Roger (died in or after 1350) was a churchman based in the 14th century
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a ...
, and active as
Bishop of Ross from 1325 until 1350. Before attaining this position, Roger was a
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western can ...
of
Abernethy; it is possible that Roger was an
Augustinian, because it is often thought that Abernethy did not become a
collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a Church (building), church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college (canon law), college of canon (priest), canons: a non-monastic or secular clergy, "secular" community of clergy, organis ...
until some time after 1328, after the marriage of the
Abernethy heiress to the
Earl of Angus
The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish province of Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of the Duke's eldest son.
Histor ...
; this however is not certain, as the exact details of Abernethy's transition from being an ''
Céli Dé
The Culdees ( ga, Céilí Dé, "Spouses of God") were members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England in the Middle Ages. Appearing first in Ireland and subsequently in Scotland, atta ...
'' abbey (until c. 1272–1273) to an Augustinian priory to a secular college are only vaguely understood.
It was as a canon of Abernethy that, on 17 April 1325, he was issued papal provision to the
diocese of Ross, vacant by the death of
Thomas de Dundee
Thomas de Dundee, also called Thomas Nicholay, was a Scottish prelate who held the bishopric of Ross during the First War of Scottish Independence. Coming from a family of Dundee burgesses, he was educated as the University of Bologna, before ...
. Roger was consecrated by
Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, ...
Guillaume Pierre Godin
Guillaume de Pierre Godin (Guilhem de Peyre Godin) (c. 1260 – 1336) was a French Dominican theologian, and Cardinal.
Life
Godin was born in Bayonne and spent his early years in south-west France.Alain Boureau, ''Satan the Heretic: The Nat ...
,
Bishop of Sabina
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop i ...
, at the papal curia sometime before 19 May. Bishop Roger witnessed several royal charters during his episcopate. He witnessed a charter at
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
on 4 March 1328; at
Arbroath
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902.
It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen.
...
on 17 June 1341; and at
Scone
A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component ...
on 4 July 1342, and another (location not specified) on 4 July 1342. Bishop Roger resigned the bishopric "for reasonable cause" at the papal curia on or sometime before 3 November 1350, when
Alexander Stewart was provided in his place; Roger cannot be traced after that.
[Dowden, ''Bishops'', p. 215; Watt, ''Fasti Ecclesiae'', p. 267.]
Donald Watt has argued that Roger is the same as
Roger de Balnebrich
Roger de Balnebrich ''de Balnebrech, de Balnebriech, de Ballinbrethwas a 14th-century Scottish churchman. Roger received a university education, being styled ''Magister'' ("Master") by August 1313, though it is not known where he took his degr ...
, unfruitfully elected
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 ...
sometime between 1319 and 1322, and who Watt suggests had remained at the papal curia until provided to Ross.
[Watt, ''Dictionary'', pp. 23, 470.] Abernethy did lie in the
diocese of Dunblane
The Diocese of Dunblane or Diocese of Strathearn was one of the thirteen historical dioceses of Scotland, before the abolition of episcopacy in the Scottish Church in 1689.
Roughly, it embraced the territories covered by the old earldoms of ...
; Balnebrich held the position of
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of
Forteviot
Forteviot ( gd, Fothair Tabhaicht) (Ordnance Survey ) is a village in Strathearn, Scotland on the south bank of the River Earn between Dunning and Perth. It lies in the council area of Perth and Kinross. The population in 1991 was 160.
The pre ...
when he was elected Bishop of Dunblane.
[Watt, ''Dictionary'', p. 23.] The suggestion is strengthened by Balnebrich's disappearance from the records after his failure to obtain Dunblane at the papal curia in March 1322.
[ Unfortunately, as Professor Watt acknowledged, because the scarce evidence has not as yet given Roger, as Bishop of Ross, a surname, and because it has not yielded any direct statement to this effect, it cannot be proven that Roger (Bishop of Ross) and Roger de Balnebrich were one and the same person.][
]
See also
Notes
References
* Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., ''Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man'', Second Edition, (London, 1976)
* Dowden, John, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
* Watt, D. E. R., ''A Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Graduates to A. D. 1410'', (Oxford, 1977)
* Watt, D. E. R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roger of Abernethy
13th-century births
14th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops
14th-century deaths
Bishops of Ross (Scotland)