Expansion across Britain: Scotland

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Map of Cistercian abbeys in Scotland

Melrose Abbey from the south east
<click to enlarge>

From its first foundation Rievaulx was intended to be a mission centre, from which the branches of the Order might spread throughout Scotland, as well as the North of England. The Cistercians penetrated Scotland soon after their arrival in the North, with the foundation of Melrose Abbey in 1136.

Cistercian expansion in Scotland was closely connected with the royal court - David of Scotland, an early patron of Rievaulx also founded Melrose and Dundrennan, both of which were colonised by Rievaulx.

Eight of the nine Scottish abbeys were founded from Melrose and Dundrennan, and most were connected with the royal household. Despite the General Chapter’s prohibition of new foundations in 1152, the Order continued to expand in Scotland during the twelfth century. The Scottish abbeys were particularly affected by the wars between England and Scotland in the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and suffered financial and economic losses.