John de Ralston

infobox bishopbiog
name = John de Ralston


religion=Roman Catholic Church
See = Diocese of Dunkeld
Title = Bishop of Dunkeld
Period = 1447–1452
consecration = 1448
Predecessor = William Turnbull
Successor = Thomas Lauder
post = Rector of Douglas;
Dean of Dunkeld| ordination = x 1429
bishops = None
date of birth = unknown
place of birth = Probably Scotland
date of death =
place of death = Dunkeld, Scotland, 1452

John de Ralston was 15th century Scottish bishop and administrator. He was regarded as illegitimate, although today his parents are not known. Ralston appears in the records for the first time in 1426, where he is chaplain and secretary to Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas.Borthwick, "Ralston, John (d. 1451/2)".] He retained this position on the death of Douglas in 1439. Bewtween 1429 and 1443 he served as the rector of St Bride's church of Douglas, South Lanarkshire, the home church of the Douglas earls. On November 26, 1445, he became dean of the diocese of Dunkeld. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 104.]

From 1442, John was a member of the court of King James II of Scotland, and from the following year he is the King's personal secretary. At some stage he attended the University of St Andrews and obtained a Licentiate in decrees. [Dowden, "Bishops of Scotland", p. 74.] In 1445 he was Prebendary (officially, Rector) of Cambuslang. He was in the process of obtaining a doctorate in canon law when, after the translation of Bishop William Turnbull to the bishopric of Glasgow on October 27, 1447, Ralston was elected Bishop of Dunkeld. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 98.] He was consecrated by the end of April 1448, after making a payment of 450 gold florins. [Dowden, "Bishops of Scotland", pp. 74-5; Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 98.] On April 20, 1448, he is recorded as secretary to King James II and keeper of the Privy Seal. [Dowden, "Bishops of Scotland", p. 75.] In this year John and two other officials were sent to France as ambassadors in a mission to, among other things, find a suitable bride for King James; the mission went first to the King of France and then to the Duke of Burgundy. The bride chosen was Mary of Gueldres, a relative of the Duke and the daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders.

On his return to Scotland, Ralston became the King's treasurer. However, the autumn of 1449 brought the collapse of the dominance of the Livingston family at the Scottish court, and Ralston lost his position as a result of his association with this family. Ralston is recorded alive for the last time on July 5, 1451. He appears to have died before April 28 1452 when Ralston's successor Thomas Lauder is provided to a now vacant bishopric of Dunkeld. [Borthwick, "Ralston, John (d. 1451/2)"; Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 98; Dowden, "Bishops of Scotland", p. 75.] He was buried in Dunkeld Cathedral.

Notes

References

* Borthwick, Alan R. "Ralston, John (d. 1451/2)", in the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23061 , accessed 17 Feb 2007]
* Dowden, John, "The Bishops of Scotland", ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
* Watt, D.E.R., "Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638", 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969)