Adam of Dryburgh ( 1140 – 1212), in later times also known as Adam the Carthusian, Adam Anglicus and Adam Scotus, was an

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term '' Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...

-Scottish theologian, writer and

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

and

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

monk.

Life

He was born around 1140 in the Anglo-Scottish border area (

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

) to parents whose names and identities are unknown. The details of his earliest education are not known. He is known to have rejected a clerical life in favour of

monasticism Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...

, entering the Premonstratensian house of

Dryburgh Abbey Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November (Martinmas) 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regu ...

as a young man and becoming a priest there in 1165 at the age of twenty-five. Adam served under the first two abbots, Roger and Gerard, before in 1184 Adam himself became abbot. It is not clear if Adam became a full abbot or if he was just acting abbot or

coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

. Abbot Gerard may have become incapacitated by illness, and Adam apparently refused to be blessed by a bishop while Abbot Gerard still lived. Adam was summoned to

Prémontré Prémontré () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population Sights The remains of Prémontré Abbey, the mother house of the Premonstratensian Order, are located in Prémontré. See also * Communes ...

, France, by its abbot the head of Adam's order. While in France Adam visited the Carthusian priory of Val St Pierre, which impressed him so much that he himself vowed to become a Carthusian, resigning his abbacy at Dryburgh. In this, he was following in the footsteps of Abbot Roger, the first head of Dryburgh Abbey, who had retired to Val St Pierre in 1177. Adam returned to Britain and visited

Hugh of Lincoln Hugh of Lincoln, O.Cart. ( – 16 November 1200), also known as Hugh of Avalon, was a French-born Benedictine and Carthusian monk, bishop of Lincoln in the Kingdom of England, and Catholic saint. His feast is observed by Catholics on 16 Novem ...

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

. After consulting with this senior Carthusian figure and future

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

, Adam joined Hugh's old priory at

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Chelms ...

, Somerset. The Premonstratensians did not give up trying to get him back, however, and it was only after the intervention from Bishop Hugh that a letter of release was issued to Adam. Adam would remain at Witham until his death, perhaps in the year 1212. He had no children, was said to have been of medium height; he was noted for his cheerfulness, his skill as a preacher and his good memory.

Works

Adam was also a prolific writer, which included many sermons as well as theological and other religious texts. Among his most famous works were: * ''De tripartito tabernaculo'', written at Dryburgh in 1180, * ''Liber de quadripartito exercitio cellae ''(''The fourfold exercise of the cell''), written at Witham in about 1190. Until the early 20th century the work was generally wrongly attributed to

Guigo II Guigo II, sometimes referred to as Guy, or by the moniker "the Angelic", was a Carthusian monk and the 9th prior of Grande Chartreuse monastery, from 1174 to 1180. He died possibly in 1188 or 1193, and is distinct from both Guigo I, the 5th prior ...

. * ''Liber de ordine, habitu et professione canonicorum ordinis Praemonstratensis'' * Over 60 sermons also survive His writings were first published by Aegidius Gourmont in Paris in 1518, though there is still no modern scholarly edition of his works. In the mid-sixteenth century, the churchman

John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed ...

theorised the existence of a separate theologian called Adam the Carthusian, who Bale believed flourished around 1340; Bale attributed six works to that writer. It is now acknowledged, however, that this distinct Adam the Carthusian never existed, and that all these works were written by others.W. N. M. Beckett, 'Adam the Carthusian (supp. fl. 1340)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' Oxford University Press, Oct 2009

Notes

References

* Bartlett, Robert, ''England under the Norman and Angevan Kings, 1075—1225''Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 433 * Beckett, W. N. M., "Adam the Carthusian (supp. fl. 1340)", in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 7 Feb 2007
* Bulloch, James, ''Adam of Dryburgh'', (London: SPCK, 1958) * Holdsworth, Christopher, "Dryburgh, Adam of (c.1140–1212?)", in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 7 Feb 2007
* 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), p. 58–62

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam Of Dryburgh 1140s births 1212 deaths Carthusians English abbots 12th-century English Roman Catholic theologians 13th-century English Roman Catholic theologians 12th-century Latin writers 13th-century Latin writers Premonstratensians Scottish abbots Medieval Scottish theologians 12th-century Scottish Roman Catholic clergy 12th-century Christian monks 13th-century Scottish Roman Catholic priests 13th-century Christian monks 12th-century Scottish writers 13th-century Scottish writers