List of Collegiate Churches in Scotland

List Of Collegiate Churches In Scotland

There are no functioning Collegiate churches in Scotland today. It is thought that the first Collegium of canons with its own chapel was formed in St. Andrews in the 13th century, and it is thought that by the Reformation there were more than 50 secular religious houses. The proscription of the Catholic faith in 1567 meant that these houses had to close. Although Scotland endured the Iconoclasm of the Reformation, there are still some handsome structures extant. Some Collegiate churches were converted into local parish Kirks, whilst others have fallen to ruin, some a mixture of the two.

As a response to the power of Mediæval Monastiscm, the rulers of Scotland—in common with many other Northern European states—tried to control the power of the church by encouraging local magnates to commission secular houses of worship within their lands and often within their own fortalices.

These churches were often considered as private fiefdoms within certain families as a means to ensure prayers for their souls and for the glory and immortality of their lines. Establishing previous monastic establishments as Collegia of Canons helped to "temporalise" authority over large areas of valuable land and increase the power of the crown.