Alexander Stewart (bishop of Moray)

Alexander Stewart (1477 – 19 December 1537) was a Scottish prelate; also known as Alexander Stewart of Pitcairn. He was the son of Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, and his first wife Catherine Sinclair, daughter of William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and Earl of Caithness. The marriage of his parents was dissolved in 1478 and his father remarried, but it was not until 1516 that an act of parliament made the marriage unlawful and ensured that Alexander Jr. would be regarded as legally illegitimate and unable to inherit his father's title.

His high birth, however, enabled a successful career in the church. He held Inchaffray Abbey from 1514 and Scone Abbey from 1518 in commendam. Between 1516 and 1518 he held a right to the commend of Whithorn Priory, a right he gave up to the papally-backed Silvio Passarini. He held the Collegiate Church of Dunbar from 1504 until at least 1510, and almost certainly beyond. He was Dean of Brechin from at least 1523, and perhaps as early as 1512. He was given crown nomination to the bishopric of Moray and then papal provision on 13 September 1529, after the failure of the candidature of Alexander Douglas I. He was probably not consecrated until 1532. He was allowed to retain control of his monastic commends. He died on 19 December 1537.

References

    Sources

    • 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)
    • Watt, D.E.R., Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638, 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969)
    • 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)
    Catholic Church titles
    Preceded by
    Alexander Gifford
    Dean of Dunbar Collegiate Church
    1499 x 15041510 x 1524
    Succeeded by
    Thomas Hay
    Preceded by
    Hugh Douglas
    Dean of Brechin
    1512 x 15231534
    Succeeded by
    Henry White
    Preceded by
    Peter Accoltis
    Commendator of Inchaffray
    15141537
    Succeeded by
    Gavin Dunbar
    Preceded by
    Henry MacDowell
    Commendator of Whithorn
    15141537
    Succeeded by
    Silvio Passarini
    Preceded by
    James Abercrombie
    Commendator of Scone
    15181537
    Succeeded by
    Patrick Hepburn
    Preceded by
    Robert Shaw
    Bishop of Moray
    15291537
    Succeeded by
    Patrick Hepburn
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