- Alexander Vaus
infobox bishopbiog
name = Alexander Vaus
religion=Roman Catholic Church
See =Diocese of Galloway
Title =Bishop of Galloway
Period = 1422-1450
consecration = beforeJuly 16 ,1380
Predecessor =Thomas de Buittle
Successor =Thomas Spens
post =Precentor ofDornoch Cathedral ;Archdeacon of Caithness | ordination =
bishops =Bishop of Orkney ("unconsecrated");Bishop of Caithness
date of birth = unknown
place of birth = ProbablyScotland
date of death = unknown, though after 1450
place of death =Alexander Vaus [Vause, de Vaus] (d. after 1450) was a late 14th century and 15th century Scottish
prelate . Said to have been the younger son of one Patrick Vaus (died 1392), he apparently held "church livings" in Galloway as early as 1421. [Dowden, "Bishops", p. 244.]He is found in possession of the
precentor ship ofDornoch Cathedral , seat ("cathedra") of thediocese of Caithness , when a papal mandate fromAvignon Pope Benedict XIII ,July 25 ,1398 , authorised his appointment asArchdeacon of Caithness :To William de Gerland and Thomas de Edname, canons of Caithness, and the official of Caithness. Mandate to collate Alexander Vause, of noble birth, precentor of Caithness, to the archdeaconry of Caithness, a non-elective, non-major dignity with cure, value not exceeding 30 merks sterling, vacant because John de Innes had held it for more than a year without being raised to the priesthood, and without dispensation, and still unlawfully detains it at present; notwithstanding that Alexander is known to hold the said precentorship, which, however, on his peaceful assecution to the archdeaconry he is to demit. [McGurk (ed.), "Calendar of Papal Letters", p. 88; see also Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", pp. 65, 71.]
He may have held thisarchdeaconry for as many as nine years, [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", pp. 71, 252.] until he was provided asBishop of Orkney by Pope Benedict XIII sometime between the date of the above letter andNovember 7 ,1408 , probably close to the latter date. [McGurk (ed.), "Calendar of Papal Letters", p. 166; Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 252.]It is not clear if he ever obtained possession of the bishopric of Orkney, being opposed by the nominee of the Roman pope, probably John Pak of Colchester, and by the King of Norway with Orkney's metropolitan, the
Archbishop of Trondheim .Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 252.] A letter from the Avignon pope, datedFebruary 12 ,1408 , granted faculty to Alexander to be consecrated as Bishop of Orkney by three other bishops, "without prejudice to the archbishop of Nidaros to whom Orkney is accustomed to be subject". [>McGurk (ed.), "Calendar of Papal Letters", p. 170; the Archbishop of Nidaros (Trondheim) was allied to the Roman, rather than the Avignon pope.] Alexander does not appear to have been consecrated by the time he was provided, onMay 4 ,1414 , to the bishopric of Caithness. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", pp. 60, 252.]Alexander received from the Pope an indult for local consecration, dated
January 22 ,1415 , [McGurk (ed.), "Calendar of Papal Letters", p. 309.] and although the act of consecration itself is unrecorded, he was certainly consecrated byJanuary 16 ,1419 , when he appeared for the first time as full bishop in aMelrose Abbey document. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 60.] He was Bishop of Caithness for around eight years, before being translated again, onDecember 4 ,1422 , to becomeBishop of Galloway . [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", pp. 60, 131.] His translation occurred while Alexander was present at thepapal see , following the death of BishopThomas de Buittle .Dowden, "Bishops", p. 368.]Alexander was told by the papacy to take the oath of fealty to the
Pope Martin V in the presence of theBishop of Glasgow and theBishop of Dunkeld . [Dowden, "Bishops", pp. 244-5, 368.] He held the bishopric of Galloway for nearly twenty-eight years. Little of Vaus' activities as Bishop of Galloway, like any of the sees that he held are particularly well documented. He witnessed a charter of Margaret, Duchess of Touraine and Countess of Douglas, at "Treyff", onNovember 26 ,1426 , and onSeptember 22 ,1429 . He attended the Perth parliament ofMarch 10 ,1430 . He is found again in the "Register of the Great Seal"July 24 and again onSeptember 6 ,1444 . He resigned the see toThomas Spens onJanuary 8 ,1450 . [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 131.] The later historianHector Boece related that Bishop Vaus had gone to a great deal of effort to enable Spens to succeed him. Vaus seems to have lived for some time after his voluntary resignation of the see of Galloway, as it was said by Boece that Spens refrained from being styled as lord or bishop in the presence of the elderly Vaus.Notes
References
* Dowden, John, "The Bishops of Scotland", ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
* McGurk, Francis (ed.), "Calendar of Papal Letters to Scotland of Benedict XIII of Avignon, 1394-1419", (Edinburgh, 1976)
* Watt, D. E. R., "Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638", 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969)
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