John Abercromby ( fl. 1561) was, according to

Thomas Dempster Thomas Dempster (23 August 1579 – 6 September 1625) was a Scottish scholar and historian. Born into the aristocracy in Aberdeenshire, which comprises regions of both the Scottish highlands and the Scottish lowlands, he was sent abroad as a yo ...

's ''Historia ecclesiastica'' (1829), a

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 ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

who was executed for his Roman Catholicism. However, his identity is doubtful: "Abercromby has not come to light in recent scholarly work, nor is he found in the published records... The only possible conclusion is that John Abercromby is a figment, a ‘ghost’ fabricated by Thomas Dempster." According to the 1885 '' Dictionary of National Biography'', he was the author of ''Veritatis Defensio'' and ''Hæreseos Confusio.''

References

16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Benedictine monks People whose existence is disputed Year of birth unknown {{RC-clergy-stub