John of Whithorn was a medieval Bishop of Galloway

Bishop of Galloway

The Bishop of Galloway, also called the Bishop of Whithorn, was the eccesiastical head of the Diocese of Galloway, said to have been founded by Saint Ninian in the mid-5th century. The subsequent Anglo-Saxon bishopric was founded in the late 7th century or early 8th century, and the first known...

. His first appearance as bishop-elect is at the coronation of Richard, Cœur de Lion

Richard I of England

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...

 as King of the English at Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

 on 3 September 1189. He was consecrated at Pipewell Abbey, Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

, on Sunday 17 September 1189.

The consecration was performed by Archbishop of Dublin

Archbishop of Dublin (Roman Catholic)

The Archbishop of Dublin is the title of the senior cleric who presides over the Archdiocese of Dublin. The Church of Ireland has a similar role, heading the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. In both cases, the Archbishop is also Primate of Ireland...

, the Archbishop of Trier, and the Bishop of Annaghdown

Bishop of Annaghdown

The Bishop of Annaghdown is an episcopal title which takes its name after the small village of Annaghdown in County Galway, Ireland....

, and took place despite the fact that there was a formal vacancy in the Archbishopric of York. Geoffrey Plantagenet

Geoffrey, Archbishop of York

Geoffrey was an illegitimate son of Henry II, King of England, who became Bishop-elect of Lincoln and Archbishop of York. The identity of his mother is uncertain, but she may have been named Ykenai...

 was Archbishop-elect of York at the time, and John in fact ordained him as a priest, despite the opposition of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

, who wished to use the opportunity to force York to make obedience to Canterbury as Primate

Primate

A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...

.

During his ten year episcopate he appeared often in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 as a suffragan

Suffragan bishop

A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...

 of the Archbishop of York, for instance, accompanying the archbishop to a church council held by King Richard in 1191. In Scotland, he witnessed one charter of Alan of Galloway and was appointed a judge-delegate by the papacy in a patronage-related dispute in the diocese of Glasgow. He was said to have become a canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 at Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reformation the Palace of Holyroodhouse was expanded...

 in 1206. The Chronicle of Melrose

Chronicle of Melrose

The Chronicle of Melrose is a medieval chronicle from the Cottonian Manuscript, Faustina B. ix within the British Museum. It was written by unknown authors, though evidence in the writing shows that it most likely was written by the monks at Melrose Abbey. The chronicle begins on the year 735 and...

reported his death under the year 1209.