55°51′58″N4°15′25″W / 55.866°N 4.257°W /55.866; -4.257
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TheArchdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen (after 1633 fourteen)dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in theKingdom of Scotland, includingClydesdale,Teviotdale, parts ofTweeddale,Liddesdale,Annandale,Nithsdale,Cunninghame,Kyle, andStrathgryfe, as well asLennox,Carrick and the part of Galloway known asDesnes.
Glasgow became an archbishopric in 1492, eventually securing the dioceses of Galloway, Argyll and the Isles assuffragans. The Scottish church broke its allegiance to Rome in 1560, but bishops continued intermittently until 1689.
The diocese of Glasgow became important in the 12th century. It was organized by KingDavid I of Scotland andJohn,Bishop of Glasgow. There had been an earlier religious site the exact age of which is unknown. According to doubtful hagiographical tradition, this ecclesiastical site had been established bySaint Kentigern. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in theKingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth and status to the town. Somewhere between 1175 and 1178 this position was strengthened even further whenBishop Jocelin obtained for the episcopal settlement the status ofburgh from KingWilliam the Lion, allowing the settlement to expand with the benefits of trading monopolies and other legal guarantees. Sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives to this day as theGlasgow Fair.
Until 1560, when practice of the Catholic Faith was suppressed by act of theParliament of Scotland, nearly all the bishops of Glasgow took an active share in the government of the country; whether aschancellors ortreasurers of the kingdom or as members of regency during the minority of a sovereign.Robert Wishart (consecrated 1272, d. 1316) was conspicuous for his patriotism during theScottish War of Independence fromEngland, and was the close friend ofWilliam Wallace andRobert Bruce.William Turnbull (consecrated 1447, d. 1454), obtained in 1450 fromPope Nicholas V the charter of foundation for theUniversity of Glasgow.
On 9 January 1492,Pope Innocent VIII raised the see tometropolitan rank, attaching to it thesuffragan dioceses of Argyle, Dunblane, Dunkeld, and Galloway.James Beaton, nephew of the celebratedCardinalDavid Beaton, was the fourth and lastarchbishop of the old hierarchy.
In 1560, eight years after his nomination, he was forced to retire toFrance, where he acted as confidential agent ofMary, Queen of Scots, and later openly as ambassador forJames VI, till his death inParis, 25 April 1603. He carried away with him the diocesan records, two of which deserve special mention: (1) "Registrum Vetus Ecclesiae Cathedralis Glasguensis", in handwriting of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and (2) "Liber Ruber Ecclesiae Glasguensis", with entries from about 1400 to 1476. These, along with other records, were in 1843 printed in a volume for theMaitland Club under the title: "Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis: Munimenta Ecclesiae Metropolitanae Glasguensis a sede restauratâ saeculo ineunte XII ad reformatam religionem". A more splendid memorial of those times still remains in the old cathedral of St. Mungo, which was begun byBishop Jocelyn (consecrated 1175, d. 1199) and received its last additions fromArchbishop Blackader (consecr. 1484, d. 1508).
In 1828, as part of theRestoration of the Scottish hierarchy, theHoly See erected the Western District orVicariate of Scotland, and the firstvicar Apostolic to reside in Glasgow wasAndrew Scott, Bishop ofErythrae (b. 1772, d, 1846). He was succeeded byJohn Murdoch, Bishop of Castabala (b. 1796, d. 1865) andJohn Gray, Bishop of Hypsopolis (b. 1817, d. 1872). On the resignation of Bishop Gray in 1869Charles Petre Eyre (b. 1817, d. 1902) was consecrated Archbishop of Anazarba and appointed administrator Apostolic. On theRestoration of the Scottish hierarchy byPope Leo XIII, 4 March 1878, the Archbishopric of Glasgow was re-established, and Archbishop Eyre was transferred to the restored see.
Parishes listed by deanery:
Annandale
Carrick
Dessenes
Eskdale
Kyle and Cunningham
Lanark
Lennox
Nithsdale
Peebles
Rutherglen
Teviotdale
