St Andrews

Who holds it

Name

Roger de Beaumont

Title

Bishop of St Andrews

Since

Elected April 1189 at Perth; consecrated 15 February 1198

Confidence

high

Son of Robert de Beaumont, 3rd earl of Leicester, and kinsman of King William the Lion; chancellor of Scotland before his election. He waited nine years for consecration. He lobbied Rome for the Scottish church's independence from York and Nidaros. He built the first castle at St Andrews as the bishop's palace (date not pinned, around 1200). Dies at Cambuskenneth on 7 July 1202; William Malveisin succeeds him.

What it holds

• The burgh of St Andrews, a bishop's burgh, laid out west of the cathedral precinct between the Scores and the Kinness Burn
• The bishop's castle-palace on the cliff, first built by Roger (date not pinned)
• Church lands around the town and estates elsewhere in the diocese (thin)
• The shrine of St Andrew, served by the Augustinian cathedral priory

How it was acquired

St Andrews has been the seat of the chief Scottish bishop since about 906; Bishop Robert founded the burgh about 1140; a charter of about 1170 describes it.

How things stand that morning

Held by Roger, consecrated since 1198.

Wealth

Pilgrims to St Andrew's relics; the burgh's market and harbour; church lands in Fife.

Threats

• A contest over the see at Roger's death (1202)

Advocates and rivals

The canons of the cathedral priory; the king, the bishop's kinsman and patron; the earls of Fife.

Places of note

• St Andrews cathedral: Cathedral priory and shrine of St Andrew

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The burgh's foundation and the bishop's lordship are clear; the extent of the bishop's estates in 1200 is thin.

On the map: Drawn as the town and its immediate lands; the bishop's scattered estates are not drawn.

Primary sources for Scotland

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of Holyrood, Anonymous (canons of Holyrood, Edinburgh) (about 1150 to 1170, with later additions). Gives nothing for 1200: its original text ends in 1163 and the few additions stop before William the Lion's last decades. Read online
• Chronicle of Melrose, Anonymous (monks of Melrose abbey) (about 1173 to 1270, in many hands; the 1200 entries are near contemporary). The main Scottish annal for the year, kept at a Cistercian house on the Tweed. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Kings of Mann and the Isles, Anonymous (monks of Rushen abbey, Mann) (about 1257, with continuations to 1316). The only native record of the kingdom of Mann and the Hebrides. Read online
• History of English Affairs, William of Newburgh (about 1196 to 1198). Ends in 1198, so it gives no 1200 entries of its own; the Stanley continuation has only a line or two for 1200. Read online
• Saga of the Earls of Orkney, Anonymous (Icelandic) (about 1200 to 1230; surviving text mainly from Flateyjarbok, about 1390). The saga's last chapters are about Earl Harald Maddadsson, who in 1200 held Orkney under King Sverre of Norway and Caithness under William the Lion: his long rule, his quarrel with the Scottish king that cost him Caithness in 1196 to 1197, his recovery of it, and the maiming of Bishop John of Caithness and the king's revenge in 1201 to 1202. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Great Life of Saint Hugh of Lincoln, Adam of Eynsham (about 1210 to 1215). The last book is a day by day account of Hugh's final year by the chaplain who was with him: his dealings with John at the start of the reign, his journey to France and the Grande Chartreuse in 1200, his illness in London, his death at the Old Temple on 16 November 1200 and the funeral at Lincoln on 23 November attended by King John, William the Lion of Scotland, three archbishops and a crowd of bishops and earls. Read online

2 more in the sources library for The British Isles.