The Abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

and then Commendator of Culross was the head of the monastic community of Culross Abbey

Culross Abbey

Culross Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Culross, Scotland, headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Culross. It is still used as the local parish church by the Church of Scotland.-History:...

, Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The abbey was founded in 1218 on the patronage of Maol Choluim I, Earl of Fife

Maol Choluim I, Earl of Fife

Mormaer Máel Coluim of Fife , or Maol Choluim anglicised as Malcolm, was one of the more obscure mormaers of Fife.He married Matilda, the daughter of Gille Brigte, the mormaer of Strathearn. He is credited with the foundation of Culross Abbey...

 by Cistercian monks from Kinloss Abbey

Kinloss Abbey

Kinloss Abbey is a Cistercian abbey approximately 3 miles east of Forres in the county of Moray, Scotland.The abbey was founded in 1150 by King David I and was first colonised by monks from Melrose Abbey. It received its Papal Bull from Pope Alexander III in 1174, and later came under the...

, Moray

Moray

Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...

. Control of the abbey was secularized in the 16th century and after the accession of James Stewart, the abbey was held by commendators. The number of monks under the abbot had also declined by the 16th century, there being only 15 monks by 1557.

List of Abbots

• Hugh (I), 1217-1227
• William de Ramsay, 1230-1232
• Hugh (II), 1232-1245
• Matthew, 1245-1246
• Geoffrey, 1246-1252
• Michael, 1252-1260
• John de Haddington, 1260
• Gilbert, c. 1296
• ???, d. 1329 x 1331
• Adam de Strivelyn (or Scrawelyn), x 1337-1340
• Walter, 1340x1354
• Adam de Crail, c. 1399
• John de Peebles, c. 1399-1435
• Robert de Wedale, 1435-1444
• Laurence de Lindores, 1436-1443 x 1444
• Richard Marshall, 1449-1467 x 1469
• James Rait, 1468 x 1469-1489 x 1490
• Laurence Button, x 1486
• Andrew Mason, c1486
• John Hog, 1490-1492
• Andrew Forman, 1492-1493
• Thomas, 1492-1493
• Andrew Mason (again), 1493-1510
• Philip of Luxembourg, c. 1510
• James Stewart, 1511-1513

List of Commendators

• Thomas Nudry, 1514-1527
• Peter de Accoltis, 1529
• James Inglis, 1529-1531
• Sixtus Zuchellus, 1531
• William Colville, 1531-1567
• John Colville (I), 1535-1550 x 1552
• William Colville (again), 1550 x 1552-1567
• Francis Stewart, 1567
• Alexander Colville, 1567-1581/7
• John Colville (II), 1581-1587,
• Alexander Colville (again), 1587-1597
• John Colville (again), 1597-1609

Current ministry

The remaining intact part of Culross Abbey is still used by the Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

as the local parish church. The current minister of Culross Abbey (since 2009) is the Reverend Jayne Scott.