John Fraser (bishop)

infobox bishopbiog
name = John Fraser


religion= Roman Catholic Church
See = Diocese of Ross
Title = Bishop of Ross
Period = 1497–1507
consecration = By January 3, 1499
Predecessor = John Guthrie
Successor = Robert Cockburn
post = Provost of Abernethy (×1476–1489×1499)
Dean of Restalrig ( 1487–1498) | ordination =
bishops =
date of birth = unknown
place of birth = unknown
date of death = 1507
place of death =

John Fraser [also, more commonly then, Frisel or Frisell] (d. 1507) was a late medieval Scottish prelate. Born about 1429 or 1430 if later tradition can be believed, with strong connections to the burgh of Linlithgow, Fraser held a variety of high-level ecclesiastical positions in Scotland, including being the first Dean of Restalrig collegiate church (which he helped to found) before becoming Bishop of Ross in 1497, a position he held until his death in 1507.

Early career

Fraser was a university graduate, M. A., and he seems to have been the John Fraser who was Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of St Andrews in 1479. [Dowden, "Bishops", p. 222.] He is found as Provost of the collegiate church of Abernethy in February 2, 1476; it is not known when he obtained this position, and the latest documentation of a previous provost occurs all the way back in March 13, 1445. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 342.] He can be found as the Official of the diocese of Dunblane on August 26, 1476. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 92.] He was litigating to gain the precentorship of Elgin Cathedral in 1480, although nothing more of this is heard. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 162.] He is found as rector of the parish church of Douglas on August 28, 1481.Dowden, "Bishops", p. 223.] After the election of Robert Blackadder as Bishop of Aberdeen, on July 14, 1480, Fraser received provision to the now vacant position of Archdeacon of Aberdeen; he did not secure the position because of the lack of royal support, but was still claiming the position in 1488. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 20.]

Collegiate church of Restalrig

Fraser was the first Dean of the new collegiate church erected on November 13, 1487 at Restalrig in Midlothian. [Dowden, "Bishops", p. 222-3; Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 369.] Fraser petitioned the pope for the creation of the collegiate church on May 6, to be dedicated to the "Holy and Indivisible Trinity" and the Virgin Mary; the church had and was benefiting from the patronage of King James III of Scotland, and the church was called at the time the "King's chapel" or "chapel royal". [Cowan & Easson, "Medieval Religious Houses", p. 224.] Fraser founded a chaplainry in the new collegiate church, to which he donated a tenement he had built in the Canongate. [Dowden, "Bishops", p. 223, n. 1.]

Bishop of Ross

In the 1490s Fraser became a royal councillor and Clerk of the Register. Some time before September 10, 1497, Fraser was elected through royal influence to the bishopric of Ross, vacant at least three, possibly five years, since the death of the previous bishop, John Guthrie.Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 269.] He received papal provision on March 14, 1498.Dowden, "Bishops", p. 223; Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 269.] On May 5, the Florentine clerk Ilarion de Portiis acting in Fraser's name paid the papacy 600 gold florins. His name appeared in Scottish sources datable to December 3 as "elect and confirmed of Ross. He was granted the temporarlities of the bishopric on January 3, 1499, by which time he had probably received consecration.

On March 10, 1504, Bishop Fraser was present at a meeting of the parliament; on May 10, Bishop Fraser is recorded as granting his cathedral at Fortrose an annual rent of £10 from a tenement he owned in the burgh of Linlithgow. On September 15, 1506, King James IV of Scotland, while at the Chanonry of Ross, granted to the bishop part of the lands of the toun of Arkbol, in the earldom of Ross. The "History of the Frazers" (Wardlaw MS) claimed that he died on February 5, 1507, aged 78. According to tradition one of the three funeral effigies in Fortrose Cathedral is that of Bishop Fraser. [Citation | last = Am Baile | first = | author-link =http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link | title = Interior, Fortrose Cathedral | date = | year = | url = http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en/item/item_photograph.jsp?item_id=37235 | accessdate = 2007-10-07.] The tradition - attested in the Wardlaw MS "History of the Frazers" - that he was Abbot of Melrose and Prior of Beauly is now thought to be spurious. [Watt & Shead, "Heads of Religious Houses", pp. 18-9; see Keith, "Historical Catalogue", p. 190 for example of this being repeated; see Watt & Shead, "Heads of Religious Houses", pp. 152-3, where Fraser is omitted from the list.] Professor Donald Watt omitted him from his list of chancellors of Glasgow Cathedral, a position he was also widely believed to have held. [Watt, "Fasti Ecclesiae", pp. 160-3; see Dowden, "Bishops", p. 222 and Keith, "Historical Catalogue", both of whom alleged he was chancellor there.]

Notes

References

* Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., "Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man", Second Edition, (London, 1976)
* Dowden, John, "The Bishops of Scotland", ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
* Keith, Robert, "An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops: Down to the Year 1688", (London, 1824)
* Watt, D. E. R., "Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638", 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969)
* Watt, D. E. R. & Shead, N. F. (eds.), "The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries", The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001)

External links

* [http://www.ambaile.org.uk/en Am Baile]