Henry de Lichton

Henry de Lichton [de Lychtone, Leighton] (died 1440) was a medieval Scottish prelate and diplomat, who, serving as Bishop of Moray (1414–1422) and Bishop of Aberdeen (1422–1440), became a significant patron of the church, a cathedral builder, and a writer. He also served King James I of Scotland as a diplomat in England, France, and Italy.

Early church career

Lichton was born in the diocese of Brechin (probably Angus) somewhere between 1369 and 1379 to Henry and Janet Lichton. He was well-educated for his time, attending the University of Orléans and possibly the University of St Andrews, earning licentiates in civil law and canon law, a bachelorate in canon law, and a doctorate in canon law, all achieved between 1394 and 1415; he attained an additional doctorate—in civil law—by 1436. He was a canon of the diocese of Moray by 1394, and Archdeacon of Aberdeen by 1395, holding this position into the following year, 1396.

Bishop of Moray

After the death of Bishop John de Innes in 1414, the chapter of Elgin Cathedral met to elect a new bishop, and on 18 May Lichton was elected Bishop of Moray. Lichton travelled to Continental Europe to receive consecration, and was consecrated on 8 March 1415, at Valencia by Pope Benedict XIII.

Lichton enjoyed an amicable relationship with the most powerful magnate in the area, Alexander Stewart, Lord of Badenoch and Earl of Mar, as Lichton appears to have suffered no harassment, attended the latter's marriage to Isabella, Countess of Mar back in 1404 and procured for him an annulment of that marriage when Stewart chose to remarry in 1415.

Bishop of Aberdeen

St Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen; the west front dates from Lichton's episcopate. After the death of Gilbert de Greenlaw, Bishop of Aberdeen, in 1421, Lichton was chosen as his successor, and was translated to the diocese of Aberdeen in early April 1422, on the authority of Pope Martin V. Pope Martin delegated authority to Robert de Cardeny, Bishop of Dunkeld, and William Stephen, Bishop of Dunblane, in order to take Lichton's oath to the Papal see without forcing him to travel to Rome. a former possession of the Knights Hospitaller but attached to Aberdeen Cathedral by Lichton's time.

As Bishop of Aberdeen, Lichton was one of its greatest builders. The Aberdeen Registrum noted that he began to rebuild the cathedral, and Hector Boece gave a description of his rebuilding, noting that although he finished the walls and two belltowers, the third belltower remained unfinished at his death. Lichton also constructed a new chapel dedicated to St John the Evangelist, and donated much of his own money to new service books and vestments, as well as to the reconstruction of the cathedral. On 9 June 1425, he and other prelates received a safe-conduct from King Henry VI of England enabling them to travel through England on their way to visit Pope Martin V at Rome. and in January 1430, was sent into England for discussion of various grievances. On 31 March 1434, Lichton is found in attendance at the Council of Basel, though no more details of his activities there have survived. it is probable that he died on either 12 or 14 December, because these were the anniversaries given to him in the 15th century and the 16th century respectively. He was buried in his new chapel, the one dedicated to St John the Evangelist. As a churchman, Lichton could never marry and did not; he did however father a bastard, a daughter named Janet, who appeared in the records receiving papal dispensation to marry in 1432.

Due to curtailment of the cathedral the grave now lies in what appears as a simple enclosure on the east end of the cathedral i.e. it is no longer internal. Due to its exposure, the grave is now somewhat ruinous. The stone effigy of the bishop has been moved and now lies on display in the northwest corner of the cathedral.