Abbot of Arbroath

Abbeyseal,depicting the murder of St Thomas Becket

Another abbey seal, again depicting the murder of St Thomas Becket

TheAbbot of ArbroathorAbbot of Aberbrothok(and later Commendator) was the head of theTironensianBenedictinemonastic community ofArbroath Abbey,Angus, Scotland,founded under the patronage of KingWilliam of ScotlandfromKelso Abbeyand dedicated toSt Thomas of Canterbury,Thomas Becket. The abbot, John Gedy, was granted themitreon 26 June 1396.Arbroath Abbey became the wealthiest and most powerful abbey in later medieval Scotland.

According to the poem "The Inchcape Rock"byRobert Southey,John Gedy, then Abbot of Aberbrothok, fixed a bell to the inchcape rock in the 1300s to warn mariners of the perilous rock.

The following is a list of abbots and commendators.

• Reginald, 1178–79
• Henry, 1179–1207
• Gilbert, 1208–19 x 1229
• Radulf de Lamley,1225–39
• Adam, 1240–46
• Walter, 1247–58 x
• Robert, 1261–67
• Sabinus, 1267?
• John, 1268–70
• William,1276–84
• Henry, 1285–96
• Nicholas,1296 x 99-1301
• John de Anegus, 1303–09
• Bernard,1310–28
• Geoffrey, 1329–47
• William, 1348–66
• John, 1370–84
• John Gedy, 1384–1410
• Walter Paniter, 1410–49
• Robert Bowmaker, 1419
• Richard Guthrie, 1449–55
• Malcolm Brydy, 1456–70
• Richard Guthrie, 1470–12
• Hugh Douglas, 1470
• Francis Gonzaga,1472
• Alexander Scrymgeour, 1472
• Patrick Graham, 1473–76
• George Boyce, 1472–82
• William Bonkil, 1482–84
• David Lichton, 1484–1503
• James Stewart,1503–04
• George Hepburn,1504–13
• Gavin Douglas,1514
• Andrew Forman,1514
• James Stewart,1514–17
• Peter de Accoltis, 1517
• James Beaton,1517–23 x 1524
• David Beaton,1524–45
• James Beaton II,1545–51
• George Douglas,1546
• John, Lord Hamilton1551–68
• George Douglas, (again) 1568–72, becameBishop of Moray
• John, Lord Hamilton (again), 1573–79
• Esmé Stuart,1579–83

References

• Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E.,Medieval Religious Houses: ScotlandWith an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man,Second Edition, (London, 1976)
• Summerson, Henry,"Gedy, John(fl.1370–1401?) ",Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 27 Jan 2009
• 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)