- 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 = ProbablyScotland
date of death =
place of death =Dunkeld ,Scotland , 1452John 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 ischaplain andsecretary toArchibald 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 ofDouglas, South Lanarkshire , the home church of the Douglas earls. OnNovember 26 ,1445 , he became dean of thediocese 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 personalsecretary . At some stage he attended theUniversity of St Andrews and obtained aLicentiate indecrees . [Dowden, "Bishops of Scotland", p. 74.] In 1445 he wasPrebendary (officially,Rector ) of Cambuslang. He was in the process of obtaining a doctorate incanon law when, after the translation of BishopWilliam Turnbull to the bishopric of Glasgow onOctober 27 ,1447 , Ralston was electedBishop 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.] OnApril 20 ,1448 , he is recorded as secretary to King James II and keeper of thePrivy Seal . [Dowden, "Bishops of Scotland", p. 75.] In this year John and two other officials were sent toFrance as ambassadors in a mission to, among other things, find a suitablebride for King James; the mission went first to theKing of France and then to theDuke of Burgundy . The bride chosen wasMary of Gueldres , a relative of the Duke and the daughter ofArnold, Duke of Guelders .On his return to
Scotland , Ralston became the King'streasurer . 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 onJuly 5 ,1451 . He appears to have died beforeApril 28 1452 when Ralston's successorThomas Lauder is provided to a now vacant bishopric ofDunkeld . [Borthwick, "Ralston, John (d. 1451/2)"; Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 98; Dowden, "Bishops of Scotland", p. 75.] He was buried inDunkeld 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)
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