Albin of Brechin

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Albin (or Albinus) (d. 1269) was a 13th-century prelate of the Kingdom of Scotland. A university graduate, Albin is known for his ecclesiastical career in the diocese of Brechin, centred on Angus in east-central Scotland.

Almost certainly a native of Angus, he appears to be a descendant of David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, brother of King William I of Scotland, through an illegitimate son whom Earl David settled in the area around Brechin.

Albin, himself an illegitimate child, made his career as a churchman in the local diocese, and served for some time as precentor of Brechin Cathedral before, in 1246, being elected Bishop of Brechin. He remained Bishop of Brechin until his death in 1269.

Biography

Background and early career

Late medieval depiction of the coronation of Alexander III, King of the Scots; Albin was presumably present, though Brechin was not one of the senior bishopric of the kingdom.

Albin's family and origin are unclear. It has been argued that Albin may have been a son of Henry de Brechin (died 1244 × 1245), the bastard son of David of Huntingdon ("Earl David"), younger brother of King William the Lion; Henry bore the title Lord of Brechin, and was given lands there by his father. The strongest evidence of Albin's relationship with Henry is that his episcopal seal bore the arms of Earl David.[1]

Albin's family certainly had strong connections in the church of Brechin. One of Albin's kinsman (nepos), Adam, held the position of Archdeacon of Brechin, probably by 1242, but certainly by 1264.[2] It has been suggested that this Adam was the same as Adam de Brechin, probable son of Henry de Brechin's successor William de Brechin (died 1286 × 1292), found with Brechin benefices in 1274.[3]

Because Albin was born to an unmarried couple he had to obtain papal dispensation, which he obtained from the papal legate Otto of Tonengo, Bishop of Porto, in the autumn or early winter of 1239 when that legate visited Scotland.[4]

Sometime after receiving dispensation, Albin became precentor of Brechin Cathedral, the first known person to hold this office; he is not, however, recorded in this position until the summer of 1246, when he was confirmed as Bishop of Brechin.[5] By 1246, Albin is styled "Master", indicating the completion of many years of university study, though the subjects and institutions of his university education are not otherwise known.[6]

Accession to Brechin bishopric

Albin became Bishop of Brechin following an election and then a successful appeal for confirmation to the papacy. Pope Innocent IV's mandate for confirmation gave the details of the election. Following the death of Bishop Gregory, the cathedral chapter selected three of their members to elect the next bishop, and those three unanimously forwarded their precentor, Albin; because of Albin's "defect of birth" (i.e. his illegitimacy), they supplicated the papacy to repeat the earlier dispensation.[7]

The Pope followed legate Otto's earlier dispensation, issuing on July 19, 1246, the mandate for confirmation and consecration to the Kingdom of Scotland's three senior bishops, David de Bernham, Bishop of St Andrews, William de Bondington, Bishop of Glasgow, and Geoffrey de Liberatione, Bishop of Dunkeld.[7] The consecration had taken place before May 13, 1247, when Albin was given his first recorded task as consecrated bishop; on that date he, Clement, Bishop of Dunblane, and David de Bernham, Bishop of St Andrews, were authorised to perform the episcopal consecration of Peter de Ramsay as Bishop of Aberdeen.[8]

Early episcopate, 1240s

Albin witnessed a royal charter at Forfar on July 4, 1246.[7] In the following year, on July 11 and August 8, 1248, the Pope wrote to Albin commanding him to ensure that a settlement between Inchaffray Abbey in Strathearn, diocese of Dunblane, and Bishop Clement of Dunblane be peacefully kept, with Inchaffray being portrayed as the side in more need of protection.[9]

At this time he ordained vicarages for Arbroath Abbey in Angus, and on September 22, 1248, settled a long-standing property dispute between the church of Brechin and Arbroath Abbey.[10] However, he had left Scotland by the following month, and was in the Kingdom of England, at Finchale Priory near Durham, where he granted many indulgences.[11]

Following the death of Alexander II of Scotland on July 6, 1249, the accession of the boy king, Alexander III of Scotland, meant minority administration, and as a result, factional politics; the government during this minority was divided between a faction centred on Walter Comyn, husband of the countess of Menteith, and Alan Durward; the former faction held the ascendancy between 1249 and 1252, and between 1255 and 1257, while the latter between 1252 and 1255, and between 1257 and 1258. [12]

In the divided kingdom, and amid these factional politics, no pattern of allegiance can be detected from Albin's activities in the sources. Professor Donald Watt thought that Albin was probably aligned with the Durward faction, in contrast, for instance, to the allegedly Comyn aligned Clement of Dunblane.[13] Watt even argued that Albin's postulation was probably due to the influence of Alan Durward, who at the time was a close advisor of King Alexander II.[3]

Middle episcopate, 1250s

Modern photograph of Brechin Cathedral and round tower.

