Brice Douglas

Seal of Bishop Brice

Brice Douglas († 1222 ) was a Scottish clergyman. From 1203 he was Bishop of Moray .

Brice Douglas came from the older line of the Douglas family from Moray . He was a son of William Douglas († 1213). His older brother Archibald Douglas inherited the family's estates. As a younger son, Brice became a clergyman and rose to prior of Lesmahagow in Lanarkshire . A Brice , who was pastor and later dean in Moray between 1188 and 1203 , was probably a cousin of his. In 1203 Brice was elected bishop of the diocese of Moray , although he owed this choice, like his appointment as prior, to his relatives with the Douglas family, but also with the Lords of Duffus . Between 1206 and 1208 he founded a cathedral chapter in Spynie for the diocese, which previously had no permanent seat. As a model for the rules of the chapter, he used the rules of the cathedral chapter of Lincoln . He appointed his brother Freskin , who had previously been pastor of Douglas , as dean . Three other brothers of his became canons of the chapter. In November 1215 Brice took part in the fourth Lateran Council with other Scottish bishops . In 1218 he had to travel to the Curia again to obtain papal absolution, as he would have disregarded the interdict that had been imposed on Scotland because of the Scottish participation in the First War of the barons . In the same year his archdeacon , who was also Chancellor of the cathedral, accused him of numerous offenses. Brice is said to have extorted from his subjects the delivery of an eighth , possibly even a third of their property. He is said to have granted powers of attorney without examining the case and charged fees for religious ordinations. He is said to have agreed to annulments for money. He is said to have spent the money on prostitutes. It is not known to what extent these allegations were true.

Web links

AAM Duncan: Douglas, Brice (d. 1222). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

^ Archibald AM Duncan: Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (The Edinburgh History of Scotland; Vol. I ). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1975. ISBN 0-05-00203-7-4 , p. 279.

predecessor	Office	successor
Richard de Lincoln	Bishop of Moray 1203-1222	Andreas de Moravia

personal data
SURNAME	Douglas, Brice
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Douglas, Bricius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Scottish clergyman, Roman Catholic Bishop of Moray
DATE OF BIRTH	12th Century
DATE OF DEATH	1222

[1] Archibald AM Duncan: Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (The Edinburgh History of Scotland; Vol. I ). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1975. ISBN 0-05-00203-7-4 , p. 279.