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The Chapter of Moray

Although an Archdeacon of Moray is recorded as early as 1179 x 1188, it would appear that a Chapter was not 'properly' founded until the time of Bishop Brice (Bricius) de Douglas (1203-1222). But Bricius was the seventh bishop in the period following the Early Church and his predecessors had not been inactive, so it is possible that other prebends were created but they have simply not come down to us in the historical record.

These earlier bishops are said to have had no fixed location for their cathedra but to have used, as best suited them, one of the three churches of Birnie, Spynie and Kineddar - in effect a sede vagus. At some point in the development of the fledgling diocese the bishop would have required an assistant to help him to carry out his duties of oversight and administration across what is a considerable expanse of territory. Hence the appearance of an Archdeacon, Master Robert, in 1187.¹ Interestingly, the Archdeacon is not the only episcopal assistant since the bishop is seen to be accompanied also by three chaplains, three clerks and a deacon, so the episcopal 'family' has already expanded.

First and foremost, the early bishops of Moray were 'men of the world'² and they were soon to learn of the ways of the English and European dioceses. Bishop Richard (1187-1203) is said to have borne/used the 'surname' de Lincoln which points to an association with that city and diocese. Before his election and consecration, he was a King's Clerk (clericus Regis) and is said to have been a great favourite of K. William and is reputed to have received many gifts from his monarch.

One interesting feature becomes immediately apparent when one studies the data in the following table - apart from Unthank, and the Archdeacon's early prebend of Fothervais, all of the prebends were created within a tight time-frame of only some thirty years during which there were only two bishops, Bricius de Douglas (1203-1222) and Andrew de Moravia (1222-1242). The development of the Chapter was very rapid and suggests that we see here the work of two ambitious bishops. If we add to this the fact that this was very much the start of the period of the immense building project which saw the cathedral rise from the ground, then we must be impressed with the energy and determination of these two clerics, but, in particular, with Bishop Andrew who oversaw the achievement of Bishop Bricius plan to move the cathedral from Spynie to Elgin and drove the building programme onwards so that, by the time of his death, a significant and stunning building graced the River Lossie's banks. It is believed that the two transepts both date from this era⁴⁰ and they are still marvelous sights today. Of, course, Elgin was not alone for at Dornoch a magnificent new cathedral was also being built by the then bishop of Caithness, Gilbert de Moravia (1222-1245), whom many scholars believe to have been a blood-relative of Bishop Andrew. Stone masons and other master tradesmen must have been in great demand in the north and the various quarries must have been hard pressed to cut, dress, and transport sufficient quantities of stone to the building sites.

Prebends Created in the First Period - the Cathedral being peripatetic.

Archdeacon - Forres. As has been noted already, the early bishops were assisted by an Archdeacon and a number of lesser clerics. In a charter of King William I, dated 1189x1199, we find that he gifted the churches of Forres and Dyke to Bishop Richard of Lincoln.⁵ By the time of Bishop Bricius, the Archdeacon possessed Forres as his prebend⁶ and it seems reasonable to assume that this prebend was, therefore, established by Bishop Richard at some date between 1189 and 1203.^6a
(Logy Fythenach added) Some scholars relate that Logy Fythenach (Edinkille) was joined to this prebend only from 1236x1237. Certainly, in the wording of a gift by King Alexander II to Andrew de Moravia, bishop of Moray, dated 11 September 1236, we see that the King exchanges with the bishop the lands of Finlarg on Speyside for the lands of 'Cawood' and Logie. The King then directs that the bishop "will make on the king's behalf a full grant to William, archdeacon of Moray" in respect of the lands of Logie,which the king now possesses as a result of the exchange with the bishop.⁷ There is supporting evidence for this arrangement from the time of Archibald, bishop of Moray, who, on Tuesday 25 February 1285, gives to John, archdeacon of Moray, "the whole land of the church of Logynfythenach, which King Alexander had given to Andrew, bishop of Moray."¹⁰ However, in Bishop Bricius' Magna Carta he clearly states that the sixth canonry of his newly constituted cathedral comprises "Forres and the church of Logyn Fythenach". This clearly demonstrates that by 1207x1208 this prebend, which we know was allocated to the Archdeacon, already had the church of Logy Fythenach (Edinkillie) attached to it along with that of Forres.¹¹ We can only conclude that, for some unknown reason, the Archdeacon, although in possession de jure of Logy Fythenach was not in possession de facto. It is possible that, at first, the archdeacon only had title to the church, whilst the bishop, until the exchange with the king, retained possession of the lands of Logy Fythenach, which, in those times, was a substantial hunting forest.
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Prebends Created in Bishop Bricius' Cathedral at Spynie (1207x1208).²⁰

