BEATON

BEATON. - There are three principal Scottish figures of this name:

1) James, archbishop of Glasgow, uncle of 2) David, cardinal and archbishop of St. Andrews, who was uncle of 3) James, also archbishop of Glasgow.

1. James

Born in 1473 and died in 1539. He studied at the University of St. Andrews, where he received the title of *magister artium* in 1493. Elected bishop of Galloway in 1508, before even being consecrated, he was elevated to the archbishopric of Glasgow in 1509. During the minority of King James V (1513–42), he was one of the regency councilors, and in the struggles between the two regents Angus and Arran, Beaton favored the latter, to whom he was related. In 1523 he was transferred to the primatial see of St. Andrews and opposed English policy, resisting the maneuvers of Henry VIII, who sought to dominate Scotland, intervening in the marriage of the young king to the daughter of the King of France, and, after her death, to Mary of Guise, as well as opposing the marriage of the daughter of the King of England, Mary Tudor.

Shortly after the marriage, he secured the appointment of his nephew, Cardinal David B., as his coadjutor with the right of succession. He was a great benefactor first to his diocese of Glasgow and later to the University of St. Andrews, where he founded a new college (St. Mary’s) for the study of theology, civil and canon law, medicine, etc. By mandate of Pope Clement VII and with the support of the king, he energetically opposed the Protestants, striving as much as possible to avert the great troubles that heresy would bring to Scotland.

2. David

Born in 1494, died in 1546. He was the son of John B. of Balfour, brother of James B., archbishop of Glasgow. After completing his early studies in St. Andrews, he moved to Glasgow to be with his uncle James.

Later, he went to Paris to continue his studies. In 1519, the King of Scotland, James V, appointed him his ambassador to the French court. Returning to Scotland in 1525, he became a member of Parliament; but in 1533 he had to return to France, sent by the king and his uncle to negotiate a national alliance and the marriage of the young king to Madeleine, daughter of Francis I of France, whom he later accompanied to Scotland. After the queen’s death in 1537, shortly after the marriage, he returned to France to arrange the marriage of the widowed king to Mary of Guise, and in this capacity, King Francis I granted him the bishopric of Mirepoix. Created cardinal in 1538 with the title of S. Stefano al Celio, he returned to Scotland, where he was appointed coadjutor or auxiliary to his uncle the archbishop, succeeding him in the primatial see in 1539. Meanwhile, the schismatic Henry VIII of England sought to separate James V from the Holy See.

In this grave peril, the king was effectively aided by the cardinal. When war broke out with the English in 1542, after the defeat at Solway Moss, the king died of a broken heart, leaving an infant daughter, Mary Stuart, under the regency of B. and other Scottish nobles. The nobles, sold to Henry VIII and inclined toward Protestantism, refused to recognize him as regent and imprisoned him. The Protestant stance of these nobles and their anti-Catholic conduct so stirred the Catholic sentiments of the Scottish people that, to avoid unrest, he was released. With great energy, B. immediately worked for the independence of the nation and the defense of the faith. Appointed legate *a latere* by Pope Paul III in 1544, he acted with even greater vigor and had, among others, the Protestant preacher George Wishart condemned to death for plotting to assassinate him (1546). Two months later, he himself was killed by Wishart’s partisans, who were in the pay of England. The cardinal was not without faults, but he was a great and true lover of religion and his country, and he did all he could to stem the Protestant tide that brought so much ruin to Scotland.

3. JAMES

Born in 1517, died in 1603 in Paris, while King James was traveling to London to receive the crown of England. Son of a brother of Cardinal B. After his studies, at the age of only 34, he was elected archbishop of Glasgow (1551). Not yet a priest, he received priestly ordination and episcopal consecration in Rome in 1552. Returning to his homeland, during the regency of Mary of Guise, he supported her against the Protestant Scottish nobles, who, enriched by stolen Church goods, saw in the pseudo-Reformation the only means to enjoy their ill-gotten gains in peace. After the regent’s death in 1560, B. retired to Paris, taking with him many documents that he later left to the Scottish college in that city; unfortunately, many were lost or destroyed during the French Revolution. Queen Mary Stuart appointed him her ambassador to the French court. He was also her advisor and sincere friend throughout her life, reproaching her for her mistakes and remaining faithful to her even after her forced abdication in 1567. In 1574, the Scottish Privy Council declared him a rebel and outlaw, but King James VI of Scotland and I of England maintained his trust in him and appointed him ambassador to the French court in 1586.

His friendship with the Guise family tied him to the Catholic League against Henry IV, and when the League dissolved, he was in danger of being expelled from France, but Henry IV himself opposed this. His conduct was so noble throughout these events that in 1598—nearly forty years after the suppression of the Catholic religion in Scotland—the Scottish Parliament restored his property and all the honors and dignities he had held, even though he had never accepted the new religion of the realm.