The Church of the Friars Preachers of Blessed Virgin and Saint Dominic at Perth, commonly called "Blackfriars", was a

mendicant A mendicant (from , "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, Mendicant orders, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many i ...

friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

of the Catholic Church founded in the 13th century at

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The Dominicans ("Black friars") were said by

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotl ...

to have been brought to Scotland in 1230 by King

Alexander II of Scotland Alexander II ( Medieval Gaelic: '; Modern Gaelic: '; nicknamed "the Peaceful" by modern historians; 24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was King of Alba (Scotland) from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined t ...

, while John Spottiswood held that they were brought to Scotland by William de Malveisin,

Bishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews (, ) 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 (), the Archdiocese of St Andrews. The name St Andrews is not the town or ...

. Later tradition held that the Perth Dominican friary was founded by King Alexander II.Cowan & Easson, ''Medieval Religious Houses'', p. 119. The ''Pontifical Offices of St Andrews'' listed the friary as having been dedicated on 13 May 1240. The earliest surviving grant to the church dates to 31 October 1241. Perth was perhaps the most important royal centre in the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a Anglo-Sc ...

until the reign of King

James III of Scotland James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburg ...

, and the Dominican friary was frequently used for national church councils and as a residence for the King of the Scots. It was at Blackfriars church that King

James I of Scotland James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III of Scotland, Robert III and ...

was murdered on the night of 21 February 1437, by followers of the Earl of Atholl. With the growth of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

in Scotland, friaries were targeted by reformers more than any other church institutions, partly because their vitality posed the biggest threat. A Perth mob attacked the church on 14 May 1543, and on 11 May 1559, it and the other religious houses of the city were attacked, looted and put out of order. King

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

granted all the property of the church to the burgh of Perth on 9 August 1569, nine years after the Reformation Parliament of 1560. The monastery's southern wall was found to also be the northern wall of the Fair Maid's House in 2006.Perth, 21, 23 North Port, Fair Maid's House
– Canmore

Notes

References

* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History'', 2 vols, (Edinburgh, 1922) * Brown, M. H., "James I (1394–1437)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 10 November 2007
* 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) * Watt, D. E. R., ''Medieval Church Councils in Scotland'', (Edinburgh, 2000) * Wormald, Jenny, ''Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland 1470-1625'', (Edinburgh, 1981)

External links

Introduction to 'The Blackfriars of Perth' by Robert Milne D.D. of the West Kirk
{{Scottish Dominican friaries 1240 establishments in Scotland 1569 disestablishments in Scotland Dominican houses in Scotland History of Perth, Scotland Religious buildings and structures in Perth, Scotland Religion in Perth and Kinross Scottish parliamentary locations and buildings Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland Former Christian monasteries in Scotland

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External links