The Abbot of Paisley (later Commendator of Paisley; Prior of Paisley before 1219) was the head of the

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...

monastic community of

Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, based on a for ...

and its property. The monastery was founded as a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

Renfrew Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former ...

in 1163, but moved to Paisley in 1169. It became an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

in 1219. The founder was

Walter fitz Alan Walter FitzAlan (1177) was a twelfth-century English baron who became a Scottish magnate and Steward of Scotland. He was a younger son of Alan fitz Flaad and Avelina de Hesdin. In about 1136, Walter entered into the service of David I, King of ...

, Seneschal (Steward) of Scotland. The line of abbots ended when it was turned into a secular lordship for Lord Claud Hamilton in 1587/1592. The following is a list of abbots and commendators:

List of priors

* ???, 1163 x 1165 * Osbert, 1173-1180x1192 * Roger, 1195 x 1196 -1208 x 1214

List of abbots

* ???, 1220 * William, 1225/6 -1238, 1248? * Stephen, 1272–1285 * Walter, 1296 * A ? 1301 * Roger, 1318–1325 * John, 1327 * James, 1349 * John, 1362–1370 * John de Lithgow I, 1384-1408 x 1412 * Alan de Govan, 1412 * John de Lychcar, 1412 * William de Cheshelme, 1414 * Roland, 1414-1415 * John de Lithgow II (?Lychcar), 1415-1431 x 1432 * Thomas Morrow, 1418–1444 * Richard Bothwell, 1444–1445 * Thomas de Tarveis, 1445–1459 * Henry Crichton, 1459–1471 * Patrick Graham, 1466–1471 * George Shaw, 1471–1499 * Robert Shaw, 1498–1525

List of commendators

* John Hamilton, 1525-1553 * Claude Hamilton, 1553–1587 * Robert Lord Sempill, 1569–1573 * William Erskine, 1581-1584Became

archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of the ...

in 1585. * Claude Hamilton, 1586-1592 as 1st

Lord Paisley Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Notes

Bibliography

* Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., ''Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man'', Second Edition, (London, 1976), pp. 64–5 * Watt, D.E.R. & Shead, N.F. (eds.), ''The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries'', The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001), pp. 167–73 {{DEFAULTSORT:Paisley Cluniacs Scottish abbots Lists of abbots

List of priors

List of abbots

List of commendators

See also

Notes

Bibliography