Robert Leighton

Robert Leighton (1611 – 25 June 1684) was a Scottish prelate and scholar, best known as a church minister, Bishop of Dunblane, Archbishop of Glasgow, and Principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1653 to 1662. He was "noted for his Christian piety, his humility and gentleness, and his devotion to his calling".

Early life Leighton lived through one of the most turbulent periods in Scottish history. His grandfather was a Pre-Reformation Catholic; his father, Doctor Alexander Leighton, was tortured during the reign of King Charles I for his Presbyterian beliefs after authoring a pamphlet, Zion's Plea against Prelacy, in which he criticised the church, condemning bishops as "anti-christian and satanic". Robert became an archbishop during one of the periods when the Church of Scotland was episcopal.

Robert Leighton was born in London to Scottish parents in 1611. Robert Leighton's mother was Alexander Leighton's first wife. According to Gilbert Burnet, Leighton was distinguished for his "saintly disposition" from his earliest childhood, despite the persecution of his family. In 1627 (before his father published his pamphlet) at the age of sixteen, Robert Leighton went to study at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MA in 1631.

Following his graduation, his father sent him to travel abroad, and he is understood to have spent several years in France, where he acquired a complete mastery of the French language. While there he passed a good deal of time with relatives at Douai who had become Roman Catholics, and with whom he kept up a correspondence for many years afterward. Either at this time or on some subsequent visit he had also a good deal of intercourse with members of the Jansenist party. This intercourse contributed to the charity towards those who differed from him in religious opinion which ever afterward formed a feature in his character.

Bishop and Archbishop Although an ordained Presbyterian minister, in 1661 Leighton allowed himself to be appointed Bishop by King Charles II. Aware that he might be accused of seeking self-aggrandisement, he requested the post in Dunblane, the smallest and poorest see in the country. He sought to reconcile Presbyterians and Episcopalians in a United Church of Scotland, but his mild-mannered nature gave him problems in this role, He repeated his trip to London again in 1669, but little result followed.

In 1670, he hesitantly agreed to accept appointment as Archbishop of Glasgow. In this higher sphere he redoubled his efforts with the Presbyterians to bring about some degree of conciliation with Episcopacy, but the only result was to embroil himself with the hot-headed Episcopal party as well as with the Presbyterians.

He resigned the archbishopric in 1674.

Leighton Library

Leighton was a learned scholar, with wide-ranging interests. His legacy remains today in the Leighton Library (or Bibliotheca Leightoniana), which is the oldest purpose-built library in Scotland. It contains a collection of around 4,000 volumes and 78 manuscripts from the 16th to the 19th century, and is founded on the personal collection of Leighton, who bequeathed some 1,500 books to Dunblane Cathedral. A library building was erected between 1684 and 1688 in order to house the books for the use of the local clergy. From 1734 the library became one of the first subscription libraries in Scotland. The collection covers a variety of subject areas, including history and politics (particularly 17th century), theology, medicine, travel, and language.

Some of the collection was originally owned by Newbattle and was stored at the Old Manse, but it is now held in its entirety at The Cross, Dunblane. The catalogue of contents is now available to academics and researchers through arrangement with Stirling University.