vicar held the rights to some of the fruits of the parish. Despite this, it became normal for these vicarage settlements to become formally part of the appropriation process and the cure of souls was then dispensed either by stipendiary pensioner vicars or parochial chaplains. These lowly clergymen were usually poorly paid and often uneducated. Aberdeen Dean of Christianity first recorded date:1250 x 1256 Boyne Dean of Christianity first recorded date: 1250 x 1256 Buchan Dean of Christianity first recorded date: 1199 x 1207 Garioch Dean of Christianity first recorded date: 1240 x 1247 Mar Dean of Christianity first recorded date: 1240 x 1247 Hospitals Although many hospitals were dependent on monasteries, those in Aberdeen diocese were secular establishments subject to the authority of the bishop. The founding benefactors attached conditions to their altruism—those receiving care had to pray for the souls of their patron(s) who believed that as a result, they would receive a diminution of their time in purgatory. These hospitals operated under strict codes of conduct and, although secular, conformed to the discipline of a monastic rule, often that of St Augustine. In the diocese of Aberdeen, eleven hospitals were established; of these five were in Aberdeen—three in the ecclesiastic burgh at Old Aberdeen, and two in the royal burgh at New Aberdeen in the harbour area. Diocese-wide, the reasons for these hospitals were categorised as for the care of: the poor – 4, lepers – 3, the sick (non-leper) – 1 the sick (non-leper) and the poor – 1 the elderly – 1 purpose unknown – 1 The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 prohibited clerics and infirmerers from practising surgery if it included blood-letting but herbal therapies would have likely been available for the use of inmates. There is very little evidence that doctors attended to the needs of the inmates and the emphasis was more on the welfare of the soul than the body. Most hospitals in Scotland were small in terms of inmates and only in a minority of cases did they house more than 20 residents. The last hospital to be built in the diocese of Aberdeen was the almshouse dedicated to St Mary, and founded by Bishop Gavin Dunbar in 1532 and had room for only 12 old men. Monasteries During the late middle ages, the bishop was given powers of visitation and correction over the religious houses within his jurisdiction. Despite