Dunfermline Abbey drawn by John Slezer c.1690Dunfermline Abbey, circa 1919
ThePrior, thenAbbot and thenCommendator of Dunfermline was the head of theBenedictine monastic community ofDunfermline Abbey,Fife,Scotland. The abbey itself was founded in 1128 by KingDavid I of Scotland, but was of earlier origin. KingMáel Coluim mac Donnchada ("Malcolm III") had founded a church there with the help of Benedictines fromCanterbury. Monks had been sent there in the reign ofÉtgar mac Maíl Choluim (Edgar, 1097–1107) andAnselm had sent a letter requesting that Étgar's brother and successor KingAlaxandair mac Maíl Coluim (Alexander I, 1107–1124) protect these monks. By 1120, when Alaxandair sent a delegation to Canterbury to secureEadmer for thebishopric of St Andrews, there is a Prior of the Dunfermline monks by the name of Peter leading the delegation. Control of the abbey was secularized in the 16th century and after the accession ofJames Stewart in 1500, the abbey was held by commendators. In the second half of the 16th century, the abbey's lands were being carved up into lordships and it was finally annexed to the crown in July, 1593.
Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E.,Medieval Religious Houses: ScotlandWith an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man, Second Edition, (London, 1976), pp. 58–59
Watt, D.E.R. & Shead, N.F. (eds.),The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries (The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24), (Edinburgh, 2001), p. 67–73
