Christianity in Medieval Scotland - Early Middle Ages - Gaelic Monasticism

Gaelic Monasticism

Scotland was untouched by continental forms of monasticism until the late eleventh century. Some early Scottish establishments are famous for their dynasties of abbots, who were often secular clergy with families, most famously at Dunkeld and Brechin; but these existed across Scotland north of the Forth, as at Portmahomack, Mortlach, and Abernethy. Perhaps in reaction to this secularisation of monasticism a reforming movement of monks called Céli Dé (lit. "vassals of God"), anglicised as culdees, spread to Scotland from Ireland in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. Some Céli Dé took vows of chastity and poverty and while some lived individually as hermits, others lived beside or within existing monasteries.

Physically monasteries differed significantly from those on the continent, and were often an isolated collection of wooden huts surrounded by a wall. The Irish architectural influence can be seen in surviving round towers at Brechin and Abernethy. Scottish monasticism remained a vital force into the high Middle Ages, playing a part in the Hiberno-Scottish mission, where monasteries, often called Schottenklöster, were founded by Gaelic monks on the continent, and Scottish monks, such as St Cathróe of Metz, became local saints. In most cases, these monks were not replaced by new continental monks in the Norman period and the tradition continued until the thirteenth century.