Andrew Forman - Forman's Reputation

Forman's Reputation

Andrew Forman was highly regarded at the courts of Europe and this respect did not go unrewarded. From King Louis XII of France he received the archbishopric of Bourges, from King Hendry VII of England he obtained the rectorship of the parish church of Cottingham and from his own master, King James IV many headships of Scottish monasteries, the recommendation to the bishopric of Moray and large tracts of land. Rome also appreciated his efforts and provided Forman firstly with the parsonage of Forest Church from Innocent VIII, then the commendatorship of Kelso Abbey from Julius II and finally and most importantly, the archbishopric of St Andrews and the commendatorship of Dunfermline Abbey from Leo X.

Forman's standing with Henry VIII was good in his early reign when the bishop was central in renewing the Treaty of Perpetual Peace and later in his attempts at mediation between the English and French kings. As King James edged ever closer to France and then with the renewal of the traditional Franco-Scottish alliance, Forman’s embassies to France were distrusted and he was deprived of safe passage through England. That Andrew Forman was seen as the main instigator of the war was in early circulation in England—a contemporary document re-printed in full in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland contains the following excerpt:

Dyvers prisoners are taken of the Scottes, but noe notable personne, only Sir Willm Scott knight councelour of the said king of Scottes, and as is said a gentilman well lernyd. Also Sir John Forman knight broder to the Busshop of Murrey, which Busshop as is reported, was and is mosst principall procurour of this warre;

Despite these early views, MacDougall argues that Forman's reputation was without doubt blackened by a coterie that included Gavin Douglas who was a principal competitor for the see of St Andrews and who had called Forman "yon evyll myndit Byschep of Morray". MacDougall also explains that Andrew Forman was one of the main participants in the peace treaty of 1502, its renewal in 1509 and his opposition to the renewal of the alliance with France in 1508; he goes on to say that it would have been inconceivable that the king could be manoeuvered into a position that was against his own wishes. The early chroniclers (Buchanan and Pitscottie) did nothing to revive Forman's tarnished reputation yet when King James took the advice of his General Council, only two counsellors opposed the French alliance—Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen and Archibald Douglas, the Earl of Angus.