Everything about Thomas Lauder totally explained
Thomas Lauder (or
Thomas de Lawedre; d.
November 4,
1481) was a
15th century Scottish churchman. A graduate of the
University of Paris, he served the Scottish king at the
Council of Basel in the
1430s. Although he rose to the position of
Bishop of Dunkeld, he'd previously been Master of the famous hospital at
Soutra Aisle, as well as the tutor to King
James II of Scotland.
Background
John Dowden states that "Thomas Lauder, Bishop of Dunkeld, was the son of an unmarried nobleman and an unmarried woman, and nephew of
William Lauder, Bishop of Glasgow." However, Supplications to Rome state he was the "son of a knight and an unmarried woman". It would therefore appear that Thomas was the natural son of Sir Robert de Lawedre, Knt., of
Edrington and
The Bass (died before
Michaelmas 1451), the only brother of Bishop William Lauder who was a knight. In 1414, Lauder was at the
University of Paris registered for a
Licentiate in the
Arts.
Religious hospitals
A Charter under the
Great Seal of Scotland, confirmed by King
James I of Scotland, grants the King's chaplain Thomas de Lawedre of the House of God or Hospital lying in the burgh of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, to be held to him for the whole time of his life with all lands, teinds, rents and profits, etc., belonging to the said hospital, as freely as is granted to any other hospital in the Kingdom of Scotland; the king also commands all those concerned to pay to the grantee all things necessary for the support of the hospital. Dated at Edinburgh June 8, in the 20th year of his reign.
By 1436 he'd become Rector of the church or House of the Holy Trinity of Soltre, Diocese of St Andrews. The
Great Seal mentions "Thomas de Lawedre as Master of the Hospital of Soutra" on 26 February 1439 (no.226); and as Canon of Aberdeen and Master of the Hospital at Soutra, 20 May, 1444 (no.298). On October 7, 1444, he sent a Supplication to Rome stating that he was the "peaceful possessor without adversary" and requesting the Pope (
Eugenius IV) to give him a Dispensation "to rule and govern for life the said church or House of Soltre as a simple hospital and secular benefice". He also questioned the original Foundation of the hospital and the suggestion in the Supplication is that it be removed from the auspices of the Order of Saint Augustine.
Royal tutor
Father Thomas Lauder had also been tutor to Prince James, the future King
James II of Scotland, as evidenced by a Supplication to Rome made by the King on Thomas's behalf, on November 26, 1454, asking for the Bishop to be excused from visiting all parts of his diocese because "it is mountainous and inhabited by wild Scotsmen and certain enemies". In the Supplication the King points out that he presently requires Lauder "to reside in the Court of the King of Scotland at the mandate of the said king, whose counsellor he's and whose instructor and master he formerly was in the King's minority."
Bishop
The
Great Seal mentions Thomas de Lawedre as Bishop-elect of Dunkeld, 22 June 1452 (no.578) and Bishop of Dunkeld on 27 October 1453 (no.600) - 13th March, 1480 (no.1469). In a
Papal Bull by
Pope Pius II dated June 18, 1462, he's styled "Venerabilis frater noster Thomas modernus Episcopus Dunkeldensis" (our venerable brother Thomas, present Bishop of Dunkeld). Whilst at Dunkeld he built a bridge over the
River Tay near to the Bishop's Palace, and obtained erections of the Bishop's lands on the north side of that river into the Barony of Dunkeld, and on the south side of the river into the Barony of
Aberlady. He founded several chaplainries and prebends, both in
Edinburgh and
Dunkeld, and made one of the first grants (five shillings) towards the Foundation of the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity in Edinburgh in 1462. He had been provided to the See of Dunkeld in 1452 where he exercised his functions very laboriously until the year 1476, when, being unable any longer to endure the fatigue by reason of his advanced age, he resigned the Bishopric in favour of James Livingston, the Dean.
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