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Reformation Scotland -- Elgin Cathedral

Elgin Cathedral Viewed From The Northeast: This was the Cathedral of Moray.  At the beginning of the 12th century, there was no Scotland as we know it.  There was not a nation.  Instead there was a group of large provinces _ Moravia, Cat, Argyle, Galloway - centers of some hostility to the efforts to unify the Scottish Crown.
 
Between the Spey and the Dornoch Firth the great province of Moravia cherished the memories of its Pictish independence.  Under the rulers of the line of MacBeth Moravia resisted the efforts of the Scottish Crown and the House of Canmore to impose two institutions on them: a) Norman feudalism; and, b) the Roman Church.  Each of these institutions had a higher form of political organization than Scotland had previously known.
 
King Alexander I (1106-1124) began the first serious efforts at unification and pacification in Scotland other than by the sword.  The Bishopric of Moray was founded in the first year of his reign, in June 1107, as were also those of St. Andrews and Dunkeld.  Alexander I promoted trading facilities in the north because religious institutions developed commerce in their vicinities.
 
King David I (1124-1153) developed additional trading facilities by founding the Priory of Urquhart (1125) and the Abbey of Kinloss (1151).  During his reign loyal and wealthy Anglo-Norman barons and others were induced to settle in the province.  Later, during the reign of Malcolm IV (1153-1165), the district of Moravia came to an end as a separate entity.
 

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St. Mary's Aisle (right); Looking through quire and presbytery to the east front (on the left): The original writs pertaining to the first three centuries of the Bishopric were burned along with the Cathedral itself in 1390.  Some records were later collected and preserved, probably under a Papal commission issued in 1394.  The Cathedral and its precinct were not within the boundaries of the town of Elgin according to the foundation Charter of 1224.
 
Gregorius, a monk, is mentioned as the first Bishop of Moray.  There is no record of the struggle between the ancient Pictish Church of the Culdees and the roman Church, but it is probable that Gregorius may have been a a leading monk in the ancient church enticed by promotion to become a Roman bishop.
 
Birnie, a well-known Culdee foundation, was the seat of the diocese during the rule of the first four bishops from 1158-1184.  A later bishop, Richard, moved his See to Kinnedar, another Culdee center.  Later the See moved to still another Culdee center, Spynie.  This suggests that there was a gradual absorption of the older forms of religion by the new church.
 
Bishop Richard was a favorite of King William the Lion (1165-1214) to whom he had been chaplain.  King William tithed all of his annual earnings in Moray to the See, and gave lands and other possessions to the church.  Richard either conceived of or furthered the idea of transforming the Culdee Church of the Holy Trinity into a Cathedral Kirk of the diocese.
 
The present ruins are of a church first erected prior to 1200.  It was consecrated on the 7th Day before the Ides of April, 1207 by the bishops of St. Andrews and Brechin.  The Cathedral of the Diocese of Moray, as such, was consecrated after the See moved from Spynie to "near Elgin".  That was on July 19, 1224.
 

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Looking through quire and presbytery to the east front (ahead); St. Columba's Aisle on the left: Elgin's greatest benefactor was King Alexander II (1214-1249) who made large gifts to the Cathedral.  He was responsible for founding the Maison Dieu, Black Friars, Grey Friars, and other orders.
 
The Cathedral was damaged in 1244 and 1270, apparently by fire.  David de Moravia (1299-1326) was one of the chief leaders of the North during the War of Independence.  He was excommunicated by Edward I of England and fled to Norway, returning after Edward's death.
 
In the late 14th century, Alexander Stewart, second son of Robert II, in a dispute with the bishop, assaulted the town and burned the manses, other buildings, the whole town of Elgin, the Cathedral and all its records.
 
King James I appointed a favorite of his to be bishop in 1437 and employed him in State affairs also.  The wealth and power of the See grew enormously.
 

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North Transept, St. Columba's Aisle, quire and presbytery, east front: Under King James III, William Tulloch became bishop in 1477.  He had been Keeper of the Privy Seal and Bishop of Orkney.  He negotiated the marriage of James III and Lady Margaret, which alliance placed the Orkney and Shetland Islands under the Scottish Crown.
 
Patrick Hepburn, 1535-1573, was the last Roman Catholic Bishop of Moray.  He was one of the commissioners who negotiated the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots with the Dauphin of France.  Bishop Patrick saw that the Reformation would engulf him and his See.  He began the alienation of Church lands and provided for his future.  He died at home in the Palace of Spynie in 1573.
 
The last public celebration of Mass took place after the Battle of Glenlivet on October 4, 1594.  The Catholic forces, under the Earls of Huntly and Errol, had defeated the Government forces under Argyle.  The Catholic leaders assembled in the Cathedral to discuss their situation.  They had no outside support.
 

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The Chapter House Roof: Because of Bishop Hepburn's alienation of church property, there was no wealth left for the maintenance of the Cathedral.  It was never used by Presbyterian ministers nor Episcopal bishops.  Because it was not a parish church, nobody claimed responsibility for maintaining it.  The lead roofing was stripped by order of the Regent Moray and his Privy Council in 1567.  Despite good intentions of restoration, the Cathedral was not restored after the Regent was murdered.
 
The elements worked destruction.  In December 1637 the choir rafters were blown down.  In 1640 the "Rood Screen" was torn down by the Minister of Elgin and some ardent Covenanters.  Tradition has it that when Cromwell's soldiers were lodged there in 1651-1658 they destroyed the remaining art work - windows, statues, carvings.  On Easter 1711 the great central tower fell.  The ruins were used as a quarry for nearly a century.  IN 1867 the building had become a dump for rubbish.  Eventually the Government began its upkeep as a monument.
 

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