In his earlier ecclesiastical career, he had been clericus regiae (royal cleric) and master of the hospital of Brechin.
In 1474 he was provided unsuccessfully to the Archdeaconry of Dunblane, but by the beginning of 1477 he was Archdeacon of St Andrews and coadjutor (successor) and vicar-general of the archdiocese.
After the deposition of Archbishop Patrick Graham in 1478, he succeeded to the archbishopric, apparently receiving the papal pall while in the presence of King James III and many of the nobility at Holyrood.
His rapid rise from junior clergyman to archbishop of St Andrews with a powerful role at court appears to have generated resentment from both ecclesiastical and lay rivals.
As a result, he has been associated with the so-called "low-born favourites" or "familiars" who sixteenth-century chroniclers alleged surrounded James III in the years before 1482.