The Bishop of the Isles or Bishop of Sodor was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of the Isles (or Sodor), one of Scotland's thirteen medieval bishoprics. The bishopric, encompassing both the Hebrides and Mann, probably traces its origins as an ecclesiastical unity to the careers of Olaf, King of the Isles, and Bishop Wimund. Previously, there had been numerous bishoprics and recorded bishoprics include Kingarth, Iona, Skye and Mann. There were very likely numerous others.
List of precursor bishoprics
List of known bishops of Iona
List of known bishops of Cenn Garad
Kingarth was a church on the Isle of Bute, supposedly founded by Saint Chattan and Saint Blane. Three abbots are known, but only two bishops. Sadly, little is known about the abbey, bishopric and individual clerics.
List of known bishops of Mann
Bishops of the Isles
List of known bishops of Isles (including Mann)
List of bishops of the Isles (excluding Mann)
The bishopric of the Isles became divided, primarily because the see became divided between the kings of England and Scotland. The English had taken over Mann, leaving the other islands to the north under Scottish overlordship.
Notes
References
Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286, 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922).
Anderson, Alan Orr, Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500–1286, (London, 1908), republished, Marjorie Anderson (ed.) (Stamford, 1991)
Dowden, John (1912), Thomson, John Maitland (ed.), The Bishops of Scotland : Being Notes on the Lives of All the Bishops, under Each of the Sees, Prior to the Reformation, Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons
Keith, Robert (1824), An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops: Down to the Year 1688 (New ed.), London: Printed for Bell & Bradfute
Oram, Richard, The Lordship of Galloway, (Edinburgh, 2000)
Watt, D. E. R., "Bishops in the Isles before 1203: Bibliography and Biographical Lists", in The Innes Review, Volume 45, 1994, pp. 99–119
Watt, D. E. R.; Murray, A. L., eds. (2003), Fasti Ecclesiae Scotinanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638, The Scottish Record Society, New Series, Volume 25 (Revised ed.), Edinburgh: The Scottish Record Society, ISBN 0-902054-19-8, ISSN 0143-9448
