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The story of early Christianity in Scotland is as obscure as it is in Ireland. The earliest missionaries are traditionally Saint Ninian and Saint Columba. Ninian himself is now regarded as largely a construct of the Northumbrian church, after the Bernician takeover of Whithorn and conquest of southern Galloway. The name itself is a scribal corruption of Uinniau ('n's and 'u's look almost identical in early insular calligraphy), a saint of probable British extraction who is also known by the Gaelic equivalent of his name, Finnian.[1] St Columba, the most important saint of medieval Scots, was certainly Uinniau's disciple. However, the earliest evidence of Christianity in northern Britain predates the respective floruit of either missionary. We can be sure that at least that all of northern Britain, except the Scandinavian far north and west was Christian by the 10th century. The most important factors for the conversion of Scotland were the Roman province of Britannia to the south, and later the so-called Gaelic or Celtic Christianity, an interlinked system of monasteries and aristocratic networks which combined to spread both Christianity and the Gaelic language amongst the Picts.
The so-called Celtic church is a controversial term which is used by scholars both for the Gaelic church and for the religious establishment of northern Britain prior to the 12th century, when new religious institutions and ideologies of primarily French origin began to take root in Scotland. The typical features of native Scottish Christianity are relaxed ideas of clerical celibacy, intense secularization of ecclesiastical institutions, and the lack of a dioscesan structure. Instead of bishops and archbishops, the most important offices of the native Scottish church were abbots (or coarbs). Some early Scottish establishments are famous for their dynasties of abbots, the most famous being Dunkeld and Brechin; but these existed all over Scotland north of the Forth. Some, such as Portamahomack, Mortlach, and Abernethy suffered diminution in importance in the Norman period and are now not as famous.
As the most remote province of the Roman Empire, Britain was reached by Christianity in the first few centuries of the Christian era, with the first recorded martyr in Britain being St. Alban (during the reign of Diocletian). The process of Christianisation intensified following the legalization of the religion under Constantine in the 4th century, and its promotion by subsequent Christian emperors. In 407, the Empire withdrew its legions from the province to defend Italy from Visigothic attack. The city of Rome would be sacked in 410, and the legions did not permanently return to Britain. Thus, Roman governmental influence ended on the isle, and, with the following decline of Roman imperial political influence, Britain and the surrounding isles developed distinctively from the rest of the West. The Irish Sea acted as a centre from which a new culture developed among the Celtic peoples, and Christianity acted centrally in this process. What emerged, religiously, was a form of Insular Christianity, with certain distinct traditions and practices. The religion spread to Ireland at this time, though the island had never been part of the Roman Empire, establishing a unique organization around monasteries, rather than episcopal dioceses. Important figures in the process were SS. Ninian, Palladius, and Patrick (the "Apostle to the Irish"). Meanwhile, this development was paralleled by the advent of the Anglo-Saxon (English) migration / invasion into eastern Britain from Frisia and other Germanic areas, resulting in cultural hostility in Britain between the British and the (then pagan) English.
Early Pictish religion is presumed to have resembled Celtic polytheism in general. The date at which Pictish kings converted to Christianity is uncertain, but there are traditions which place Saint Palladius in Pictland after leaving Ireland, and link Abernethy with Saints Brigid and Darlugdach of Kildare.[1] Saint Patrick refers to "apostate Picts", while the poem Y Gododdin does not remark on the Picts as pagans.[2] Conversion of the Pictish élite seems likely to have run over a considerable period, beginning in the 5th century and not complete until the 7th. Recent archaeological work at Portmahomack places the foundation of the monastery there, an area once assumed to be among the last converted, in the late 6th century.[3] This is contemporary with Bridei mac Maelchon and Columba. The process of establishing Christianity throughout Pictland will have extended over a much longer period. Pictland was not solely influenced by Iona and Ireland. It also had ties to churches in England, as seen in the reign of Nechtan mac Der Ilei. The reported expulsion of Ionan monks and clergy by Nechtan in 717 may have been related to the controversy over the dating of Easter, and the manner of tonsure, where Nechtan appears to have supported the Roman usages, but may equally have been intended to increase royal power over the church.[4] Nonetheless, the evidence of place names suggests a wide area of Ionan influence in Pictland.[5] Likewise, the Cáin Adomnáin (Law of Adomnán, Lex Innocentium) counts Nechtan's brother Bridei among its guarantors.
