John Leslie (Bishop)

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John Leslie

John Leslie (also John Lesley ; born September 29, 1527 in Kingussie , Scotland , † May 31, 1596 in Guirtenburg near Brussels ) was a Scottish clergyman and bishop of Ross . He is best known for his work for Maria Stuart and as a historian .

Life

John Leslie was a son of Pastor Gavin Leslie. He graduated from Aberdeen University and received an MA . In 1538 he received a dispensation to hold a benefice, although he was illegitimate, became an acolyte at Aberdeen Cathedral in June 1546 and later a prebendary there. After he later studied at Poitiers , Toulouse and Paris , where he obtained his doctorate in law in 1553, he taught canon law at King's College, Aberdeen, from around 1554 . In 1558 he was ordained and Official (Deputy) of the Bishop of Aberdeen . In 1559 he received the benefice and prebende Oyne .

During the Reformation , Leslie took the side of Catholicism . In the disputation held in Edinburgh in 1560 , he defended the Roman Catholic Church ; John Knox and John Willock were two of his opponents. The following year he was one of the commissioners sent to the young Queen Mary, Queen of Scots, to bring her to Scotland to take office. He returned with her entourage and was appointed privy councilor. In 1565 he became Senator of the Justice Department and Abbot of Lindores , in 1566 Bishop of Ross and one of the 16 members of the Commission appointed to review Scottish Laws, whereupon under his supervision the collection of Scottish Parliamentary Acts known as the Black Acts ( Actis and Constitutiounis of the Realme of Scotland from the Reigne of James I ) was printed.

Bishop Leslie was one of Queen Mary's most devoted supporters and worked hard on her cause during her captivity in England . In October 1568 he acted as the most important Scottish commissioner during the unsuccessful conference in York with commissioners of the English Queen Elizabeth I Tudor . In 1569 he appeared as the ambassador of Mary at Elizabeth I's court to lodge a complaint about the injustice that had befallen his queen. When he was not heard, he made plans for Maria's escape. He eventually took part in the conspiracy of Roberto di Ridolfi , Elisabeth overthrow and make Mary as Queen of England. Here also the marriage of Mary to Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk was planned. But in April / May 1571 the plot was uncovered and Lesley was first imprisoned on the Isle of Ely and later in the Tower of London . His confessions made in October and November 1571, along with other evidence, were sufficient to have Norfolk executed as a traitor in June 1572.

During his absence from Scotland, Leslie was withheld from his bishopric and fell into poverty. During the time of his captivity he was collecting material for his history of Scotland. In 1572 he gave the last part of this work, written in the Scottish dialect , to Queen Mary for her entertainment in captivity . He also wrote piae consolationes for their use , some of which Maria translated into French verse.

In 1573 Leslie was released but expelled from England. He went to continental Europe and in vain conjured the kings of France and Spain, the Pope and the German princes to undertake something serious to save his mistress. In 1578 in Rome he published his history of Scotland, which was particularly valued for its elegant Latinity, under the title De origine, moribus et rebus gestis Scotorum .

In 1579 Leslie traveled to France, where the Archbishop of Rouen, Charles de Bourbon , appointed him his suffragan and vicar general. On the way to his diocese he was arrested on the way and had to pay a ransom of 3,000 pistols to prevent his extradition to Elisabeth. During the rest of the reign of Henry III. Leslie was not bothered further, but after the accession to the throne of the Protestant King Henry IV , he found himself in trouble again. In 1590 he was imprisoned again and had to buy himself out again with the same ransom as before. In 1593 he was appointed Bishop of Coutances in Normandy by Clement VIII , but could not take possession of his chair. He was allowed to remain Bishop von Ross until a peaceful takeover of the Diocese of Coutances was possible. However, he never returned to Scotland. Finally he retired to the Augustinian monastery in Guirtenburg near Brussels, where he spent his last lifetime and died on May 31, 1596 at the age of 68.

History work

Most of Leslie's writings were used in defense of his queen. His ten books comprehensive history of Scotland describes events in the period from 1436 to 1561. It is based in its early parts essentially on the representations of Hector Boece and John Major , although much of the topographical information given therein comes from Leslie's own experience. In the later parts of his history, Leslie gives a completely independent report from the Catholic point of view, which offers a valuable addition and a corrective to the writings of George Buchanan and John Knox. A Scottish translation of Leslie's work was written by James Dalrymple from the Schottenkloster in Regensburg in 1596 . It was printed in two volumes for the Scottish Text Society under the direction of EG Cody in the years 1888-1895. Thomas Thomson published the work in Edinburgh in 1830 for the Bannatyne Club as The History of Scotland, from the death of King James I. in the year 1436 to the year 1561, based on an old manuscript from the property of the Earl of Lewen and Melville.

Works (selection)

  • A Defense of the Honor of… Marie, Queene of Scotland, by Eusebius Dicaeophile , London 1569
  • A Treatise Concerning the Defense of the Honor of Marie, Queene of Scotland. Made by Morgan Philippés , Liège 1571
  • Piae afflicti animi consolationes ad Mariam Scotorum Reginam , Paris 1574
  • Pro libertate impetrando. Oratio ad Elizabetham Angliae Reginam , Paris 1574
  • De origine, moribus et rebus gestis Scotorum libri decem , Rome 1578; New edition 1675
  • De illustrium feminarum in republica administranda authoritate libellus , Reims 1580 (a Latin version of a treatise on The Lawfulness of the Regiment of Women )
  • De titulo et iure Mariae Scotorum Reginae, quo regni Angliae successionem sibi juste vindicat, libellus , Reims 1580
  • Treatise touching the right, title and interest of Marye Queene of Scotland, and of King James to the succession of the crown of England , Reims 1584
  • Congratulatio illustrissimo cardinali Alberti Archiduci Austriae de ejus adventu ad regimen provinciarum inferioris Germaniae , Brussels 1594

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Leslie, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lesley, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish clergyman and Bishop of Ross
DATE OF BIRTH September 29, 1527
PLACE OF BIRTH Kingussie , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 1596
Place of death Guirtenburg near Brussels