- Thomas Spens
infobox bishopbiog
name = Thomas Spens
religion=Roman Catholic Church
See =Diocese of Aberdeen
Title =Bishop of Aberdeen
Period = 1457–1480
consecration = November, 1399
Predecessor =Ingram Lindsay
Successor = William Forbes
post =Archdeacon of Moray Archdeacon of Galloway | ordination =
bishops =Bishop of Galloway
(1450–1458)
date of birth = 1415
place of birth =Glen Douglas
date of death = death date|1480|4|15|mf=y
place of death =Edinburgh Thomas Spens [de Spens] (c. 1415 –
April 14 ,1480 ), Scottishstatesman andprelate , received his education atEdinburgh .By his exceptional abilities, he attracted the notice of the advisers of the Scottish king, James II, who sent him on errands to England and to France. About 1450 he became
bishop of Galloway ; soon afterwards he was madeKeeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland , and in 1459 he was chosenbishop of Aberdeen .Much of his time, however, was passed in journeys to France and to England, and in 1464 he and Alexander Stewart, duke of Albany, a son of James II, were captured at sea by some English sailors. Edward IV, to whom the bishop had previously revealed an assassination plot, set him at liberty, and he was partly responsible for the treaty of peace made about this time between the English king and James III.
He also helped to bring about the meeting between Edward IV and
Louis XI of France atPicquicny , and another treaty of peace between England and Scotland in 1474. Spens was a frequent attender at the Scottish parliaments, and contributed very generously to the decoration of his cathedral atAberdeen . He died in Edinburgh on the 14th of April 1480.References
*1911
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