Simon of Dunblane

infobox bishopbiog
name = Simon


religion= Roman Catholic Church
See = Diocese of Dunblane
Title = Bishop of Dunblane
Period = 1168 × 1178–1195 × 1198
consecration = unknown
Predecessor = Laurence
Successor = Jonathan
post = | ordination =
bishops =
date of birth = unknown
place of birth = unknown
date of death = 1194 × 1198
place of death =

Simon (d. 1194 × 1198) is the third known 12th century Bishop of Dunblane. Nothing is known of Simon's background; there are numerous Simons in Scotland in this period, both native and foreign. There is a "Symon de Liberatione" who witnessed a charter of King William the Lion and whom Watt and Murray suggested may have been the later Bishop of Dunblane, [Barrow (ed.), "Acts of William I", p. 228; Watt & Murray, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 99.] while there was in the same decade a local landholder and ecclesiastical patron in the diocese of Dunblane called Simón son of Mac Bethad. [Fraser (ed.), "Registrum monasterii S. Marie", pp. 313-4.]

Simon's name occurs as Bishop of Dunblane alongside Simon de Tosny, Bishop of Moray, and Hugh, Bishop of St Andrews, in a charter dated to 1178, though Watt and Murray believed at this stage he was only bishop-elect. [Bruce (ed.), "Liber Cartarum Prioratus", p. 147; Dowden, "Bishops", p. 194; Watt & Murray, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 99.] This is because two unnamed Scottish bishops were consecrated at the Third Lateran Council in March 1179, and candidates for these bishops are otherwise short in supply. [Watt & Murray, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 99.]

He witnessed a charter of King William to Arbroath Abbey datable between 1178 and September 1184. [Barrow (ed.), "Acts of William I", p. 253.] He witnessed a charter of Melrose Abbey datable to between 1180 and 1198. [Dowden, "Bishops", p. 194.] He issued his own charter to Arbroath Abbey between 1189 and 1196, in which he gave certain rights pertaining to the church of Abernethy to the abbey. [Cockburn, "Medieval Bishops", p. 29.] His issued a charter around 1190 granting the church of Inchaffray to "Isaac and his successors", Isaac being one of the pre-Augustinian monks. [Lindsay & Thomson (eds.), "Charters of Inchaffray", p. 1; Cockburn, "Medieval Bishops", p. 29; Neville, 'Native Lordship", p. 169.]

His last appearance is as a witness to a charter of Gille Brigte, Mormaer of Strathearn, to what became Inchaffray Abbey, dated to either 1194 or 1195. [Lindsay & Thomson (eds.), "Charters of Inchaffray", pp. 1-2; Neville, "Native Lordship", p. 132 gives 1194.] His successor Jonathan appears as Bishop in an Arbroath document which must have been issued between 1194 and March 1198. [Lindsay & Thomson (eds.), "Charters of Inchaffray", p. 1; Watt & Murray, "Fasti Ecclesiae", p. 99.]

Notes

References

* Barrow, G. W. S., "The Acts of William I", (Regesta Regum Scottorum, Volume II, Edinburgh, 1971)
* Bruce, O. Tyndall (ed.), "Liber Cartarum Prioratus Sancti Andree in Scotia; E Registro Ipso in Archivis Baronum De Panmure Hodie Asservato", (Edinburgh, 1841)
* Cockburn, James Hutchison, "The Medieval Bishops of Dunblane and Their Church", (Edinburgh, 1959)
* Dowden, John, "The Bishops of Scotland", ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
* Fraser, Sir William (ed.), "Registrum monasterii S. Marie de Cambuskenneth, A. D. 1147-1535", (Edinburgh, 1872)
* Lindsay, William Alexander, & Thomson, John Maitland, (eds.) "Charters of Inchaffray", Publications of the Scottish History Society, vol. LVI, (Edinburgh, 1908)
* Neville, Cynthia J., "Native Lordship in Medieval Scotland: The Earldoms of Strathearn and Lennox, c. 1140–1365", (Dublin, 2005)
* Watt, D. E. R., & Murray, A. L., "Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638", Revised Edition, (Edinburgh, 2003)