William de Landallis

Who was William de Landallis?

William de Landallis was a 14th-century Bishop of St. Andrews. Like his predecessor, James Bane, he was a native of Aberdeenshire, serving as rector of Kinkell before being appointed by Pope Benedict XII as the successor of James at St. Andrews. The prior and the chapter of the see had actually chosen a man called William Bell, dean of diocese of Dunkeld, but William Bell resigned all rights deriving from the election to the Pope, who did not seek to re-appoint him. According to Walter Bower, William was appointed to the bishopric on 18 February 1342, a date confirmed by a known papal letter.

William's long rule as bishop was generally successful. However, it was during William's episcopate that St. Andrews' Cathedral was destroyed by fire. In 1381, Pope Clement VII granted some benefices towards the cathedral's reconstruction, and promised certain rewards to those lay donors who assisted with this aim.

William died at St. Andrews, in the Priory, on 23 September 1385. He was buried inside the cathedral, in the church's vestry.