He is spoken of by John Knox, who was ordained a Catholic priest by Chisholm, as "one of the chief pillars of the Papisticall Kirk",[1] and in the very highest terms by the pope's legate, Nicolas de Gouda, in his despatch from the Scottish court in 1562.

The legate, after commenting on the incapacity of the Scottish bishops generally, goes on to say: "The only exception is the coadjutor bishop of Dunblane; though holding but a secondary position during the lifetime of his superior, he has already made his influence felt, both in public and in private, having succeeded in confirming a great many people in the faith, and being justly held in high esteem and regard by all good men".

He is said to have still further dilapidated the income of his bishopric, and was declared to have forfeited it for non-compliance with the legislation passed by the Scottish Reformation Parliament after the overthrow and exile of the Queen.

In exile in Rome in January 1569, he was appointed as a priest at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore by Carlo Borromeo.

[5] Chisholm had before this retired to France, where he was well known, and in 1570 he was instituted by the pope to the bishopric of Vaison-la-Romaine, near Avignon, as some recompense for the loss of his Diocese in Scotland and his exile.