Robert de Keldeleth (or Robert Kenleith) (died 1273) was a 13th-century
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 ...
and then
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
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. The fem ...
. He started his senior career as
Abbot of Dunfermline
The Prior, then Abbot and then Commendator of Dunfermline was the head of the Benedictine monastic community of Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, Scotland. The abbey itself was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland, but was of earlier origin. King M ...
(1240–52), becoming
Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland, formally the Lord High Chancellor, was a Great Officer of State in the Kingdom of Scotland.
Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower st ...
later in the 1240s. He took a prominent role as a supporter of
Alan Durward
Alan Hostarius (or Alan Durward) ( gd, Ailean Dorsair) (died after 1264, or in 1275) was the son of Thomas de Lundin, a grandson of Gille Críst, Mormaer of Mar. His mother's name is unknown, but she was almost certainly a daughter of Máel ...
during the minority of
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III (Medieval ; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Scots from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. His ...
, and appears to have lost the Chancellorship as result. Following his resignation of the abbacy of Dunfermline, he became a Cistercian monk at
Newbattle Abbey
Newbattle Abbey ( gd, Abaid a' Bhatail Nuaidh) was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution.
Monastery
It was founded in 1140 by mo ...
while continuing a comparatively less active role on the wider stage. In 1269 he became
Abbot of Melrose
The Abbot and then Commendator of Melrose was the head of the monastic community of Melrose Abbey, in Melrose in the Borders region of Scotland. The abbots of the earlier Northumbrian foundation from Lindisfarne are not included here. The seco ...
(1269–1273), Newbattle's mother house, and held this position for the last four years of his life.
Dunfermline
His name suggests he came from or was associated with
Kinleith
Kinleith is a rural settlement in the South Waikato District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It includes the Kinleith Mill.
Statistics New Zealand defines Kinleith as an area covering a land area of .
History
The estimated popu ...
, in
Currie
Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...
parish,
Midlothian
Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...
.
[Tait & Reid "Kenleith , Robert (d. 1273)".]
Robert began his career as a Benedictine
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 ...
at
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 Refor ...
,
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 (i ...
,
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 ...
. After the death of Abbot Geoffrey III on 5 October 1240, he was chosen as the new
Abbot of Dunfermline
The Prior, then Abbot and then Commendator of Dunfermline was the head of the Benedictine monastic community of Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, Scotland. The abbey itself was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland, but was of earlier origin. King M ...
. He became one of Dunfermline's most successful abbots and enjoyed a close relationship with King
Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II (Medieval Gaelic: '; Modern Gaelic: '; 24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was King of Scotland from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined the boundary between England and Scotland, virtually unch ...
. After a request was made by the king, on 3 May 1245,
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...
wrote to Abbot Robert granting permission for the latter to use a
mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...
and a ring, a privilege which increased the abbey's status.
[Anderson, ''Early Sources'', 518.] Robert further elevated the abbey's status by successfully spearheading a campaign to
canonise
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...
Saint Margaret of Scotland
Saint Margaret of Scotland ( gd, Naomh Maighréad; sco, Saunt Marget, ), also known as Margaret of Wessex, was an English princess and a Scottish queen. Margaret was sometimes called "The Pearl of Scotland". Born in the Kingdom of Hungary to th ...
, a figure who had been claimed to be Dunfermline's founder and whose shrine lay in the town; the
translation
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
of her remains took place in June 1250. Such successes were undoubtedly helped by Robert's good relationship with the Pope.
[ Robert was officially a Papal chaplain, and, for instance, the Pope had charged Robert to assist in a dispute with the ]Bishop of St Andrews
The Bishop of St. Andrews ( gd, Easbaig Chill Rìmhinn, sco, Beeshop o Saunt Andras) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews ( gd, Àrd-easbaig ...
regarding a benefice
A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
that he wished to bestow on a Florentine follower.[
]
National politics
Robert's career rise continued when, at an unknown point between 1247 and 1251, he became Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland, formally the Lord High Chancellor, was a Great Officer of State in the Kingdom of Scotland.
Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower st ...
.[ He was on the Council of Guardians formed to govern Scotland after the death of Alexander II on 6 July 1249. The governing Council broke down around two rival factions, one centred on ]Walter Comyn
Walter Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1258) was the son of William Comyn, Justiciar of Scotia and Mormaer or Earl of Buchan by right of his second wife.
Life
Walter makes his first appearance in royal charters as early as 1211–1214. In 1220 ...
and the other around Alan Durward
Alan Hostarius (or Alan Durward) ( gd, Ailean Dorsair) (died after 1264, or in 1275) was the son of Thomas de Lundin, a grandson of Gille Críst, Mormaer of Mar. His mother's name is unknown, but she was almost certainly a daughter of Máel ...
; Robert became a firm member of the Durward faction.[ The Comyn's later accused Robert of using his ]seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
(the Great Seal of the Chancellor) and influence in an attempt to legitimise Durward's wife, a bastard
Bastard may refer to:
Parentage
* Illegitimate child, a child born to unmarried parents
** Bastard (law of England and Wales), illegitimacy in English law
People People with the name
* Bastard (surname), including a list of people with that na ...
daughter of Alexander II, an act which would have made Durward heir to the throne. However, Robert's position became difficult when in 1251 the Walter Comyn gained control of the government. In 1252 Robert lost the position of Chancellor.[
]
Robert the Cistercian
In the same year Robert resigned his position as Abbot of Dunfermline and retired to be a Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
monk at Newbattle Abbey
Newbattle Abbey ( gd, Abaid a' Bhatail Nuaidh) was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution.
Monastery
It was founded in 1140 by mo ...
. Nevertheless, Robert did not cease to be active on the wider stage, and his relationship with Pope Innocent continued even as a humble monk of Newbattle. In August and September 1260, Robert was used as a messenger between King Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III (Medieval ; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Scots from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. His ...
and King Henry III of England
Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...
. Moreover, by the end of the 1260s he rose again to the position of Abbot. After the resignation of John de Ederham, Robert was chosen to become Abbot of Melrose
The Abbot and then Commendator of Melrose was the head of the monastic community of Melrose Abbey, in Melrose in the Borders region of Scotland. The abbots of the earlier Northumbrian foundation from Lindisfarne are not included here. The seco ...
. Melrose Abbey
St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of ...
was the mother-house of Newbattle and the position of Abbot of Melrose was the senior Cistercian post in Scotland. Robert held the position for four years. He resigned and died in the year 1273.[Watt & Shead, ''Heads of Religious Houses'', 151; Tait & Reid, "Kenleith , Robert (d. 1273)".] He was probably buried in Melrose Abbey
St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of ...
.[
]
Notes
References
* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286'', 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922), vol. 2
* Barrow, G. W. S., "Margaret t Margaret
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
(d. 1093)", in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
, accessed 17 Feb 2007
* Fawcett, Richard, & Oram, Richard, ''Melrose Abbey'', (Stroud, 2004)
* Laing, David, ''Andrew of Wyntoun, The orygynale cronykil of Scotland'', revised edition 2, ( Edinburgh, 1872)
* Tait, James, "Kenleith , Robert (d. 1273)", rev. Norman H. Reid, in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
, accessed 17 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)
* Young, Alan, "The Political Role of Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith During the Minority of Alexander III of Scotland", in K. J. Stringer (ed.), ''Essays on the nobility of medieval Scotland'', (Edinburgh, 1985), pp. 131–49
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keldeleth, Robert de
1273 deaths
Abbots of Dunfermline
Abbots of Melrose
Lord chancellors of Scotland
Scottish abbots
1200 births
Scottish Benedictines