The Regality of Spyny

In old Scots Law, a Regality could only be created by the King himself and he achieved this by granting lands to a subject, in liberam regalitatem. A Baron of Regality had civil jurisdiction, within those lands specified, equal to that of the King's Sheriff and this regularly gave rise to clashes and disputes regarding authority. The Baron was allowed to hold Regality Courts at which he could hear every type of case known in civil law, save that of treason, which cases were reserved to the King in person.

In 1437, the King of Scotland was James I, but, on the night of 20 February, he was assassinated in the Blackfriar's Priory at St Johnstone (Perth). Behind the murder was Sir Robert Graham who had been an energetic enemy of the King and who wished to see Walter, earl of Atholl (K. Robert II's younger son by Euphemia of Ross, and step-brother of the infamous Alexander Stewart, the Wolf of Badenoch) on the throne. The crown now passed to James I's six-year-old son, James II,¹ but since he was a 'minor', the reins of power were held by others until the boy came of age in 1449. Now, aged 19 years, one can imagine the sighs of relief that the lad must have let loose after having survived some 12 years of troubled minority. He set off on a course to pursue many of his father's policies, and, in a fairly short reign (he died aged just 29 years), and at the grave expense of the Clan Douglas who had been party to his father's murder, James II was to become as powerful in his kingdom as any of his predecessors had been.²

John of Winchester was a royal agent through and through. He had come north in 1424 in the train of King James I when the latter was released from his lengthy imprisonment in England. The king returned with his wife, the Lady Joan Beaufort, daughter of John, 1st Earl of Somerset, and niece of Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester. It is very possible that John of Winchester was Joan's personal chaplain. His closeness to the royal couple led to a rapid rise in church circles - in 1425, vicar of Alyth; c.1434, provost of Lincludden; a canonry of Moray and the deanery of Aberdeen. In 1432, he was at the Council of Basel, possibly as an observer on behalf of the king. James I was very much 'a man's man' - strong, athletic, skilled in the knightly attributes. But he was also, for his day at least, something of an intellectual and the poetry he wrote, inspired by his wife, in his own King's Quair is still appreciated by scholars of the 'modern era'. But, most outstanding of all was his ruthless efficiency and determination to re-establish royal authority across the land. It is difficult to imagine that any individual would enjoy favour with this monarch who did not share the same attributes and strategies.

Even after the king's humbling of the Highland chieftains and, in particular, Alexander, Lord of the Isles, at Inverness in 1428, the northern parts of his kingdom were not secure and the long-term pacification that was the king's intention eluded him.

In the last years of the old king, James I's, reign, John Winchester had risen to a position of influence, if not power, in the royal household. It is generally accepted that it was through the king's 'influence' that John was appointed to the provostry of the collegiate church of Lincluden, founded in 1389 by the Black Douglases, until recently the most deadly enemies of the king. This act reveals the degree of trust that John enjoyed of the king but, more importantly, it reveals the nature of the future Bishop of Moray. To be 'posted' into this seething hot-bed of anti-royalist feeling shows us that the king had identified him as a man of supreme talent and integrity who enjoyed his complete confidence - a man whose influence could be depended on to spread the king's authority in this challenging part of the kingdom. Not long after John's appointment to the provostry (c.1434), Columba Dunbar, the then bishop of Moray, died in his castle at Spyny some weeks before 7 November 1435.³ The bishop had been very active in the royal household and was a much-trusted advisor and diplomat. As such, he would have known John Winchester well, and, being already a member of the Chapter at Elgin, John would have shared in Columba's plans for both his cathedral and diocese.

As sad an event as Bishop Columba's death was for the king, it provided a heaven-sent opportunity to have 'his man' elected to the see. John's undoubted talents, which in the king's eyes had suited him for Lincluden, were ideally matched for what was a similar task in Moray, only on a substantially larger scale. No doubt the king hoped that by such a move he could finally bring the 'king's peace' to Moray.

Winchester first appears as bishop-elect on 7 November 1435⁴ and his election was confirmed by the Pope at Easter 1436. Rather than journeying to Rome, Winchester was consecrated bishop at Cambuskenneth Abbey, near the Royal Castle of Stirling, on the Feast of the Ascension (9 May) 1437 ⁵. This date is of great significance since, by then, his royal patron, King James I, was dead and buried. It is most likely that the Queen travelled the short distance from the castle to the abbey for what would have been a magnificent ceremony and it is very possible that she would have brought her young son with her - it would have been an ideal opportunity for the young king to be shown (as still alive!) to the high officers of all three 'estates'. However, it may have been a great trial for the young boy, particularly because of the unsightly red birth-mark that covered half his face and of which he was very uncomfortable on public occasions throughout his life.

John Winchester emerged as one of the major figures in the politics of James II's minority. He remained steadfastly at the Queen's side during these turbulent times. Her young son was often taken from her and placed in the custody of powerful families, such as the Livingstones, for his weel being. But John was never far away from the boy and is frequently a witness to Crown charters of this era. He was a regular attender at Parliament also.

Winchester's position, power and influence was recognised even by the Douglas clan who took every opportunity presented by the minority to wheel-and-deal their way back into positions of great power in the country. Their activities were particularly pronounced in the bishop's own lands. The seventh earl Douglas had his son, James, provided to the precentorship of John's cathedral in Elgin.⁶ The eighth earl was even more ambitious on behalf of his sons Archibald and Hugh. He saw them created earl of Moray and earl of Ormonde respectively, giving the family a huge power-base extending from the River Spey to the Black Isle. The castles of these two brothers were but a short distance apart across the Chanonry Ferry at Ardersier, a strategic route from the south to the north. Even though the two earls courted the bishop and made generous gifts to his cathedral, John studiously maintained his distance from the Douglas faction.

Winchester's standing was already of the highest in the days of King James I and, when James II came of age and took up the reins of royal power and authority, he lost little time in rewarding the bishop for his unswerving loyalty. As we have seen, on 24 July 1451, the king raised the 'ville' of Spyny into a burgh of barony, giving the bishop a way to challenge the monopoly of nearby Elgin.¹¹ Only three months later, on 8th November 1451, the king erects and creates the Regality of Spyny encompassing all of the diocesan lands and property and thus placing the bishop amongst the greatest powers in the kingdom - second only, within his Regality, to the king himself. In the king's confirmation of these two grants, dated 15 August, 1452,⁷ we are further told that the bishop was to pay the king, each year at the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist (24 June), at Inverness, one red rose.