Ochiltree, Michael (d. 1445x7), bishop of Dunblane, is of unknown origins. Described in 1429 as the son of a married man (a priest in another account) and an unmarried woman, he may have come from the barony of Ochiltree in the sheriffdom of Ayr. He was dean of Dunblane by 25 November 1420 and was provided to the see of Sodor in 1422, although this was never made effective. In 1424 he is recorded as the kings almoner-general, raising the possibility that he had taken service with James I before the latters return to Scotland in that year. He had also obtained the degree of bachelor of canon law and held a tenement in Perth, a prebend and vicarage in the diocese of Dunkeld, and by 1427 a church in the diocese of Glasgow. On 22 June 1429 Ochiltree was provided to the see of Dunblane, made vacant by the death of William Stephenson, having been granted a dispensation for his illegitimate birth; he was consecrated between 4 July 1430 and 12 April 1431. On 24 January 1430 he was one of the commissioners appointed to negotiate a truce with England. Although not the premier ecclesiastic in Scotland, it was Ochiltree who crowned the young James II at Holyrood on 25 March 1437 following the assassination of James I, possibly because his loyalty to the late king and to the queen was unquestioned at a time of political turmoil. He was involved in negotiating the terms of the ‘Appoyntement’ of 4 September 1439, which laid down the conditions for the keeping of the young James II during his minority, and it was through the queens patronage that Ochiltree obtained a royal charter consolidating the lands of his bishopric into a regality in 1442. On 16 August 1443 he was one of the prelates before whom Alexander Livingston purged himself of the killing of Sir Malcolm Fleming. Eighteen months later, on 5 February 1445, Ochiltree and the queen sought the arbitration of James Kennedy, bishop of St Andrews, in a suit concerning patronage. Ochiltree was present in the parliament held on 28 June 1445, but may have died shortly afterwards, as he does not appear again in the records and his successor, Robert Lauder, had been provided to the see of Dunblane by 27 October 1447.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 20:59:02 +0000
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