page_title: Nicholas de Balmyle
section_title: Episcopal election
hierarchical_section_title: Nicholas de Balmyle / Episcopal election
caption_attribution_description: English: Dunblane Cathedral
context_page_description: Nicholas de Balmyle, also called Nicholas of St Andrews, was a Scottish administrator and prelate in the late 13th century and early 14th century. A graduate of an unknown university, he served his earliest years as a clergyman at St Andrews, moving on to hold churches in Lothian as well as deputising to two archdeacons of Lothian.
  In the late summer and in the autumn of 1296, between the death of Bishop William Fraser and the arrival of the new Bishop of St Andrews William de Lamberton, Nicholas was placed in charge of the diocese of St Andrews as Official. Nicholas thereafter can be found exercising a senior role in Scottish affairs, and by early 1301 he was Chancellor of Scotland. In his late 60s or his 70s by this stage, Nicholas was an extremely old man, yet in 1307 he became Bishop of Dunblane. He held this position until his death in either 1319 or 1320.
context_section_description: Following the death of his namesake Nicholas, Bishop of Dunblane (and former Abbot of Arbroath), Nicholas de Balmyle was among the canons of Dunblane with the responsibility of selecting a successor. Bishop Nicholas had died sometime between 1306 (after his last attestation on 26 January) and late 1307. The election was done by compromissarii (a short-list of canons delegated to perform election), with John, Abbot of Arbroath excluded from the vote, perhaps because of his known pro-English tendencies.
  The seven compromissarii were the dean (name not known), Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffray, William, Abbot of Lindores, Michael, Abbot of Cambuskenneth, William de Eaglesham, Henry de Stirling, and Nicholas de Balmyle. They were instructed to elect from among themselves, and their decision was the promotion of Nicholas de Balmyle. Nicholas, Bishop-elect of Dunblane, travelled to the Apostolic See along with proctors of the cathedral chapter. After the election was confirmed by Pope Clement V, Nicholas was consecrated by Nicholas, Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia at Poitiers on 11 December 1307.
  It was Geoffrey Barrow's belief, supported by Donald Watt, that their decision was the result of pressure from the new Scottish king, Robert de Brus, who may have valued Balmyle's experience and trusted his political record. The usual secular patron of the diocese was the Mormaer of Strathearn, but the incumbent Maol Íosa III was at that stage a prisoner-exile at Rochester in England, thus allowing Robert to take his place.
caption: Dunblane Cathedral, the seat (cathedra) of Nicholas' bishopric, as it is today.
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