James Beaton (archbishop of Glasgow)
Roman Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
| Archdiocese | Glasgow |
| Appointed | 4 September 1551 |
| In office | 1551–1571 1598–1603 |
| Predecessor | Alexander Gordon |
| Successor | John Porterfield |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 17 July 1552 (deacon) 20 July 1552 (priest) by Borso Merli (priest) |
| Consecration | 28 August 1552 by Giovanni Giacomo Barba |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1517 |
| Died | 24/25 April 1603 (aged 86) Paris, Kingdom of France |
| Parents | James Beaton of Balfarg |
James Beaton (c. 1517 – 24/25 April 1603) was a 16th-century archbishop of Glasgow. He served both before and after the Reformation when his title was reinstated by King James VI in 1598.
Life
He was the son of James Beaton of Auchmuty and Balfarg (a younger son of John Beaton of Balfour) and nephew to Cardinal David Beaton. James Beaton was educated at the University of Paris, which he entered in the 1530s at the age of 14.
On the resignation of the archbishop-elect
Archbishop Hamilton — the last assembly of the kind which was to meet in Scotland for three hundred and twenty-six years. The events of 1560, the treaty of alliance with England against France, the commencement of the work of destruction of cathedrals and monasteries, and, finally, the death of the queen-regent, no doubt actuated Beaton in his resolve to quit the distracted kingdom. He repaired to Paris, where he took a number of the muniments and registers of his diocese, and much church plate and other treasures, which he deposited in the Scots College
.
James VI) who, about 1586, appointed him, as the late sovereign had done, ambassador at Paris. Beaton held several benefices in France, including the income of the Abbey De la Sie, in Poitou, and the treasurership of St. Hilary of Poitiers. His intimate association with the House of Guise had naturally led him to join with the League against Henry IV
, and on its dissolution he was threatened with banishment; but by the intervention of Cardinals Bourbon and Sully and of the king himself, he was allowed to remain in France. Perhaps the most remarkable testimony to the respect felt for his character in Scotland is to be found in the fact that in 1598, nearly forty years after the overthrow of the ancient Church, the archbishop was formally restored, by an act of the Scottish Parliament, to all his "heritages, honours, dignities, and benefices, notwithstanding that he has never acknowledged the religion professed within the realm". He survived to witness, a month before his death, the union of the English and Scottish crowns under King James. On either the 24 or 25 April 1603, when James was actually on his way to London to take possession of his new kingdom, the archbishop died in Paris, on the eighty-sixth year of his age, and half a century after his episcopal consecration.
Beaton had lived in Paris for forty-three years, and had been Scottish ambassador to five successive
Carthusian monastery in the same city. In the stress of the French Revolution
many of these valuable manuscripts were packed in barrels and sent to St. Omers. These have unfortunately disappeared, but the papers left in the college were afterwards brought safely to Scotland, and are now preserved at the Scottish Catholic Archives, Columba House, Edinburgh.
References
- Acts of Parl. of Scotl., IV, 169, 170
- Regist. Episc. Glasg., pp. i-ix, liii
- Reg. Priv. Coun. Scotl., II, 334
- Chambers, Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, I, 108, 109
- Grub, Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, II, 31, 155, 279
- Keith, Cat. of Scott. Bishops, 153, 154.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "James Beaton (2)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Further reading
- Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). . A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. pp. 183–85 – via Wikisource.
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
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