MELROSE, ABBEY OF

Former Cistercian monastery in Melrose, Scotland. The first cistercian monastery in Scotland and the first daughterhouse of rievaulx, it was founded by King david i in 1136 beside the river Tweed, a few miles distant from the Columban monastery founded c. 650 and memorable for its abbots, SS. aidan, Eata, Boisil, and cuthbert of lindisfarne. The choice of the new site foreshadowed the royal policy of supplanting the Celtic church with the Roman, the creation of dioceses, the introduction of religious orders, and the adoption of the rite and liturgy of the Continental system. The earliest buildings, conforming to the simple, severe style enjoined by the Cistercian rule, were not completed until 1146, when the church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Melrose founded the Abbeys of newbattle, Kindloss, Holmcultram, Cupar, and balmerino. The abbey's situation on the Roman road from England to Tweeddale and central Scotland was advantageous in times of peace, but disastrous during the continuous wars that lasted from the reign of King Edward I to that of Queen Elizabeth. The abbey was pillaged by Edward II in 1322; from 1346 to 1389 it was in English hands, during which time the church was burned in 1385; in 1544 and 1545 the abbey was again sacked, this time by the troops of henry viii, and by 1556 the buildings were in ruins; by 1570 much of the fabric had been cast down and plundered. In spite of the repeated raids, restoration and rebuilding went on; royal favor and generous benefaction facilitated repair and reconstruction. As it now stands, the abbey church belongs to the latter half of the 14th century and the first half of the 15th, a magnificent example of the late Decorated and early Perpendicular. Romanticized by Sir Walter Scott, it is perhaps not "the most splendid piece of later medieval architecture in Scotland," being somewhat cold, formal, and overelaborate—evidence of the extent to which the Cistercians had discarded the austere simplicity enjoined in their statutes. What remained of the church was, in 1618, adapted for use as a parish church and so continued until 1810. In 1919 the abbey was presented to the nation by the duke of Buccleuch and is now a national monument. The medieval abbots were granted the miter in 1391; many held high office in Church and state. The honorary title of abbot of Melrose seems to have been used only once, when it was bestowed upon the learned Juan caramuel lobkowitz (1606–82), later vicar general of the Cistercian Order in Great Britain.

Bibliography: The Chronicle of Melrose, ed. a. o. and m. o. anderson (London 1936). Liber Sancte Marie de Melros, ed. c. innes, 2 v. (Edinburgh 1837). j. morton, The Monastic Annals of Teviotdale (Edinburgh 1832). m. barrett, "Scottish Cistercian Houses," Dublin Review 130 (April 1902) 372–391. Melrose Abbey, published by H. M. Office of Works (London 1932), handiest guide to its architecture and history. d. e. easson, Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland (London 1957) 65.

[j. h. baxter]