Christianity probably came to Scotland around the 2nd century, and was firmly established by the 6th and 7th centuries. However, until the 11th century, the relationship between the Church in Scotland and the Papacy is ambiguous. The Scottish 'Celtic' Church had marked liturgical and ecclesiastic differences from the rest of Western Christendom. Some of these were resolved at the end of the 7th century following the Synod of Whitby and St Columba's withdrawal to Iona, however, it was not until the ecclesiastical reforms of the 11th century that the Scottish Church became an integral part of the Roman communion.
The importance of monastic centres in Pictland was not perhaps as great as in Ireland. In areas which had been studied, such as Strathspey and Perthshire, it appears that the parochial structure of the High Middle Ages existed in early medieval times. Among the major religious sites of eastern Pictland were Portmahomack, Cennrígmonaid (later St Andrews), Dunkeld, Abernethy and Rosemarkie. It appears that these are associated with Pictish kings, which argues for a considerable degree of royal patronage and control of the church.[6]
Scotland was untouched by continental forms of monasticism until the late 11th century. Instead, monasticism was dominated by monks called Céli Dé (lit. "vassals of God"), anglicised as culdees. In most cases, these monks were not replaced by new continental monks in the Norman period, but usually survived, even gaining the patronage of Queen Margaret, a figure traditionally seen as hostile to Gaelic culture. At St Andrews, the Céli Dé establishment endured throughout the period, and even enjoyed rights over the election of its bishop. (Barrow, St Andrews) In fact, Gaelic monasticism was vibrant and expansionary for much of the period. For instance, dozens of monasteries, often called Schottenklöster, were founded by Gaelic monks on the continent, and many Scottish monks, such as St Cathróe of Metz, became local saints.
In the 6th and 7th centuries, Irish monks established monastic institutions in parts of modern day Scotland (especially St. Columba, also known as Colum Cille), and on the continent, particularly in Gaul (especially St. Columbanus). Monks from Iona, under St. Aidan, then founded the See of Lindisfarne in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria in 635, whence Celtic practice heavily influenced northern England. These renewed links with the greater Latin West brought the Celtic-speaking peoples into close contact with other subgroups of Catholicism. Thus, the issue of certain customs and traditions particular to Insular Christianity became, to an extent, a matter of dispute, especially the matter of the proper calculation of Easter. Synods were held in Ireland, Gaul, and England (e.g. the Synod of Whitby) where the Easter question was resolved, resulting in the adoption of one method for calculating Easter. A degree of variation continued, and to an extent was encouraged, evidenced by the issuance of a papal privilege by Pope Honorius to the Columbanus’s monastery of Bobbio freeing the institution from Frankish episcopal oversight. Furthermore, the cultural exchange was mutual, evidenced by the spread of a uniquely Irish penitential system, eventually adopted as a universal practice of the Church by the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215.
The continental type of monasticism was first introduced to Scotland when King Máel Coluim III persuaded Lanfranc to provide a few monks from Canterbury for a new Benedictine abbey at Dunfermline (c. 1070). However, traditional Benedictine monasticism had little future in Scotland. Instead, the monastic establishments which followed were almost universally either Augustinians or of the Reformed Benedictine type. The first Augustinian priory was established at Scone by Alexander I in 1115. By the early 13th century, Augustinians had settled alongside, taken-over or reformed Céli Dé establishments at St Andrews, St Serf's Inch, Inchcolm, Inchmahome, Inchaffray, Restenneth and Iona, and had created numerous new establishments, such as Holyrood Abbey. The most important of the reformed Benedictine orders were the Cistercians, who achieved two important Scottish foundations, at Melrose (1136) and Dundrennan (1142)., and the Tironensians, who achieved foundations at Arbroath and Lindores, as well as Selkirk, Kelso and Glasgow. Cluniacs (e.g. Paisley), Premonstratensians (e.g. Whithorn), Valliscaulians (e.g. Pluscarden) were also important.
