Melrose Abbey
| Melrose Cistercian Abbey | |
|---|---|
 Melrose Abbey |
|
| location |
 United Kingdom of Scotland
|
| Coordinates: | 55 ° 35 '56 " N , 2 ° 43' 4" W |
| Serial number according to Janauschek |
94 |
| founding year | 1136 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1560 |
| Mother monastery | Rievaulx Monastery |
| Primary Abbey | Clairvaux Monastery |
|
Daughter monasteries |
Newbattle Abbey |
Monastery Melrose ( En : Melrose Abbey ) in Melrose , Scotland , was to 1136 at the request of the Scottish king David I of Cistercian monks built. The monastery was a daughter foundation of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire ( England ) from the filiation of the Branch Clairvaux . The Ostend was completed in 1146 - other buildings in the complex were added over the next 50 years. The abbey was built in the shape of a St. John's cross (a type of Gothic architecture). Large parts of the monastery are now only preserved as a ruin, a building from 1590 is accessible as a museum.
Alexander II of Scotland and other Scottish kings and nobles are buried here. Robert the Bruce's embalmed heart is also believed to have been buried on the monastery grounds after being brought back from a crusade. In 1812, a stone coffin was discovered in one of the ships in the southern chancel, which is speculated to belong to the philosopher and "magician" Michael Scotus .
The abbey is now maintained by "Historic Scotland", a Scottish commission that is committed to the preservation of old buildings. It is known for its numerous decorations carved in stone depicting saints, dragons, gargoyles and plants. On one of the stairs of the monastery there is an inscription by John Morow, a builder, which says: “Be halde to ye hende” (Think of your end, your redemption). This saying is the motto of the city of Melrose today .
history
As early as the 6th century there was an older abbey about two miles east of the present monastery, which was dedicated to St. Aidan . It was destroyed by Kenneth I of Scotland in 839.
King David I wanted the new abbey to be built on the same site, but the monks argued that the land there was unsuitable for arable farming and chose the current site instead. The abbey became the mother church of the order in Scotland. Daughter monasteries in Scotland were Newbattle Abbey , Kinloss Abbey with its own daughters ( Culross Abbey and Deer Abbey ), Coupar Angus Abbey and Balmerino Abbey . Holme Cultram Abbey in Cumbria (England) was also a subsidiary of Melrose .
A small town slowly grew around the abbey. In 1322 the city was attacked by Edward II of England and large parts of the abbey were destroyed. It was later rebuilt with the help of Robert the Bruce .
In 1385 the monastery was burned down by the army of Richard II of England when he forced the army of David II from Scotland back to Edinburgh . The abbey was rebuilt over a period of 100 years - construction was not finished when James IV of Scotland arrived to visit in 1504.
In 1544, when English troops rushed through Scotland again, the abbey was badly damaged and never fully restored. This led to its decline as an inhabited monastery. The last abbot was James Stuart (the son of James V ), who died in 1559. In 1590 the last monk of Melrose Abbey died.
The abbey buildings survived a final attack by Oliver Cromwell who bombed them during the English Civil War. Traces of it are still visible today in the outer walls.
In 1610 part of the monastery was made into a parish church for the village of Melrose , until a new church was built in the center of town in 1810.
In 1858 Theodor Fontane visited the abbey and described it in his travelogue Beyond the Tweed .
