The

Prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

, then

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

and then

Commendator In canon law, commenda (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical ...

of Dunfermline was the head of the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastic community of

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 confiscated and sacked in 1560 during the S ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

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 abbey itself was founded in 1128 by King

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Scottish Gaelic, Modern Gaelic: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th century ruler and saint who was David I as Prince of the Cumbrians, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 112 ...

, but was of earlier origin. King Máel Coluim mac Donnchada ("Malcolm III") had founded a church there with the help of Benedictines from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. Monks had been sent there in the reign of Étgar mac Maíl Choluim (Edgar, 1097–1107) and Anselm had sent a letter requesting that Étgar's brother and successor King Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim (Alexander I, 1107–1124) protect these monks. By 1120, when Alaxandair sent a delegation to Canterbury to secure

Eadmer Eadmer or Edmer ( – ) was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his ''Vita Anselmi'', and for his ''Historia novorum i ...

for the

bishopric 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 ...

, there is a Prior of the Dunfermline monks by the name of Peter leading the delegation. Control of the abbey was secularized in the 16th century and after the accession of

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

in 1500, the abbey was held by commendators. In the second half of the 16th century, the abbey's lands were being carved up into lordships and it was finally annexed to the crown in July, 1593.

List of Priors

* Peter, 1120 * Richard Mongal, 1133-1148

List of Abbots

* Geoffrey I, 1148–1154 * Geoffrey II, 1154–1178 * Archibald, 1178–1198 * Robert de Berwick, 1198–1202 * Patrick, 1202–1217x1223 * William I, 1223 * William II, 1223 x 1226–1238 * Geoffrey III, 1238–1240 *

Robert de Keldeleth Robert de Keldeleth (or Robert Kenleith) (died 1273) was a 13th-century Benedictine and then Cistercian abbot. He started his senior career as Abbot of Dunfermline (1240–52), becoming Chancellor of Scotland later in the 1240s. He took a promine ...

, 1240–1252 * John, 1252–1256 * Matthew, 1256 * Simon, 1267–1275 * Radulf de Greenlaw, 1275–1296 * Hugh, 1304x1306-1313 * Robert de Crail, 1314–1328 * Alexander Ber, c. 1328-9-1350 x 1351 * John Black, 1351 * John de Stramiglot, 1351–1383x1388 * William de Angus, 1383 * John de Torry, 1388–1409 * William de St Andrews (Anderston), 1413–1426 * Robert de Scotland, 1418–1419 * William Brown, 1427 * Andrew de Kirkcaldy, 1427–1444 * Richard de Bothwell, 1444–1468 * Alexander Thomson, c. 1470 * Henry Crichton, 1471–1482 * Adam Cant, 1483–1490 * George Crichton, 1490–1500 ** Opposed by Raphael Riario, 1491–1492 ** Opposed by Robert Swinton, 1492 ** Opposed by Thomas Cranston, 1492 ** Opposed by Andrew Pictoris, 1492

List of Commendators

, 1500–1504 * Gilbert Strachan, 1504 *

James Beaton James Beaton (or Bethune) ( – 15 February 1539) was a Roman Catholic Scottish church leader, the uncle of David Cardinal Beaton and the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. Life James Beaton was the sixth and youngest son of John Beaton ...

, 1504–1509 * Alexander Stewart, 1509–1513 * James Hepburn, 1513–1516 * Peter de Accoltis, 1514 *

Andrew Forman Andrew Forman (11 March 1521) was a Scottish diplomat and prelate who became Bishop of Moray in 1501, Archbishop of Bourges in France, in 1513, Archbishop of St Andrews in 1514 as well as being Commendator of several monasteries. Early life He ...

, 1514–1521 *

(again), 1522–1539 *

George Durie George Durie (Dury confused by Watt & Shead with Drury) (died 1577), abbot of Dunfermline and archdeacon of St Andrews, son of John Durie of Durie in the county of Fife, and brother to Andrew Durie, bishop of Galloway, was born about 1496. ...

, 1526/39–1572 * Robert Pitcairn, 1553/72–1584Set the surviving motto on front of Abbot House, Dunfermline * Henry Pitcairn, 1582/4–1593 ** Patrick, Master of Gray, 1585–1587 ** George, Earl of Huntly, 1587

Notes

Bibliography

* 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), pp. 58–59 * 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), p. 67–73 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunfermline * Lists of abbots

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 ...