Despite Albin's suggested Durwardite allegiance, Bishop Albin, Bishop David de Bernham of St Andrews and Abel de Gullane, Archdeacon of St Andrews, issued a letter of protest against the behaviour of the Durward dominated government; they criticised Durward's onslaught on the "liberties of the church", probably in the aftermath of the translation of the relics of St Margaret [to Dunfermline Abbey] on June 19, 1250.[3]

In either 1253 or 1254, Albin was an assessor at a court held by the Justiciar of Scotia, Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan.[3] In April 1253, he gave summons to Bishop David de Bernham to appear before the papal curia, in order to resolve a dispute he and the culdees of St Mary's were having with St Andrews Cathedral Priory.[3]

Albin performed various tasks in this period on behalf of the papacy. On May 15, 1253, Bishop Albin and Richard de Inverkeithing, Bishop of Dunkeld, were appointed to be papal mandatories, and instructed by the papacy to protect Bishop William de Bondington from being summoned to lay courts on account of matters concerning his bishopric.[3]

Bishop Albin, with the Archdeacon of Brechin, was named as a papal mandatory again on January 4, 1254, and authorised to put Nicholas de Hedon in possession of the deanery of Elgin Cathedral.[3] Along with Clement of Dunblane, he was named by the pope as a conservator of the privileges given to Abel de Gullane, newly provided Bishop of St Andrews on March 23.[14]

On June 22, Bishop Albin assisted the justiciar Alexanader Comyn conduct a perambulation in eastern Angus.[15] Albin appears to have left Scotland again some time after this, as he appears active around Durham again in either 1254 or 1255.[15] Back in Scotland, at Arbroath on September 21, 1256, he and Bishop Clement of Dunblane passed judgment on William de Mydford, vicar of the parish church of Dundee, after Mydford had been withholding the revenues due to the church's rector, Lindores Abbey.[15]

Meanwhile, Albin was involved in a political controversy regarding succession to an earldom. An alleged papal bull given the date December 13, 1255, had named Bishop Albin as a papal mandatory, along with Robert de Stuteville, with instructions to investigate Alan Durward's claim to the earldom of Mar; however, the bull was denounced as a forgery on March 28, 1257, after Durward's rivals had seized power.[3] During the months preceding this denunciation, Albin was again out of the kingdom, as on March 4, 1257, his presence was once again recorded at Durham.[15]

Later episcopate, 1260s

After a three year gap in the records, Albin's activities re-emerge; on April 30, 1260, he was recorded at Montrose, again as a papal mandatory; here he gave judgment on a dispute between Archibald, Bishop of Moray, and the latter's cathedral chapter, concerning the bishop's rights of visitation.[15] On June 13, 1263, Albin, Roger, Bishop of Ross, and Richard de Inverkeithing, Bishop of Dunkeld, were selected by the papacy to judge the fitness and, if appropriate, consecrate Walter de Baltrodin as Bishop of Caithness.[16]

In the following year, Albin was involved in a controversy regarding the archdeaconry of Brechin. On January 23, 1364, papal judge-delegates were appointed to investigate allegations of nepotism which had been made against him. The allegations centred on Bishop Albin's handling of a vacancy to the Brechin archdeaconry; Albin had given collation of the [vacant] archdeaconry to the Abbot of Arbroath, who then appointed Adam, one of Albin's relatives.[15] The outcome of the case is not known, and it is possible that Adam was deposed as archdeacon.[15] This cannot be confirmed, however, because no other archdeacon is attested by name until 1284.[17]

The stay of Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi (later Pope Adrian V) in England from October 29, 1265, until July 1268, brought a great deal of diplomatic activity to the Scottish church, in which Albin was perhaps involved.[18] Cardinal Ottobono imposed a general levy of taxation on the English church, which he extended to Scotland. King Alexander III forbade the payment of this money, and appealed to the papacy; but in 1267 the Scottish clergy persuaded Alexander to abandon his appeal, while they made their own reduced payments.[19] Meanwhile, Cardinal Ottobono's legatine council, to which the Scottish church sent four delegates, promulgated canons for the English church which the Scottish church was not to incorporate.[20]

