Patrick Hepburn (bishop)
Patrick Hepburn | |
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Spynie Castle | |
| Previous post(s) | Prior of St Andrews |
Patrick Hepburn (1487 – 20 June 1573) was a 16th-century Scottish prelate. He served as both pre- and post-Reformation Bishop of Moray.
He was born in
Early life and career
Born to Patrick Hepburn of Beinstoun and Christian née Ogilvie in 1487, he entered the college now known as
Bishop of Moray and Commendator of Scone
After the death of
Nevertheless, Bishop Hepburn did play an important part in Scottish politics of the 1540s and 1550s. Though he was part of the privy council of the Governor of Scotland, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran (after 1548, Duke of Châtellerault), he nevertheless opposed Arran's wish to have the young Mary, Queen of Scots, put in English custody. In this he was supporting the staunchly anti-Protestant Cardinal David Beaton.[1] The Bishop of Moray was in attendance at the provincial council of the Scottish church in 1549, an attempt to reform the church internally without abandoning links with Rome. He was present at the burnings of Protestant heretics/martyrs in 1550 and 1558.[1]
Hepburn and the Reformation
In summarising the attitudes of individual Scottish bishops at the Scottish Reformation, the historian Gordon Donaldson described him as follows:
a voluptuary, [Hepburn] was successful in his main object of continuing to enjoy his revenues for his lifetime and there is no evidence that he took any interest in religious developments.[8]
Hepburn co-operated with the reformers in the years leading up to the Reformation of 1560. In 1559, Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll and Lord James Stewart, the senior secular figures of the Lords of the Congregation, saved Hepburn's palace-abbey from destruction by the reformers.[1] Stewart and Argyll had only protected Hepburn's palace-abbey on the condition that the latter aided them with men and arms, and with a vote against the clergy in Parliament. Yet he did not attend the Reformation Parliament of 1560, and in 1561 he and George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, advised Mary, Queen of Scots, to land at Aberdeen rather than Leith, in an effort to improve the prospects of restoring the old catholic order.[1]
Hepburn the womaniser
In his time, Hepburn was notorious for his philandering. The contemporary chronicler
The end
Hepburn seems to have been uneasy with the Scottish Reformation. Although he agreed in principle to modify the structure of Elgin Cathedral to accommodate Protestant forms of worship, few powerful figures on the reformist side trusted him. During the Civil War of 1567, the bishop pledged his support to James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, and was accused of giving him shelter during his flight northwards to Scandinavia.[1] Perhaps in an act of reprisal against the bishop's defiance, the privy council ordered the removal of the lead water-proofing from Elgin Cathedral and although the council ordered its replacement in 1569, there is no evidence that this was carried out.[12] He was finally forfeited of his bishopric by parliament in August 1571. He held out in Spynie Palace where he died on 20 June 1573.[13] Hepburn, the last pre-reformation bishop of Moray, was buried in the cathedral choir.[14]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kirk, "Hepburn, Patrick (c.1487–1573)".
- ^ Dowden, Bishops, p. 171; Kirk, "Hepburn, Patrick (c.1487–1573)".
- ^ Watt & Shead, Heads of Religious Houses, p. 191.
- ^ Kirk, "Hepburn, Patrick (c.1487–1573)"; Watt & Shead, Heads of Religious Houses, p. 191.
- ^ Kirk, "Hepburn, Patrick (c.1487–1573)"; Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 217; Watt & Shead, Heads of Religious Houses, pp. 191, 202.
- ^ Dowden, Bishops, p. 172.
- ^ Keith, Historical Catalogue, p. 150.
- ^ Donaldson, "Scottish Episcopate", p. 355.
- ^ In early modern Scots, Hepburn "ever was ane hure maister all his dayis and committit huredome and adullterie baitht with meadins and mens wyffis"; quoted in Kirk, "Hepburn, Patrick (c.1487–1573)".
- ^ Kirk, "Hepburn, Patrick (c.1487–1573)"; Dowden, Bishops, p. 172, n. 2, has the full details of who was legitimised.
- ^ The Great Seal of Scotland, no.460, confirmed 14 May 1550, Letters of Legitimation granted to Jonete and Agnes Hepburn, bastard daughters of Patrick, Bishop of Moray.
- ^ Oram, Elgin Cathedral and the Diocese of Moray, p. 51
- ^ Watt, Fasti Ecclesiae, p. 217
- ^ Oram, Elgin Cathedral and the Diocese of Moray, p. 52
References
- Donaldson, Gordon, "The Scottish Episcopate at the Reformation", in The English Historical Review, Vol. 60, No. 238. (Sep., 1945), pp. 349–364
- Dowden, John, The Bishops of Scotland, ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
- Keith, Robert, An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops: Down to the Year 1688, (London, 1924)
- Kirk, James "Hepburn, Patrick (c. 1487–1573)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 5 May 2007
- Watt, D.E.R., Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638, 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969)
- Fawcett, Richard & Oram, Richard, Elgin Cathedral and the Diocese of Moray, Historic Scotland (Edinburgh, 2014), ISBN 978-1-84917-173-1
- 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)
External links
Media related to Patrick Hepburn at Wikimedia Commons
