Background
William Elphinstone was born in Glasgow in 1431. He probably was the son of a priest.
William Elphinstone was born in Glasgow in 1431. He probably was the son of a priest.
William Elphinstone was educated at the University of Glasgow, taking the degree of M. A. in 1452.
After practising for a short time as a lawyer in the church courts, William Elphinstone was ordained priest, becoming rector of St Michael's church, Trongate, Glasgow, in 1465.
Four years later he went to continue his studies at the university of Paris, where he became reader in canon law, and then, proceeding to Orleans, became lecturer in the university there.
Before 1474 William Elphinstone had returned to Scotland, and was made rector of the university, and official of the see of Glasgow. Further promotion followed, but soon more important duties were entrusted to Elphinstone, who was made bishop of Ross in 1481. He was a member of the Scots parliament, and was sent by King James III on diplomatic errands to Louis XI of France, and to Edward IV of England.
In 1483 William Elphinstone was appointed bishop of Aberdeen, although his consecration was delayed for four years; and he was sent on missions to England, both before and after the death of Richard III in 1485. Although he attended the meetings of parliament with great regularity he did not neglect his episcopal duties, and the fabric of the cathedral of Aberdeen owes much to his care.
Early in 1488 the bishop was made lord high chancellor, but on the king's death in the following June he vacated this office, and retired to Aberdeen.
As a diplomatist of repute, however, his services were quickly required by the new king, James IV, in whose interests he visited the kings of England and France, and the German king, Maximilian I. Having been made keeper of the privy seal in 1492, and having arranged a dispute between the Scotch and the Dutch, the bishop's concluding years were mainly spent in the foundation of the university of Aberdeen.
The papal bull for this purpose was obtained in 1494, and the royal charter which made old Aberdeen the seat of a university is dated 1498. A small endowment was provided by the king, and the university, modelled on that of Paris and intended principally to be a school of law, soon became the most famous and popular of the Scots seats of learning, a result which was largely due to the wide experience and ripe wisdom of Elphinstone and of his friend, Hector Boece, the first rector. The building of the college of the Holy Virgin in Nativity, now King's College, was completed in 1506, and the bishop also rebuilt the choir of his cathedral, and built a bridge over the Dee. Continuing to participate in public affairs he opposed the policy of hostility towards England which led to the disaster at Flodden in September 1513, and died in Edinburgh on the 25th of October 1514.
William Elphinstone was a member of the Parliament of Scotland, and was sent by James III of Scotland on diplomatic missions to Louis XI of France and Edward IV of England.