Beaton David

Beaton, David, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Cardinal, was born in 1191, educated at St. Andrews and Glasgow, and also studied at Paris. Through the patronage of his uncle, James Beaton, his preferment in the Church was rapid, and in 1524 he sat in the Scottish Parliament as Abbot of Arbroath. In 1528 he was appointed by King James V. Keeper of the Privy Seal, and went on various royal missions to the French court, where he was held in high esteem. Pope Paul III. made him a cardinal in 1538. and in 1539 he succeeded his uncle in the see of St. Andrews. On the death of King James, 1542, he endeavoured to become one of the regents of the kingdom during the minority of the infant Queen Mary; but his claims, which were based on a forged will of the late king, were set aside, and the cardinal himself imprisoned. In 1543 he crowned Queen Mary at Stirling, and was appointed Chancellor of Scotland. He now became notorious for his zeal in persecuting the Protestants. Amongst others he sent the famous preacher, George Wishart, to the stake, viewing the martyr's sufferings from a window with exultation. At length a plot to assassinate him was formed, and on May 29th, 1546, he was murdered at St. Andrews in his own castle.