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Scottish saints cults and pilgrimage from the Black Death to the Reformation, c.1349-1560 Thomas JM Turpie PhD University of Edinburgh 2011 Declaration I declare that this thesis has been composed by me and that the work is my own. It has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. NB: Some of the material in Chapter Three expands on work done towards the degree of MSc in Medieval History (University of Edinburgh, 2007); all text is substantially different from any submitted towards that degree. Abstract This thesis is an examination of the most important Scottish saints’ cults and pilgrimage centres in the period c.1349-1560. Specifically, this project locates the role of this group within the wider devotional practices of the late medieval kingdom. Through analysis of liturgical calendars, ecclesiastical dedications, contemporary literature and naming and pilgrimage patterns, it identifies and explains the distinctive features of the veneration of national saints in late medieval Scotland in the two centuries from the first appearance of the Black Death in 1349 to the Reformation in 1560. The key theme of this thesis is the consideration of the manner in which external factors, such as general Western European social and religious developments, and distinctly local phenomena such as the intermittent warfare with England and the varied agendas of interest groups like shrine custodians, the national church and the crown, impacted upon the saintly landscape of the late medieval kingdom and the popular piety of its people. The medieval cult of the saints is a subject of considerable value for historians because it was a movement in a constant state of flux. It adapted to the socio-religious context of the societies in which it operated. Although never neglected as an area of study, the cult of the saints in Scotland has received further attention in recent years through the influence of the Survey of Dedications to Saints in Medieval Scotland project carried out at the University of Edinburgh from 2004-7. However, studies on the role and function of national and local saints, those believed by contemporaries to have had a Scottish provenance or a hagiographical connection to the medieval kingdom, have tended to focus on two specific periods. These were the so called ‘age of the saints’, the period between the fourth and eighth centuries in which the majority of these men and women were thought to have been active, or the twelfth and thirteenth centuries from when the main Latin hagiographical sources originate. The role and function of this group in the later middle ages has been either neglected or subject to the pervasive influence of a 1968 article by David McRoberts which argued that church- and crown- sponsored patriotism was the main factor in shaping popular piety in this period. This thesis will question this premise and provide the first in- depth study of the cults of St Andrew, Columba of Iona/Dunkeld, Kentigern of Glasgow and Ninian of Whithorn in a late medieval Scottish context, as well as the lesser known northern saint, Duthac of Tain. Contents Acknowledgements page i List of Maps, Tables and Photographs ii Abbreviations iv Introduction 1 1. The Sancti Scotticani in devotional literature and religious practice c.1349-1560 16 I. Scottish saints in the liturgy 16 i. Scottish calendars, c.1200-1590 21 ii. The Aberdeen Breviary 24 II. Saints in the histories of Scotland 25 i. Fordun, Bower and Wyntoun 26 ii. Maior and Boece 29 iii. Nationalism or localism in the Scottish historical tradition 31 III. Pilgrimage in late medieval Scotland 32 i. Marian and Christ shrines 34 ii. Shrines of international and national saints 36 iii. A new geography of pilgrimage 39 IV. Ecclesiastical dedications 41 i. Cathedral churches 44 ii. Burgh churches 46 iii. National saints in Scottish churches 48 V. Onomastic patterns 49 i. Ninian and Duthac 51 ii. Kentigern, Kessog and Constantine 52 iii. Scottish saints as personal names 54 Conclusion 55 2. The late medieval cult of St Ninian of Whithorn in Scotland and the British Isles 58 I. The Ninian cult in the British Isles, c.1100-1560 60 i. Ninian in Scotland before the Wars of Independence 60 ii. Whithorn and the cult in late medieval Scotland 63 iii. International interest in Ninian and