Clement of Dunblane - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

The Chronicle of Melrose reports Clement's death under the year 1258. Clement's legacy was to be remembered as the restorer of the diocese of Dunblane and the builder of its cathedral. Thus for future generations, Clement became the father-figure of the see. Clement was later commemorated as a saint, though there is no record of formal canonisation. He was commemorated on 19 March, meaning that was almost certainly believed to have been the date of his death. Clement's death was also noted by Walter Bower, a Lowland Scottish historian writing in the 1440s, who included the following obituary:

Clement bishop of Dunblane died, that outstanding member of the Order of Preachers, a man most eloquent in translating various tongues, powerful in speech and action in the sight of God and of men. He found the cathedral church of his diocese reduced by the neglect of his predecessors to such a state of decay that the divine offices were celebrated in it scarcely three times a week, as if it were some rural chapel. He built it up to be a hallowed sanctuary, enriched it with lands and possessions, and increased its prestige by adding prebends and canonries.

Such flattering sentiments had even been expressed during Clement's lifetime. In 1250, the General Chapter of the Dominican Order met in London, and decreed that:

we grant to Friar Clement of our Order, a bishop of Scotland, after his death, one mass throughout the Order by every friar whomsoever is a priest.

Although there survives a sermon almost certainly written by him, Clement was also credited with being a prolific translator and writing four books (including a hagiography of St Dominic), all of which are now lost.

Some historians have been ambiguous about Clement's episcopate. For instance, Cynthia Neville, despite acknowledging that "the successful reform of the see was, in fact, accomplished almost exclusively as a consequence of the efforts of Clement and his successors", nevertheless expresses some scepticism about his achievements and notices his failure to gain the patronage of the native rulers of Strathearn. Others have been more enthusiastic. The ecclesiastical historian and former minister of Dunblane Cathedral, James Hutchison Cockburn, agreed with Bower's eulogy and declared that the "title" of sainthood "would have been worthily bestowed". Archie Duncan, more recently, stated that Clement "clearly enjoyed a reputation far wider than his domestic accomplishments alone would explain" and concluded that Clement "represents the occasional triumph of the ideal of reform of church life over the careerism which generally motivated thirteenth-century clergy".