text: thomas de rossy thomas de rossy ( de rossi ) o. f. m. was a late 14th century scottish franciscan friar , papal penitentiary , bishop and theologian . of unknown , or at least unclear origin , he embarked on a religious career in his early years , entering the franciscan order , studying in england and at the university of paris . he preached and lectured on the immaculate conception , and rose to seniority under the patronage of the avignon papacy and king robert ii of scotland , becoming bishop of galloway and the only franciscan to hold a scottish bishopric . thereafter he was a staunch advocate of avignon pope clement vii against the english - backed urban vi , for whom he engaged in partisan preaching and writing , famously challenging any english bishop to settle the issue by single combat . early years there is not enough evidence to detail rossy 's early life and career . his name indicates a family origin from rossie , but many locations have this name , including rossie in gowrie , rossie in angus and rossie in strathearn . on 3 october 1371 , following a request from king charles v of france and robert ii of scotland , he received papal permission to take the bachelor of theology degree at the university of paris ; this is his first appearance in contemporary records . this papal bull provides information about his earlier life . he was scottish , had entered the order of the friars minor ( franciscans ) , he had studied the seven liberal arts and theology at various locations — including the university of paris — and had preached in paris . it is likely that thomas had returned to his home country to preach and teach , a custom in the franciscan order . in his later writings he claimed to have studied in paris and to have lived among the english for seven years , obtaining a good " understanding of their character " . pre - episcopal career thomas was at the papal court in avignon in 1371 acting as proctor for patrick de leuchars , bishop of brechin , making a payment to the papal chamber . having obtained his theology degree , thomas lectured on the conception of the immaculate virgin at paris in 1373 as a bachelor of sentences ( ) ; he had previously been appointed by the chancellor of the university to deliver the summer lectures on the sentences . by 1375 thomas , now vicar general of the franciscan order for scotland , was running out of money . this put the completion of his studies in jeopardy . for this reason , pope gregory xi wrote to walter de wardlaw , bishop of glasgow , authorising walter ( a renowned scholar himself ) and other doctors to grant thomas , if they " found him fit " , a licentiate and a doctorate in theology . such a grant would enable thomas to teach legally , allowing him to lessen the burden of his financial problems . thomas was at avignon again in 1375 , but had returned to scotland between march 1378 and april 1379 when he received a gift of £ 10 from the king of the scots . by 22 june 1379 , thomas was once again at the papal court at avignon . while present , the recently elected anti - pope , clement vii , appointed him papal penitentiary " for the english and irish languages " . becoming bishop of galloway on 15 july 1379 , clement vii conditionally provided thomas de rossy to the bishopric of galloway with mandate for consecration should ingram de wish to resign his right to the see . on the same day thomas and another scot , hugh de , were sent to scotland with 50 florins and with documentary evidence regarding the events leading to the western schism , events which allegedly nullified the election of pope urban vi . the galloway bishopric was vacant because of the death of adam de lanark , a death which had occurred during the vacancy of papal see . oswald , the prior of abbey , had been elected by the canons of whithorn to succeed adam , an election which urban vi , sometime after 18 april 1378 , supported . this election was not supported by the scottish - backed anti - pope clement vii . clement instead appointed ingram de , archdeacon of dunkeld ; however , ingram was unwilling to take up the bishopric , and raised objections to his own appointment . ingram 's refusal allowed rossy to take up the bishopric . he was consecrated by 16 july 1380 . oswald launched an appeal to clement , but a letter to thomas dated 29 october 1381 , confirmed this had been rejected . a further letter was sent , as follows : to the bishops of st andrews and dunkeld . mandate to enquire into the claim advanced by oswald , claustral prior of , o. . , galloway diocese , to be the true bishop of galloway in virtue of his election by the chapter of galloway and subsequent provision made by urban vi . they are to impose silence on him and to put thomas de rossy , provided to the bishopric by clement vii and duly consecrated , into peaceful possession . the cancellation of oswald 's appointment does not appear to have silenced oswald , who appears active in england , a kingdom which supported urban vii . pro - clementine thomas as bishop of galloway thomas remained a close and highly active supporter of clement . he preached the cause of clement before robert ii at dundee on 2 february 1380 . a military attack by clementine scotland on urbanist england was planned . john related that a commission was granted to a scottish bishop to lead a " crusade " on behalf of clement into england ; this bishop was almost certainly thomas de rossy . thomas preached sermons in the english marches attempting to win supporters for the cause , and authored a tractate attacking the urbanist cause along with english support for it . although no " crusade " ever took place , around 1384 thomas sent a letter to the bishops of england . the letter invited henry le despenser , bishop of norwich , or any other english bishop , to come to a debate with him ; if they preferred , he wrote , they could settle the matter for both countries through single combat . henry le despenser was probably addressed because he was known for his love of fighting , and had led a short expedition into france during the summer of 1383 . despite his keenness to fight another bishop , thomas de rossy had apparently refused the offer of combat given by an english priest because of the latter 's lower status . bishop of galloway thomas was the first and only franciscan to become bishop of a scottish diocese . records of the day - to - day activities of thomas as bishop of galloway , however , are thin . one charter survives , dated 16 july 1381 , confirming a grant of the church of buittle to sweetheart abbey . the charter was issued at in parish , and was confirmed by the ( avignon ) pope on 18 october when rossy himself was present at the papal court . on 31 december , he presented to pope clement vii a roll of petitions — a series of requests — all of which were granted . after the death of king robert ii in 1390 , bishop thomas along with other prelates of the scottish kingdom , attended the coronation of the new king . at scone , on 16 august 1390 , two days after the coronation of robert iii of scotland , bishop thomas gave a sermon ; according to wyntoun : the off galloway , thomas , ( a solempne he was ) , made a , and to the . death and succession bishop thomas was at avignon again in the mid - 1390s , as attested by record of a series of mundane transactions conducted by him there . on 10 september 1395 , he was granted an to administer his bishopric in absentia , via a deputy ; he is not known to have returned to scotland . his name appeared in the sources for the last time on 6 september 1397 . the exact date he died is a mystery , but it was not until 28 may 1406 , that a successor , , was appointed to the see , meaning that rossy 's death could have occurred anywhere between these dates . as a friar and a bishop , thomas could not father legitimate offspring and no partners or bastards are known . his own family background is likewise unknown , though he had a nephew for whom he obtained several papal favours . theology and writings thomas de rossy was a theologian and known as such , though his extant writings are dominated by political invective . he authored two extant and probably at least two others not extant . his de virginis was a reiteration of some of the arguments for the immaculate conception made by duns scotus . it was also a refutation of the scholars who had written against it , including bernard of clairvaux , giles of rome , bonaventure o. f. m. , richard middleton , de , robert cowton o. f. m. , alexander of hales and gregory of rimini . thomas ' focus on the immaculate conception stemmed from his days in paris , where he preached in its favour ; it has even been suggested that thomas was the friar minor particularly noted in paris for his " cavalier treatment of st bernard " . rossy 's second work , the tractatus episcopi de regno scotiae in facto contra was a defense of clement vii and an attack on the legitimacy of " bartolomeo of bari " ( i.e. urban vi ) . it contains a long , detailed account of the events preceding the schism , an account partially derived from a work of cardinal peter . in justifying the pontificate of clement , the tractatus made extensive use of prophecy , especially prophecies attributed to saint john of bridlington . the tractatus episcopi is the work , mentioned above , to which his letter to the bishops of england was appended . in the tractatus he accused the english of supporting urban solely through hatred of the french .