Gregoir of Moray

Gregoir of Moray [Giric, Gregory] is the first attested Bishop of Moray. His name (with his See) occur in witness lists in two charters. The first is the witness list appended to a charter of King Alexander I of Scotland defining the legal powers held by Priory of Scone. [Sir Archibald Lawrie, "Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153", (Glasgow, 1905), Charter no. XLIX, pp. 43-4.] . This charter cannot date to before the year 1123/4 - because another of the witnesses is "Robert, Bishop Elect of St. Andrews". ["ibid.", pp. 43, 297; John Dowden, "The Bishops of Scotland", ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912), p. 144.] - but may in fact date to the year 1114. The second dates to 1128, and is a confirmation by King David I of Scotland of the rights held by the church of Dunfermline. [Charter no. LXXIV, pp. 61-63, with witness list on p. 63.]

The name "Bishop Gregoir" (without See) also occurs in the charter is the foundation charter of Scone Priory. ["ibid.", pp. 28-30, notes & translation, pp. 279-88.] This charter was dated by Sir Archibald Lawrie to 1120, ["ibid.", p. 28.] but there is good evidence to believe that the foundation of Scone may have happened as early as 1114. [See Kenneth Veitch, "“Replanting Paradise”:Alexander I and the Reform of Religious Life in Scotland", in "The Innes Review", 52, (Autumn,2001), pp. 140–6, for arguments about the date 1114.] Gregoir, Bishop of Moray, is the most likely candidate for the "Bishop Gregoir" of the charter because he is chronologically the closest Gregoir otherwise known, and because Gregoir of Moray explicitly witnessed a later Scone-related charter.

Notes

References

*Dowden, John, "The Bishops of Scotland", ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
*Lawrie, Sir Archibald, "Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153", (Glasgow, 1905)
*Veitch, Kenneth, "“Replanting Paradise”:Alexander I and the Reform of Religious Life in Scotland", in "The Innes Review", 52, (Autumn,2001), pp. 136–166

External links

* [http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/History/Scottish/Level1/level1C-material.htm#Bishops%20North%20of%20the%20Forth Dauvit Broun's list of 12th century Scottish Bishops]