Bishop Henry Wardlaw


c.1365 - 1440

Bishop of St. Andrews. Born into a wealthy family, Wardlaw was educated at the Universities of Oxford and Paris. His uncle was Cardinal Walter Wardlaw, who petitioned the Pope for an income for his nephew in 1378, who then must only have been a boy. He held simultaneously canonries in Glasgow, Moray, and Aberdeen and was appointed Bishop of St. Andrews by Anti-Pope Benedict XIII in 1403. James I (1394 - 1437) was placed in the care of Wardlaw at St. Andrews Castle as a boy by his father Robert III (1337 - 1406). Wardlaw remained a trusted advisor to James, crowning him at Scone on the 21st May 1424.

Wardlaw was responsible for the restoration of St. Andrews Cathedral, but his most notable achievement was the foundation of the University of St. Andrews, modelled on Paris, in 1411 (confirmed by Pope Benedict in 1413). Wardlaw became its first Chancellor.

Wardlaw was buried in his cathedral at St. Andrews.


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