The

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be low ...

, then

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

and then Commendator of Dunfermline was the head of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastic community of

Dunfermline Abbey Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland Parish Church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reforma ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The abbey itself was founded in 1128 by King

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Malco ...

, but was of earlier origin. King

Máel Coluim mac Donnchada Malcolm III ( mga, Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, label=Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Dhonnchaidh; died 13 November 1093) was King of Scotland from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" ("ceann mòr", Gaelic, literally "big head" ...

("Malcolm III") had founded a church there with the help of Benedictines from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

. Monks had been sent there in the reign of Étgar mac Maíl Choluim (Edgar, 1097–1107) and Anselm had sent a letter requesting that Étgar's brother and successor King Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim (Alexander I, 1107–1124) protect these monks. By 1120, when Alaxandair sent a delegation to Canterbury to secure

Eadmer Eadmer or Edmer ( – ) was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his ''Vita Anselmi'', and for his ''Historia novorum in ...

for the bishopric of St Andrews, there is a Prior of the Dunfermline monks by the name of Peter leading the delegation. Control of the abbey was secularized in the 16th century and after the accession of

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality ...

in 1500, the abbey was held by commendators. In the second half of the 16th century, the abbey's lands were being carved up into lordships and it was finally annexed to the crown in July, 1593.

List of Priors

* Peter, 1120 * Richard Mongal, 1133-1148

List of Abbots

* Geoffrey I, 1148–1154 * Geoffrey II, 1154–1178 * Archibald, 1178–1198 * Robert de Berwick, 1198–1202 * Patrick, 1202–1217x1223 * William I, 1223 * William II, 1223 x 1226–1238 * Geoffrey III, 1238–1240 * Robert de Keldeleth, 1240–1252 * John, 1252–1256 * Matthew, 1256 * Simon, 1267–1275 * Radulf de Greenlaw, 1275–1296 * Hugh, 1304x1306-1313 * Robert de Crail, 1314–1328 * Alexander Ber, c. 1328-9-1350 x 1351 * John Black, 1351 * John de Stramiglot, 1351–1383x1388 * William de Angus, 1383 * John de Torry, 1388–1409 * William de St Andrews (Anderston), 1413–1426 * Robert de Scotland, 1418–1419 * William Brown, 1427 * Andrew de Kirkcaldy, 1427–1444 * Richard de Bothwell, 1444–1468 * Alexander Thomson, c. 1470 * Henry Crichton, 1471–1482 * Adam Cant, 1483–1490 * George Crichton, 1490–1500 ** Opposed by

Raphael Riario Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario (3 May 1461 – 9 July 1521) was an Italian Cardinal (catholicism), Cardinal of the Renaissance, mainly known as the constructor of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and the person who invited Michelangelo to Rome. ...

, 1491–1492 ** Opposed by Robert Swinton, 1492 ** Opposed by Thomas Cranston, 1492 ** Opposed by Andrew Pictoris, 1492

List of Commendators

, 1500–1504 * Gilbert Strachan, 1504 *

James Beaton James Beaton (or Bethune) (1473–1539) was a Roman Catholic Scottish church leader, the uncle of David Cardinal Beaton and the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. Life James Beaton was the sixth and youngest son of John Beaton of Balfour ...

, 1504–1509 * Alexander Stewart, 1509–1513 * James Hepburn, 1513–1516 * Peter de Accoltis, 1514 *

Andrew Forman Andrew Forman (11 March 1521) was a Scottish people, Scottish diplomat and prelate who became Bishop of Moray in 1501, Archbishop of Bourges in France, in 1513, Archbishop of St Andrews in 1514 as well as being Commendator of several monasteries ...

, 1514–1521 *

(again), 1522–1539 * George Durie, 1526/39–1572 *

Robert Pitcairn Robert Pitcairn (May 6, 1836 – July 25, 1909) was a Scottish-American railroad executive who headed the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the late 19th century. He was the brother of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (now P ...

, 1553/72–1584Set the surviving motto on front of Abbot House, Dunfermline * Henry Pitcairn, 1582/4–1593 ** Patrick, Master of Gray, 1585–1587 ** George, Earl of Huntly, 1587

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. 58–59 * 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. 67–73 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunfermline * Lists of abbots Abbot of Dunfermline