Reformation and The End of Monasticism
Following the century of the Reformation the barony of Coldingham, previously the possession of the Priory, was erected as a temporal lordship, under the Great Seal, dated October 16, 1621, upon John Stewart, second son of Francis Stewart, 1st Earl of Bothwell, who was the last Commendator of Coldingham Priory. He personally received from the Crown a charter dated October 19, 1621, of the lands and baronies belonging to the Priory, united into one barony. Feu charters in the hands of many of the small proprietors in the neighbourhood were originally granted by him, either as Commendator or Lord. John Stewart disponed these lands and the barony on June 16, 1622 to Francis Stewart, eldest son of the Earl.
Negotiations subsequently took place between the Earl of Home and the Stewarts for the Earl's acquisition of the Barony and its possessions. These apparently failed through the Earl's inability to provide the purchase price.
It is an interesting reflection on feudal superiors to note that in a petition to King Charles I dated April 4, 1636 the feuars and tenants still refer to themselves as "the vassals of the Abbacy of Coldingham". In this petition the vassals plead the oppression of the Stewarts and ask for the King to become the only superior Lord of Coldingham.
In Cromwell's time the Homes of Renton seem to have taken the barony of Coldingham from the Stewarts in lieu of debt, as Harry Home, natural son of John Home of Renton apprised the barony and its lands on November 26, 1656 from Robert Stewart, lawful son of the now deceased Francis Stewart. Harry Home subsequently assigned his right to Alexander Home, eldest lawful son of said John Home of Renton, the Precept by Oliver Cromwell being dated at Edinburgh, August 10, 1658
In 1857 there were about 70 'heritors' or feuholders in the barony. Today, of course, there are may more, all converted into freeholders with the abolition of feudal land tenure by the Scottish Parliament in November 2005.
Read more about this topic: Coldingham Priory
Famous quotes containing the words reformation and/or monasticism:
“Go on then in doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword; shew that reformation is more practicable by operating on the mind than on the body of man.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Christianity as an organized religion has not always had a harmonious relationship with the family. Unlike Judaism, it kept almost no rituals that took place in private homes. The esteem that monasticism and priestly celibacy enjoyed implied a denigration of marriage and parenthood.”
—Beatrice Gottlieb, U.S. historian. The Family in the Western World from the Black Death to the Industrial Age, ch. 12, Oxford University Press (1993)