himself was sitting on it. That was the last time that Caimbeul sat on the privy council.

Death and family

Caimbeul resigned the bishopric of Brechin on or before 22 April 1607. He retired to his estates at Carco, near Kinclaven in Atholl. He died the following year, in February 1608.MacDonald, "Campbell, Alexander"; Watt & Murray, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 56. As marriage became acceptable in post-Reformation Scotland, Caimbeul was married twice, firstly to the daughter of the

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 Circlet, Margaret Bethune, and secondly to Helen Clephane. Clephane, who bore him two daughters and one son survived her husband's death as a widow.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Alexander 16th-century births 1608 deaths Bishops of Brechin (Church of Scotland)

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

Clergy from Perth and Kinross