The
Bishop of Caithness was the ecclesiastical head of the
Diocese of
Caithness, one of
Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first referenced bishop of Caithness was
Aindréas, a
Gael who appears in sources between
1146 and
1151 as bishop. Aindréas spent much if not all of his career outside his see.
Other bishops before Aindréas are possible, but none is documented. King
David I of Scotland, is credited with founding many bishoprics, and it is possible that Caithness was one of them. Little documented history exists before the reign of King David.
The earliest bishops resided at
Halkirk, with a castle at
Scrabster. Bishop
Gilbert de Moravia moved the episcopal seat to
Dornoch in what is now
Sutherland (then regared as part of Caithness), and the bishopric remained at
Dornoch Cathedral for the remainder of its existence. The Bishopric of Caithness' links with Rome ceased to exist after the
Scottish Reformation, but continued, saving temporary abolition between 1638 and 1661, under the episcopal
Church of Scotland until the Revolution of 1688. Episcopacy in the established church in Scotland was permanently abolished.
References
- Broun, Dauvit, “The Seven Kingdoms in De Situ Albanie: A Record of Pictish political geography or imaginary Map of ancient Alba”, in E.J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Medieval Era, (Edinburgh, 2000, rev. 2005).
- Crawford, Barbara, "The Earldom of Caithness and the Kingdom of Scotland,......
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