It was the development of the Christian church in Scotland which came to define Glasgow

and more powerful. As Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124, David would have been well aware of the growing town and its importance in a territory that extended from Dumbarton eastwards to Berwick-upon-Tweed and as far south as what is now Carlisle.

One chronicle states: “Because of hostile invasion and desolation and the barbarity of the land, for long the church was without a pastor, until Earl David (afterwards King of Scotland) appointed, as bishop, Michael, and sent him over to be consecrated by Archbishop Thomas.”

Michael is a shadowy figure mentioned only in English chronicles, but his successor was certainly real and is one of two 12th century Bishops of Glasgow who really made their presence felt.

John, known as Capellanus or Achaius, was appointed to the bishopric in 1118. It helped that he had been tutor to Prince David, but his cause was harmed by his refusal and that of David to accept the overlordship of the Archbishop of York. Two Popes in succession wrote to John to demand that he submit to York, but he refused and meanwhile David made him chancellor of his kingdom.

A monk of the Tironensian order, John helped David with his transformational work which saw Scotland divided into proper dioceses and new abbeys built. John also presided over the building of a proper church which stood near where the Cathedral would eventually be built.

David gifted John land at Govan and Partick and also decreed that