Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 7, 2010

Henry de Lichton [de Lychtone, Leighton] (died 1440), was a medieval Scottish prelate and diplomat, who, serving as Bishop of Moray (1414–1422) and Bishop of Aberdeen (1422–1440), became a significant patron of the church, a cathedral builder, and a writer. He also served King James I of Scotland as a diplomat in England, France, and Italy.

Lichton was born in the diocese of Brechin (probably Angus) somewhere between 1369 and 1379 to Henry and Janet Lichton. He was well-educated for his time, attending the University of Orléans and possibly the University of St Andrews, earning licentiates in civil law and canon law, a bachelorate in canon law, and a doctorate in canon law, all achieved between 1394 and 1415; he attained an additional doctorate&mdash;in civil law&mdash;by 1436. Lichton followed an ecclesiastical career simultaneously with his studies. The first notice of this career comes in 1392, when he was vicar of Markinch in Fife, a vicariate of St Andrews Cathedral Priory. He was a canon of the diocese of Moray by 1394, and Archdeacon of Aberdeen by 1395, holding this position into the following year, 1396.