Nicholas of Arbroath

Nicholas

Bishop of Dunblane

The arms of the diocese of Dunblane (non-contemporary)

Church| Roman Catholic Church
See| Diocese of Dunblane
In office| 1301-1306 × 1307
Predecessor| Alpín
Successor| Nicholas de Balmyle
Previous post(s)| Abbot of Arbroath (1296 × 1299-1301)
Orders
Consecration| 13 November 1301
Personal details
Born| unknown, 13th century

unknown

Died| 26 January 1306 × 11 December 1307

Nicholas O. Tiron (died 1306 × 1307), Abbot of Arbroath and Bishop of Dunblane, was a late 13th-century and early 14th-century churchman in the Kingdom of Scotland. Little is known about Nicholas until he appeared on 21 November 1299, holding the position of Abbot of Arbroath in a charter of that abbey; the last attestation of his predecessor Henry can be dated to 16 October 1296, so that Nicholas must have become abbot sometime in between these two dates.[1]

As Abbot of Arbroath, he was a canon of Dunblane Cathedral, and entitled to participate in episcopal elections. Bishop Alpín had died sometime between 1 October 1299 and 15 October 1301, and the new election to the bishopric became deadlocked.[2]

Several canons had emerged as candidates, and it seems to have been decided that all candidates should proceed to the papal see to request judgment from the Pope.[3] As it happened, Abbot Nicholas was the only candidate to travel to the papacy; as Cockburn commented, "An abbot could face the heavy expense; no poor canon of the Cathedral could".[4] When no other turned up, the Pope authorised Nicholas' provision, and he was consecrated by Theodoric, Bishop of Palestrina, on 13 November 1301.[5]

Nicholas' short career as bishop is not well recorded. In the events of the early Wars of Scottish Independence, Nicholas' role is unclear and aside from some appearances in the charters of Coupar Angus Abbey, his name is largely absent from the evidence.[4] He appears for the last time, in papal documents, on 26 January 1306 and was dead a good time before 11 December 1307, when his successor Nicholas de Balmyle was consecrated as bishop in France.[6]

## Notes

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1. ^ Watt & Shead, Heads of Religious Houses, p. 4.
2. ^ Cockburn, Medieval Bishops, pp. 85-6; Dowden, Bishops, p. 200; Watt, Dictionary, p. 522; Watt & Murray, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 100.
3. ^ Cockburn, Medieval Bishops, p. 86; Dowden, Bishops, p. 200.
4. ^ a b Cockburn, Medieval Bishops, p. 86.
5. ^ Cockburn, Medieval Bishops, p. 86; Dowden, Bishops, p. 200; Watt & Murray, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 100.
6. ^ Dowden, Bishops, p. 201; Watt & Murray, Fasti Ecclesiae, pp. 100-1.

## References

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* 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)
* Watt, D. E. R., A Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Graduates to A. D. 1410, (Oxford, 1977)
* Watt, D. E. R., & Murray, A. L., Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638, Revised Edition, (Edinburgh, 2003)
* 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)

Religious titles

Preceded by

Henry

|  Abbot of Arbroath
1296 × 1299-1301  | Succeeded by

John de Angus

Preceded by

Alpín

|  Bishop of Dunblane
1301-1306 × 1307  | Succeeded by

Nicholas de Balmyle

* v
* t
* e

Bishops of Dunblane

Pre-Reformation Bishops|

* M. de Dunblan§
* Laurence of Dunblane
* Simon of Dunblane
* Jonathan of Dunblane
* Abraham of Strathearn
* Radulf (bishop-elect)§
* Osbert of Dunblane
* Clement of Dunblane
* Robert de Prebenda
* William
* Alpín of Strathearn
* Nicholas of Arbroath
* Nicholas de Balmyle
* Richard de Pontefract§
* Roger de Balnebrich§
* Maurice of Inchaffray
* William de Cambuslang
* Walter de Coventre
* Andrew Magnus
* Dúghall of Lorne
* Fionnlagh MacCailein
* William Stephani
* Michael Ochiltree
* Walter Stewart§
* Robert Lauder
* John Herspolz
* John Spalding§
* James Chisholm
* William Chisholm (I)

Post-Reformation Bishops|

| Church of Scotland|

* William Chisholm (I)
* William Chisholm (II)
* Andrew Graham
* George Graham
* Adam Bellenden
* James Wedderburn
* Robert Leighton
* James Ramsay
* Robert Douglas

|

Scottish Episcopal|

* Robert Douglas
* John Gillan
* Robert White
* Charles Rose
* Patrick Torry

§: non-consecrated or titular bishop
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