- James Beaton
:"This article is about the Scottish church leader; for his namesake as archbishop of Glasgow, see
James Beaton II . For the policeman and former bodyguard, seeJames Beaton (Queen's Police Officer) ."James Beaton, or Bethune (1473-1539), was a Scottish church leader, the uncle of Cardinal
David Beaton .He was the sixth and youngest son of John Beaton of Balfour, in Fife. He graduated as Master of Arts at
St. Andrews University in 1493, was appointedPrecentor ofDornoch Cathedral (Diocese of Caithness) in 1497 and in 1503 was appointed Provost of the Collegiate Church ofBothwell . In 1504 he becamePrior of Whithorn andAbbot ofDunfermline and in 1505 was made Lord High Treasurer of Scotland.In 1508 he as elected as
Bishop of Galloway , in succession to George Vaus, but before his consecration he was chosen to succeedRobert Blackadder asArchbishop of Glasgow and was consecrated at Stirling on15 April 1509 . With the archbishopric he held the commendatory Abbeys of Arbroath and Kilwinning, and in 1515 he becameLord Chancellor of Scotland . King James V was at this time a child and Beaton, as one of the Council of Regency, was one of the most important people in the kingdom during the minority of the young king.In 1522 Beaton was translated to
St. Andrews , vacant by the death of Archbishop Forman. As primate he threw all his powerful influence into the scale against the intrigues of Henry VIII to obtain predominance in Scotland. He was chiefly responsible for this king's action in allying himself withFrance and not withEngland . He burned Patrick Hamilton and other heretics. The Regent Albany's jealousy had deprived Beaton of the chancellorship some years previously, and he was never reappointed, though he enjoyed the full favour of the king. A few months after the second marriage of James toMary of Guise the primate got his nephew CardinalDavid Beaton appointed hiscoadjutor with right of succession and he died in the autumn of 1539 in his castle at St. Andrews.References
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02374a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia article]
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