Robert Crichton (bishop) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Biography

He was the son of Sir Patrick Crichton, Laird

Laird

A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...

of Cranstoun. Robert was a younger son and chose an ecclesiastical career. From 1517 he was Provost

Provost (religion)

A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.-Historical Development:The word praepositus was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary...

of St Giles Collegiate Church. Additionally, he was Precentor

Precentor

A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is "præcentor", from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" ....

of Dunkeld Cathedral

Dunkeld Cathedral

Dunkeld Cathedral stands on the north bank of the River Tay in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Built in square-stone style of predominantly grey sandstone, the cathedral proper was begun in 1260 and completed in 1501...

between 1530 and 1534, and in 1532 almost took part in an exchange with Walter Maxwell for the Chancellor

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

ship of the diocese of Moray

Diocese of Moray

The Diocese of Moray was one of the most important of the medieval dioceses in Scotland. It was founded in the early years of the 12th century by David I of Scotland under its first bishop, Gregoir...

.

Crichton was the nephew of George Crichton

George Crichton

George Crichton served as the Bishop of Dunkeld until his death on 24 January in 1543 or 1544.He served as Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland from 1526....

, Bishop of Dunkeld

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...

, and in 1543 had been appointed coadjutor and successor to his uncle. As it turned out, 1534 was the year before Bishop George's death, and so when the latter event took place in January 1544, Robert regarded himself as the rightful bishop. However, this had taken place without the consent of the Scottish government. The government thus ignored the appointment, and placed John Hamilton

John Hamilton (archbishop)

The Most Rev. Dr. John Hamilton , Scottish prelate and politician, was an illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran....

in charge instead. Robert litigated against Hamilton in the Papal see, until in 1547 Hamilton was translated to the archbishopric of St Andrews

Archbishop of St Andrews

The Bishop of St. Andrews was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews and then, as Archbishop of St Andrews , the Archdiocese of St Andrews.The name St Andrews is not the town or church's original name...

Instead of giving into Crichton's claims, however, in 1549 the Governor of Scotland, James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault, gave the crown nomination to Donald Campbell

Donald Campbell (abbot)

Donald Campbell was a 16th-century Scottish noble and churchman. He was the son of Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll and Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. From 1522, he was a student of St Salvator's College, at the University of St Andrews...

, Abbot of Coupar Angus

Abbot of Coupar Angus

The Abbot of Coupar Angus was the head of the monastic community and lands of Coupar Angus Abbey, on the boundary between Angus and Gowrie in Scotland. The abbot David Bane was granted the mitre in 1464...

.

The dispute continued into 1553, with Campbell failing to secure papal recognition. When Mary of Guise

Mary of Guise

Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...

took over the government from Châtellerault in 1554, she acknowledged Crichton's position and Campbell appears to have given up his claims to the bishopric. Crichton was therefore uncontested Bishop of Dunkeld, and accordingly resigned his position as Provost of St Giles. Towards the end of the decade Protestantism took hold in Scotland, and in 1560 the Scots formally broke their ecclesiastical ties with Rome

Scottish Reformation

The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...

. Crichton, along with John Hamilton

John Hamilton (archbishop)

The Most Rev. Dr. John Hamilton , Scottish prelate and politician, was an illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran....

, Archbishop of St Andrews

Archbishop of St Andrews

, William Chisholm, Bishop of Dunblane

Bishop of Dunblane

The Bishop of Dunblane or Bishop of Strathearn was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunblane/Strathearn, one of medieval Scotland's thirteen bishoprics. It was based at Dunblane Cathedral, now a parish church of the Church of Scotland. The bishopric itself certainly derives from an older...

, and Gavin Hamilton, Abbot of Kilwinning

Abbot of Kilwinning

The Abbot of Kilwinning was the head of the Tironensian monastic community and lands of Kilwinning Abbey, Cunningham , founded sometime between 1162 and 1167. The patron is not known for certain, but it is likely to have been Richard de Morville, Lord of Cunningham...

, were the only prelates to dissent from the Reformation Parliament

Scottish Reformation Parliament

The Scottish Reformation Parliament is the name given to the Scottish Parliament commencing in 1560 that passed the major pieces of legislation leading to the Scottish Reformation, most importantly Confession of Faith Ratification Act 1560; and Papal Jurisdiction Act 1560 .right|thumb|[[John...

of 1560. When the Jesuit Nicholas de Gouda visited Scotland in the summer of 1562 to initiate a Counter-Reformation

Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...

, Crichton was the only cleric to give him an interview. Crichton's solid Catholicism was further revealed four years later when he assisted with the Catholic baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

of the infant Prince James in 1566.

Crichton was a firm supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was one of the castilians who held Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...

in her name between 1570 and 1573. For this he was forfeited by Parliament in 1571 and when in 1573 the castle was captured by James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton

James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton

James Douglas, jure uxoris 4th Earl of Morton was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he did manage to win the civil war which had been dragging on with the supporters of the exiled Mary, Queen of...

, Crichton was imprisoned in Blackness Castle

Blackness Castle

Blackness Castle is a 15th century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. At this time, Blackness was the main port serving the Royal Burgh of...

. In 1576 he was transferred to Edinburgh and kept in the ward of Lord Seton

George Seton, 7th Lord Seton

George Seton V, 7th Lord Seton was a Lord of the Parliament of Scotland, Master of the Household of Mary, Queen of Scots and Provost of Edinburgh. He was the eldest son of George Seton, 6th Lord Seton and Elizabeth Hay, a daughter of John Hay, 3rd Lord Hay of Yester...

. He was restored to the bishopric of Dunkeld on 22 August 1584, but died in March 1585. He was buried, with the King's permission, in the St Giles', Edinburgh.

Biography

Further reading