Scolland of Canterbury also known as Scotland was the

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 ...

of St Augustine's Abbey during the Norman conquest of England. He was an aid of Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He conducted building works at his abbey and promoted the veneration of Augustine in Canterbury.

Career

As a key aid of Bishop Lanfranc he was closely involved in the primacy debate between Lanfranc and

Thomas of Bayeux Thomas of Bayeux (died 1100) was Archbishop of York from 1070 until 1100. He was educated at Liège and became a royal chaplain to Duke William of Normandy, who later became King William I of England. After the Norman Conquest, the king ...

Bishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers ...

. He was sent as an ambassador to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1073 where he advocated for Augustin's role as apostle to the English, a doctrine that greatly assisted the case for Canterbury primacy. In 1072 he signed the statement of the Council of London 1075. at which the bishop Lanfranc blessed him. Scolland, also rebuilt many of the

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 con ...

building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fu ...

s in the

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

. He died in 1087 and was replaced by Wido. The monks of the Abbey however rebelled against Wido, and were expelled from the monastery and several were arrested.

Historical attestation

Scolland is mentioned in the

Doomesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, where he is listed as

Tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opp ...

of numerous small lots in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He witnessed a number of deeds of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

, and he is listed in the "regesta regum anglo-normannorum". He appears in the Vita of St Dunstan.

The Bayeux Tapestry

The abbot had been head monk in the

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

of Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel and carried much of the techniques developed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to Canterbury. as well as importing a number of

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

s from France. Howard B. Clarke has proposed that Scolland was the designer of the tapestry, because of his previous position as head of the scriptorium at Mont Saint-Michel, his travels to

Trajan's Column Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...

, and his connections to

Wadard Wadard was an 11th century Norman nobleman who is mentioned in Domesday Book, and is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. Wadard was a noble who travelled to England in 1066 with Duke William of Normandy. He is depicted and named in the Bayeux Tap ...

and Vital, two individuals identified in the tapestry.

Historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

Richard Gameson has suggested that a monk depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry and pointing at the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel is Abbot Scolland. Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel
english-heritage.org.uk.

References

{{reflist 1087 deaths Year of birth unknown Anglo-Normans Norman conquest of England