Whithorn 68 II. Catalysts for the growth of the cult in the later middle ages 81 i. Ninian and the Scottish crown, c.1306-1450 82 ii. James II, the Black Douglases and Richard III 86 iii. A royal saint? James IV & V and Whithorn 89 iv. Ninian as a ‘popular’ patron of Scotland 92 v. Ninian as an intercessor 98 vi. Cult and shrine management 104 Conclusion 107 3. The cult of St Duthac in late medieval Scotland 111 I. 1066 and all that. The early cult and Duthac legend 112 i. Early evidence for the cult 112 ii. The Civic legend 116 iii. The St Andrews legend 119 iv. The Caithness legend 122 iv. The ‘Historical’ St Duthac 123 II. Catalysts and networks for expansion in the later middle ages 125 i. The Lothian cult 130 ii. The Burghal cult 131 iii. The Royal cult 134 III. The function of the saint and cult management 139 i. Duthac as a saint type 139 ii. Other functions of the saint and main devotees 141 iii. Cult and shrine management 144 Conclusion 149 4. The Scottish episcopal saints, Andrew, Columba and Kentigern in the later middle ages 151 I. Andrew, Columba and Kentigern in Scotland, c.1100-c.1400 152 i. The development of Andrew into the Scottish regnal patron 152 ii. Pilgrimage to St Andrews 160 iii. Columba of Dunkeld and Inchcolm 164 iv. Walter Bower and the Columba cult in the fourteenth century 168 v. Kentigern of Glasgow, c.1100-c.1400 172 II. When the miracles ceased. Shrine and cult management in fifteenth and sixteenth century Scotland 179 i. The Andrean cult and his Fife shrine, c.1378-1560 180 ii. Columba in eastern and lowland Scotland 185 iii. Kentigern and Mungo, c.1400-1560 190 Conclusion 197 Conclusion 200 Appendix: The category ‘Scottish’ saints 206 Bibliography 210 i Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisor Dr Steve Boardman for initially encouraging me to come to Edinburgh, and thereafter offering many hours worth of support, advice and his unquenchable enthusiasm for all things medieval and Scottish throughout the MSc and PhD process. The advice and encouragement of other members of the department at Edinburgh, in particular Dr James Fraser, Dr Matthew Hammond, Dr Tom Brown and Professor Judith Green, has also been invaluable. I must also thank Dr Simon Taylor of Glasgow for his advice on technical issues, Jim Hinks for his expert proof reading skills and my undergraduate tutor at the University of Stirling, Dr Michael Penman who guided my first faltering steps in medieval Scottish history. Thanks must also go to the postgraduate administration staff at Edinburgh who have provided essential support services, and the workers of the various libraries at which the research for this project has taken place, in particular the ever helpful and cheerful librarians at the National Library of Scotland. I must also thank the University of Edinburgh for the various scholarships which have helped to sustain my studies during the MSc and PhD, but most importantly my parents. Without their financial support and continuing encouragement, this study would not have been possible. Moral support has also been provided by a number of individuals. During my undergraduate days at Stirling, Joseph Bennett, Muir Shaw, Fiona Shaw and the other members of our honours class provided hours of fascinating discussion on late medieval Scotland. Thanks must also go to my MSc colleagues Euan Mackenzie, Daniel Murray, Garret Ratcliffe and Brian Wallace, with their infectious passion for the ancient and medieval worlds, and whose weekly coffee meetings forced me from the office at a respectable hour. More recently my officemates Dr Alima Bucciantini, Katherine Nicholai and Dr Cathryn Spence who, having been through the whole process first, showed me it could be done without (too much) of a descent into madness. Thanks must also go to the members of Drummond Trinity CC who reminded me that from May to September batting and bowling averages are more important than any academic qualifications. Perhaps the greatest thanks must go to my partner Carol Leslie who has put up with the side affects of the PhD on a day to day basis, shown enthusiasm at the prospect of trips to numerous medieval sites and always helped to take my mind away from the project. This thesis is dedicated to my grandparents Anne and Thomas Turpie. Any mistakes are of course my own. ii List of Maps, Tables and Photographs Maps