Saint Regulus or Saint Rule (

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

: ''Riagal'') was a

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

ary 4th century

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 ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

who in AD 345 is said to have fled to

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 ...

with the bones of

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

, and deposited them at

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

. His feast day in the Aberdeen

Breviary A breviary (Latin: ''breviarium'') is a liturgical book used in Christianity for praying the canonical hours, usually recited at seven fixed prayer times. Historically, different breviaries were used in the various parts of Christendom, such a ...

is 17 October.

Biography

The details of Saint Regulus' life are unclear and differ in the several extant accounts. Saint Regulus was a monk or bishop of the city of

, in present-day

, then part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. In AD 345 Regulus was told by an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

in a visionary dream that the

Emperor Constantine Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea ...

had decided to remove Saint Andrew's relics from

to Constantinople, and in some retellings that Constantine was about to invade Patras. For safekeeping Regulus was to move as many bones as far away as he could to the western ends of the earth, where he should found a church dedicated to St Andrew. He was accompanied on his voyage by a number of consecrated virgins, among these Saint Triduana. According to the various accounts Regulus was either shipwrecked or told by an angel to stop intentionally on the shores of

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 ...

at the spot called Kilrymont, a

Pictish Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...

settlement which is now St. Andrews. Here he was welcomed by a Pictish king,

Óengus I Óengus son of Fergus ( xpi, *Onuist map Vurguist; sga, Óengus mac Fergusso, "Angus son of Fergus"), was king of the Picts, of possible Gaelic origin, from 732 until his death in 761. His reign can be reconstructed in some detail from a varie ...

(who was actually of the eighth century). Regulus is claimed to have brought three fingers of the saint's right hand, the upper bone of an arm, one kneecap, and one of his teeth.

Legacy

In approximately 1070

Robert I, Prior of St Andrews Robert I or Robert of Nostell (died 1160) was a 12th-century Anglo-Norman Augustinian churchman, the first prior of St Andrews. Robert came to the Kingdom of Scotland from Nostell Priory as head of a group of Nostell canons establishing St And ...

built St Regulus Church in the town of St Andrews in order to house the relics of St Andrew that Regulus had supposedly brought to the town. It would serve as a landmark for the many pilgrims that would come to the area in the next few centuries. Its main architectural feature is its 33 metre tall tower, and the church itself is now principally known in the town as St Rule's tower. The legend of St Regulus came to have political significance in the later

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. It served to authenticate the apostle Andrew as

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of Scotland. The Regulus legend was publicised by

Scottish kings The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thought to have grown ...

, nobles and churchmen from the 12th century onwards. Scottish independence had come under threat from England since the late 11th century, and the Scottish church was contesting a claim to primacy by the

archbishop 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 th ...

. By promoting the story of Saint Andrew's choice of Scotland in the 4th century, the Scots acquired an important saint, a separate identity from England, and a date for the supposed foundation of the Scottish Church which predated the foundation of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and Irish churches by several centuries. Furthermore, during the

wars of Scottish Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of ...

the Scots used the legend to persuade

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of b ...

to issue the papal bull of 1299 which demanded that

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

end the war against Scotland. The legend would also lead to the adoption of the

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltator ...

on the

Scottish flag The flag of Scotland ( gd, bratach na h-Alba; sco, Banner o Scotland, also known as St Andrew's Cross or the Saltire) is the national flag of Scotland, which consists of a white saltire defacing a blue field. The Saltire, rather than the Roy ...

and the importance of the

archdiocese of St Andrews The Archdiocese of St Andrews (originally the Diocese of St Andrews) was a territorial episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in early modern and medieval Scotland. It was the largest, most populous and wealthiest diocese of the mediev ...

in the early Scottish Church.

St Regulus Hall St Regulus' Hall (known fondly as Reg's) is a hall of residence at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It is located on Queen's Terrace, nearby to St Mary's College. The hall was built in 1868 and currently accommodates ...

, the student hall of residence at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

is named after Saint Regulus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regulus 4th-century Christian saints 4th-century bishops in the Roman Empire Regulus, Saint Regulus, Saint

Saint Regulus Saint Regulus or Saint Rule (Old Irish: ''Riagal'') was a legendary 4th century monk or bishop of Patras, Greece who in AD 345 is said to have fled to Scotland with the bones of Saint Andrew, and deposited them at St Andrews. His feast day in ...

Greek Christian monks Saints of Roman Achaia Medieval Scottish saints Angelic visionaries Legendary Greek people Bishops of Patras People from Patras

Biography

Legacy

See also

References