Abbot of Crossraguel

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The Abbot of Crossraguel was the leader of the Cluniac monastic community of Crossraguel Abbey, near Maybole in Carrick, south-west Scotland. It was founded in 1260s by Donnchadh mac Gille Brigte, earl of Carrick with monks from Paisley Abbey. Owing to the lack of surviving records and its distance from the core of Lowland Scotland in the western Gàidhealtachd, few of the abbots are known by name. The abbots were replaced by commendators in the 16th century, and the abbey came to an end when its lands were taken over by the bishops of Dunblane in 1617.

Contents

The royal warrant in 1886 which revived the office of Dean of the Chapel Royal also gave the Dean the titles of Abbot of Crossraguel and Abbot of Dundrennan. [1]

The following is a list of abbots and commendators:

List of known abbots

The dissolution of monasteries then caused a cessation of true abbots in the functional sense.

List of pensioners and commendators

Notes

  1. Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia of the Laws of Scotland, Volume 7: The Crown, paragraph 838.
  2. Provided as abbot of Paisley, with Lithgow being provided as abbot of Crossraguel, but after an investigation by bishop of Moray acting for Avignon Pope Benedict XIII, seems to have been deemed unsuitable, and the provisions went the other way.
  3. See above note.

Bibliography

See also

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