Bishop Albin's last recorded activity came in 1267. He witnessed William de Brechin's foundation charter of Maison Dieu chapel, Brechin, sometime between March and July 1267.[15] Albin lived for two more years, however. His death was reported in the Chronicle of Melrose under the year 1269; neither the causes of his death, the location of his death, nor his age at death were recorded.[21]

General notes about Albin's episcopate

During Albin's episcopate, the incorporation of the Céli Dé ("vassal of God") into the cathedral chapter was probably brought near to completion. The Céli Dé were the Scottish monks who formed base of the pre-Reform, pre-13th century monastic bishopric of Brechin. A bull of Pope Innocent IV of February 18, 1250, stated that

The brethren who have been wont to be in the church of Brechin were called Keledei and now by change of name are styled canons[22]

These Céli Dé had been officially made a secular cathedral by an act of Bishop Gregory, Albin's predecessor.[23]

During his episcopate, Albin is supposed to have attracted Egbert, an English Arabic scholar and Carmelite friar, to teach in Brechin.[24] A later tradition held that a now obscure local martyr named Stolbrand, "martyr of Brechin", had been translated to Brechin Cathedral during Albin's episcopate; the date given is January 2, but the year is not recorded.[15]

Notes

  1. ^ See references in first paragraph of Watt, Dictionary, s.v. "Albin", p. 5, ch. 1.
  2. ^ Watt, Dictionary, p. 6; understanding of possession of the archdeaconry in this period is complicated, as the archdeacon called Adam in 1242 may not be the nepos Adam of 1264; see Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 54.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Watt, Dictionary, p. 6.
  4. ^ Dowden, Bishops, p. 175; Watt, Dictionary, pp. 5-6.
  5. ^ Watt, Dictionary, p. 6; Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 45.
  6. ^ Watt, Dictionary, p. 5.
  7. ^ a b c Dowden, Bishops, p. 175; Watt, Dictionary, p. 6.
  8. ^ Watt, Dictionary, p. 6; Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 39.
  9. ^ Lindsay, Dowden & Thomson (eds.), Charters of Inchaffray, nos. 78 & 79; Watt, Dictionary, p. 6.
  10. ^ Dowden, Bishops, pp. 175-6; Watt, Dictionary, p. 6.
  11. ^ Dowden, Bishops, p. 176; Watt, Dictionary, p. 6.
  12. ^ See Hammond, "Durward Family", pp. 118-38, and Young, "Political Role of Walter Comyn", pp. 131-49, for details.
  13. ^ Watt, Dictionary, pp. 5-7.
  14. ^ Watt, Dictionary, pp. 6-7.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i Watt, Dictionary, p. 7.
  16. ^ Dowden, Bishops, p. 226; Watt, Dictionary, p. 7.
  17. ^ Watt, Dictionary, p. 7; Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 54.
  18. ^ Watt, Medieval Church Councils, p. 91; the 19th century Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge attributes to Albin a role not confirmed by other sources.
  19. ^ Watt, Medieval Church Councils, p. 91-2.
  20. ^ Watt, Medieval Church Councils, pp. 93-4;
  21. ^ Anderson, Early Sources, vol. ii, p. 663.
  22. ^ Cowan & Easson, Medieval Religious Houses, pp. 47, 203.
  23. ^ Cowan & Easson, Medieval Religious Houses, p. 203.
  24. ^ Watt, Dictionary, pp. 5, 7.

References

  • Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286, 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922)
  • 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)
  • Hammond, Matthew H., "The Durward family in the thirteenth century", in Steve Boardman & Alasdair Ross (eds.), The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c.1200–1500, (Dublin, 2003), pp. 118-38
  • Lindsay, William Alexander, Dowden, John, & Thomson, J. Maitland (eds.), Charters, bulls and other documents relating to the Abbey of Inchaffray, chiefly from the originals in the charter chest of the Earl of Kinnoull, (Publications of the Scottish History Society ; v. 56; Edinburgh, 1908)
  • Stanesby, John Tatam, "Albin", in The Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Vol. 1, Part 1, (London, 1842), p. 702
  • 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)
  • Watt, D. E. R., Medieval Church Councils in Scotland, (Edinburgh, 2000)
  • Young, Alan, "The Political Role of Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith During the Minority of Alexander III of Scotland", in K. J. Stringer (ed.), Essays on the nobility of medieval Scotland, (Edinburgh, 1985), pp. 131–49
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Preceded by Bishop of Brechin
1246–1269 		Succeeded by
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