David Cunningham or Cunynghame (c. 1540–1600) was a 16th-century

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 ...

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and

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. He was the first Protestant

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

. His predecessor, William Gordon began as a

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bishop, but accepted the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

's authority.

Life

Born around 1540, he graduated in the early 1560s as

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from

St Leonard's College, St Andrews St Leonard's College is a postgraduate institute at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. Founded in 1512 as an autonomous theological college of the University of St Andrews, it merged with St Salvator's College in 1747 to form ...

. Cunningham also studied Civil Law in

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, at the

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and the

University of Bourges The University of Bourges () was a university located in Bourges, France. It was founded by Louis XI in 1463 and closed during the French Revolution. Until the mid-17th century, lack of suitable legal training at home meant many Scots seeking to ...

.Riis, "Cunningham, David (c. 1540–1600)". He became a Protestant sometime before 1562, when he was made minister of

Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...

; he held this position until 1570, when he took over Lesmahagow, moving to

Cadder Cadder (Scottish Gaelic: ''Coille Dobhair'') is a district of the town of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It is located 7 km north of Glasgow city centre, 0.5 km south of the River Kelvin, and approximately 1.5 km nor ...

in 1572 and then to

Lenzie Lenzie () is a small affluent town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area and the historic county of Dunbartonshire in Scotland. It is about north-east of Glasgow city centre and south of Kirkintilloch. At ...

in 1574. Additionally, on 22 March 1572, Cunningham became Provost of

Bothwell Bothwell () is a Protected area, conservation village in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland and part of the Greater Glasgow area. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, Scotland, Hamilton, ...

Collegiate Church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

. After the appointment of Patrick Adamson as

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 ...

in December 1576, Cunningham replaced Adamson as the

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

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 ...

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

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. With access to such high level

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

patronage, on either 5 October or 5 November 1577, Cunningham was elected as

, receiving consecration at the Kirk of St Nicholas on 11 November. In this year, too, he became

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 ...

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Aberdonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univer ...

. Cunningham would eventually enjoy a good relationship with the king, but his association with Regent Morton initially made him suspect. The death of his patron, Morton, in 1581, put his position under pressure, and he was forced to flee into the west for a little time. He was also under pressure from the a large section of the Scottish church, which was becoming more hostile to

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

; in 1586, the General Assembly accused him of adultery, a charge which the king cleared him of in 1587. He became a trusted servant of the 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 ...

, and it was Cunningham who was chosen to baptise the king's son, Prince Henry, on 30 August 1594. The ceremony was held at Stirling Castle. Cunningham gave a speech outlining the genealogy of the prince, his English descent, and the recent history of the diplomatic relations of Scotland. His role at the baptism was controversial and the

Presbytery of Edinburgh The Presbytery of Edinburgh was one of the Presbyterian polity, presbyteries of the Church of Scotland, being the local presbytery for Edinburgh.Church of Scotland Yearbook, 2010-2011 edition, Its boundary was almost identical to that of the City ...

had asked kirk ministers to prevent or boycott his participation. Cunningham's speech was problematic for its reference to the English succession, reminding the audience of a controversial poem by

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 ...

,
Principis Scoti-Brittanorum Natalia
{''. Cunningham helped negotiate reconciliation between the king and the devoutly Catholic George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. In 1598, he was sent as a diplomat with

Peter Young Peter or Pete Young may refer to: Sports * Peter Dalton Young (1927–2002), English rugby union player * Peter Young (cricketer, born 1961), Australian cricketer * Pete Young (born 1968), American baseball player * Peter Young (rugby league) (fl. ...

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and

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to promote King James' claims to the throne of the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

. David Cunningham died on 30 August 1600, at

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

.Watt, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 299; Riis, "Cunningham, David (c. 1540–1600)", gives 3 August as the date of death. He is buried in

St Machar's Cathedral St Machar's Cathedral is a Church of Scotland church (building), church in Aberdeen, Scotland, located to the north of the city centre, in the former burgh of Old Aberdeen. Technically, St Machar's is no longer a cathedral but rather a Kirk ...

.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; vol. 7; by Hew Scott He left assets of £3052 ( Scots). He founded a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

in Banff.

Family

In 1569 he married Katherine Wallace, but had no children. His widow married Robert Udny of Udny, near

Tillicoultry Tillicoultry ( ; Scottish Gaelic: Tulach Cultraidh, perhaps from older Gaelic ''Tullich-cul-tir'', or "the mount/hill at the back of the country") is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the loc ...

Notes

{{reflist

References

*Keith, Robert, ''An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops: Down to the Year 1688'', (London, 1924) *Riis, Thomas, "Cunningham, David (c.1540–1600)", in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
, retrieved 22 Feb 2007
* Watt, D.E.R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969)

Life

Family

Notes

References

See also