Dean - Eryn with Invernairn. The original prebend of the Dean comprised the whole revenues of the parish church of Eryn (Auldearn) along with it dependent chapel of Invernairn (Nairn).
In 1226 the alterage revenues of Auldearn were removed from the Dean's prebend and added to that of the newly created position of Sub-Dean (vide infra.).
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Precentor - Lamnabride, Aluays and Rothesd. The Precentor's prebend consisted of the whole of the church of Lhanbryde along with one dabhach of land there, and the whole of the church of Alves. In addition, he had the church of Rothesd which Fawcett & Oram consider to be Rothes,²³ but which Ross thinks is Rafford.²⁴ It would seem that Ross is correct since, in 1226, we find that at the Diocesan Synod of St Giles, Rafford (called Rathed) is removed from the Precentor's prebend and added to that of the newly created Succentor (vide infra).²⁵ The identification of this church as Rafford is further evidenced in the details of a dispute between the then Precentor (Roger de Inverness) and Succentor (Martin) in 1328.²⁷ The dispute was over the boundaries between their two properties - Alves, belonging to the Precentor and Rafford, belonging to the Succentor. In the written record Rathed and Rafford are used interchangeably.
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Chancellor - Fothervais (to 1226); Stratha'an & Glenurquhart (after 1226). The Chancellor is first found in possession of a prebend known as Fothervais, but the date when this prebend was first allocated to a chancellor is not known. The prebend comprised lands rather than income derived from a church. The lands in question were in, Fothervais (Ardclach) {NGR: NH 95_45_} , Lythenes (Lethen)²⁸, Lunyne (Moy) {NGR: NH 77_34_} , Daldauy (Dunlichty) {NGR: NH 66_33_} , and "Logy juxta Duffus".^28a The de Moravia family (William son of William son of Freskyn, and Hugh son of William son of Freskyn), are recorded as having tenure of land in Lunin and Daldauy, paying annually a stone of wax for the lights at a weekly mass for the B.V.M. in the church of the Holy Trinity at Spynie (then the cathedral) and, according to the charter, this arrangement is to continue.²⁹ At this date these lands formed parts of the bishops' much larger holdings of the baronies of Moy and Ardclach. The bishop had then, it seems, sliced off parts of his baronial lands to create this prebend for the Chancellor.
It is of interest to note that in the 1170s the then bishop of Moray, Simon de Toeni (1171-1184), made a grant for life of lands in Lunan and Culdoich to John the Hermit.^29a This demonstrates that, from a very early date in the life of the young diocese, these lands were episcopal lands. Bain (1893, 118) puts the Hermit's Croft on an island in ^29b
Later, in 1226, when bishop Andrew de Moravia re-models the cathedral Chapter in Elgin, he takes back these lands whilst retaining the notion of a "Prebend of Fothervais" which he himself occupies. Thus, he may now sit in Chapter as a simple canon, a right which had been denied to bishops of Moray up to that time. There are examples of charters bearing the bishop's signature as "Andreas epis. et canonicus de Fotherueys".³⁰ The Chancellor's prebend was now that of Inveravon & Urquhart.
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References.

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