Saulseat or Soulseat Abbey was a Premonstratensian monastic community located in Wigtownshire, Galloway, in the Gaelic-speaking south-west of Scotland.
Saulseat or Soulseat Abbey was a Premonstratensian monastic community located in Wigtownshire, Galloway, in the Gaelic-speaking south-west of Scotland.
There is some evidence that Soulseat Abbey is Viride Stagnum ("green loch"), that is, the Cistercian monastery founded by St Malachy somewhere in Galloway in 1148. [1] The name comes from the Gaelic word Sabhal, a word with many religious and monastic connotations. Perhaps because of Anglophone folk etymology, the name came to imply a connection to both Saul and the soul, taking the Latin form Sedes Animarum ("Seat of the Spirit").
Soulseat Loch takes its name from the Abbey, which was founded by Fergus, Lord of Galloway, for Premonstratensian canons regular, stood on a small peninsula in the loch. The abbey was apparently enclosed on the land side by a fosse or trench or canal which left it surrounded on all sides by water and therefore, relatively secure from attack of an enemy. [2] Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland had founded Dryburgh Abbey, on the banks of the River Tweed on Martinmas 1150.
The site of Soulseat Abbey (now a mound with five 16th-century gravestones thereon) is on the promontory of a loch with a very narrow isthmus, thus perhaps fitting the description. The Premonstratensian establishment certainly occurred before the death of King Fergus of Galloway, which took place in 1161. [1] The Obituary of Prémontré lists both King Fergus and Christian, bishop of Galloway (1154-86), as joint founders. Probably because of the abbey's cultural isolation from Lowland Scotland, almost none of the abbots are known by name before the 15th century. It is known though that the abbey suffered devastation from wars in the 14th century. Control of the abbey became secularized in the 15th century, and even more so after the Scottish Reformation. In 1630, it was taken over by the parsonage of Portpatrick. The site is now protected as a scheduled monument. [3]
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons, is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church founded in Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Norbert of Xanten, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg. Premonstratensians are designated by OPraem following their name.
Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November (Martinmas) 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland. The arrival of the canons along with their first abbot, Roger, took place on 13 December 1152.
Fergus of Galloway was a twelfth-century Lord of Galloway. Although his familial origins are unknown, it is possible that he was of Norse-Gaelic ancestry. Fergus first appears on record in 1136, when he witnessed a charter of David I, King of Scotland. There is considerable evidence indicating that Fergus was married to an illegitimate daughter of Henry I, King of England. It is possible that Elizabeth Fitzroy was the mother of Fergus's three children.
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Whithorn Priory was a medieval Scottish monastery that also served as a cathedral, located at 6 Bruce Street in Whithorn, Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway.
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Dercongal Abbey was a Premonstratensian monastic community located in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.
The Abbot of Soulseat was the head of the Premonstratensian monastic community of Soulseat Abbey in Galloway. The following is a list of abbots and commendators:
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Adam of Dryburgh, in later times also known as Adam the Carthusian, Adam Anglicus and Adam Scotus, was an Anglo-Scottish theologian, writer and Premonstratensian and Carthusian monk.
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