Matthew was a 12th century churchman residing in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. He is the first man known to have held the position of Archdeacon of St Andrews

Archdeacon of St Andrews

The Archdeacon of St Andrews was the head of the Archdeaconry of St Andrews, a sub-division of the Diocese of St Andrews, from the twelfth to the seventeenth century...

, his first known ecclesiastical post. He occurs in this office in a document which can be dated to some point between August 1147 and June 1152. In 1172, after the death of Bishop Edward, Archdeacon Matthew was elected to be the latter's successor as Bishop of Aberdeen

Bishop of Aberdeen

The Bishop of Aberdeen was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th century cleric named Nechtan...

. He was consecrated on April 2, 1172.

Matthew was the principal prelate

Prelate

A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...

 in charge of the consecration of John the Scot at Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reformation the Palace of Holyroodhouse was expanded...

 on June 15, 1180. Matthew maintained his links with Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, appearing in numerous charters relating to that province. He had a brother named Odo who was the dapifer ("steward") of Ernald

Ernald

Ernald was the second Abbot of Kelso before becoming Bishop of Cell Rígmonaid , the highest ranking Scottish see in the period. He was elected to the see on Sunday, St. Brice's Day 1160, and was consecrated at Dunfermline in the presence of King Máel Coluim IV the following Sunday by William,...

, Bishop of St Andrews (1160-63). His family may have been the one that eventually took the locative surname "de Kininmund" (or variants). He died on August 20, 1199, and was succeeded by John

John (d. 1207)

John was a late 12th century and early 13th century Tironensian monk and bishop. By the time he first appears in the records, as Bishop-elect of Aberdeen in December 1199, he was the prior of Kelso Abbey, that is, deputy to the Abbot of Kelso...

, the prior

Prior

Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...

 of Kelso Abbey

Kelso Abbey

Kelso Abbey is what remains of a Scottish abbey founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Scotland in the reign of Alexander I. It occupies ground overlooking the confluence of the Tweed and Teviot waters, the site of what was once the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh...

.