Thomas de Kirkcudbright

infobox bishopbiog
name = Thomas de Kirkcudbright


religion=Roman Catholic Church
See = Diocese of Galloway
Title = Bishop of Galloway
Period = 1294–1324×1326
consecration = October 10, 1294
Predecessor = Henry of Holyrood
Successor = Simon de Wedale
post = | ordination =
bishops =
date of birth = unknown
place of birth = Probably Galloway or Dumfriesshire
date of death = April 4, 1324 × September 23, 1326
place of death =

Thomas de Kirkcudbright, also known as Thomas de Dalton [de Daltoun] , was a medieval prelate from the Kingdom of Scotland. He was apparently a "nutritus", or foster son, of Robert V de Brus, Lord of Annandale, and seems to have been closely linked in some way to Adam de Kirkcudbright, the man who held the church of Dalton in Annandale.Watt, "Dictionary", p. 308.] He was likely a native Galwegian or perhaps a native of Annandale.

As the chaplain of Robert de Brus, he was elected by the chapter of Whithorn Cathedral to replace the recently deceased Henry of Holyrood as Bishop of Galloway, sometime before January 13, 1294. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 129.] He offered obedience to the Archbishop of York on May 30, and was consecrated on October 10. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", pp. 129-30.] His election was initially opposed by John Balliol, King of the Scots, though John was eventually reconciled to the election. By the time of his election to the bishopric, he was already a priest and was styled "magister", indicating the completion of a university education - though not details of his university education are not known.

Although naturally better disposed to the Bruces than Balliols, his exact role during the turbulence of the First War of Scottish Independence is not clear; after the deposition of Balliol by King Edward I of England, he was co-operative with the English crown, both in his role as a senior inhabitant of the Kingdom of Scotland and as a suffragan of the Archbishop of York.Watt, "Dictionary", pp. 308-9.] He spent a great deal of time in this period both in Galloway, and in England, and was a close associate of John de Halton, Bishop of Carlisle. The latter, a papal tax collector, granted Thomas a £40 loan from the papal funds stored at Tongland Abbey, in August 1294, undoubtedly related to his accession as Bishop of Galloway.

It was came to be thought by some York authorities that he had never adhered to the cause of King Robert I of Scotland, when they called him to a council on this basis on March 5, 1323. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 130.] Bishop Thomas however had spent a lot of time in the post-Bannockburn kingdom, attending the Ayr assembly of April 27, 1315, where he added his seal to a declaration about the Bruce succession; he added his seal to another pro-Bruce document at some point between October 1314 and November 1316, and attended the Scone parliament of December 3, 1318.Watt, "Dictionary", p. 310.] His date of death is unknown exactly, but it was after April 4, 1324, and had occurred by September 23, 1326, when his successor Simon de Wedale was elected to succeed him. [This date differs significantly from that given in Dowden, "Bishops", p. 360, who thought him to be dead by 1320; this however is based on an error: see Watt, "Dictionary", p. 310; Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 130;]

Notes

References

* Dowden, John, "The Bishops of Scotland", ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
* Watt, D. E. R., "A Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Graduates to A. D. 1410", (Oxford, 1977)
* Watt, D. E. R., "Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638", 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969)