The church in Scotland attained independent status after the Papal Bull of Celestine III (Cum universi, 1192) by which all Scottish bishoprics except Galloway (and the then Norwegian islands) were formally independent of York and Canterbury. However, unlike Ireland which had been granted four Archbishoprics in the same century, Scotland received no Archbishop and the whole Ecclesia Scoticana, with individual Scottish bishoprics (except Whithorn/Galloway and the islands), became the "special daughter of Rome".
The Ecclesia Scoticana (lit. Scottish church) as a system has no known starting point, although Causantín II's alleged Scotticisation of the "Pictish" Church might be taken as one. Before the Norman period, Scotland had little dioscesan structure, being primarily monastic after the fashion of Ireland. After the Norman Conquest of England, the Archbishops of both Canterbury and York each claimed superiority over the Scottish church. The church in Scotland attained independent status after the Papal Bull of Celestine III (Cum universi, 1192) by which all Scottish bishoprics except Galloway were formally independent of York and Canterbury. However, unlike Ireland which had been granted four Archbishoprics in the same century, Scotland received no Archbishop and the whole Ecclesia Scoticana, with individual Scottish bishoprics (except Whithorn/Galloway), became the "special daughter of Rome".[7]
Outside of Scotland-proper, Glasgow managed to secure its existence in the 12th century with a vibrant church community who gained the favour of the Scottish kings. The Bishopric of Whithorn was resurrected by Fergus, King of Galloway, and Thurstan, Archbishop of York. The isles, under the nominal jurisdiction of Trondheim (and sometimes York), had its Episcopal seat at Peel, Isle of Man. Lothian had no bishop. Its natural overlord was the Bishopric of Durham, and that bishopric continued to be important in Lothian, especially through the cult of St Cuthbert; however, once conquered by the Gaels, its diocesan jurisdiction was parcelled out between various Scottish bishoprics. Orkney, also under nominal Norwegian jurisdiction, was governed from Kirkwall.
Traditional Protestant historiography tended to stress the corruption and unpopularity of the late medieval Scottish church, but more recent research has indicated the ways in which it met the spiritual needs of different social groups.[8][9] Historians have discerned a decline of monasticism in this period, with many religious houses keeping smaller numbers of monks, and those remaining often abandoning communal living for a more individual and secular lifestyle. New monastic endowments from the nobility also declined in the 15th century.[8][10] In contrast, the burghs saw the flourishing of mendicant orders of friars in the later 15th century, who placed an emphasis on preaching and ministering to the population. The order of Observant Friars were organised as a Scottish province from 1467 and the older Franciscans and Dominicans were recognised as separate provinces in the 1480s.[8] In most burghs, in contrast to English towns where churches tended to proliferate, there was usually only one parish church,[7] but as the doctrine of Purgatory gained in importance in the period, the number of chapelries, priests and masses for the dead within them grew rapidly,[11] The number of altars to saints also grew dramatically, with St. Mary's in Dundee having perhaps 48 and St Giles' in Edinburgh over 50,[7] as did the number of saints celebrated in Scotland, with about 90 being added to the missal used in St Nicholas church in Aberdeen.[12] New cults of devotion connected with Jesus and the Virgin Mary also began to reach Scotland in the 15th century, including The Five Wounds, The Holy Blood and The Holy Name of Jesus and new feasts including The Presentation, The Visitation and Mary of the Snows.[7][12]
Up until the early 14th century, the Papacy managed to minimise the problem of clerical pluralism, but with relatively poor livings and a shortage of clergy, particularly after the Black Death, in the 15th century the number of clerics holding two or more livings rapidly increased.[13] This meant that parish clergy were largely drawn from the lower and less educated ranks of the profession, leading to frequent complaints about their standards of education or ability, although there is little clear evidence that this was actually declining.[8] Heresy, in the form of Lollardry, began to reach Scotland from England and Bohemia in the early 15th century, but despite evidence of a number of burnings and some apparent support for its anti-sacramental elements, it probably remained a relatively small movement.[14]
There were further attempts to differentiate Scottish liturgical practice from that in England, with a printing press established under royal patent in 1507 in order to replace the English Sarum Use for services.[7] As elsewhere in Europe, the collapse of papal authority in the Papal Schism had allowed the Scottish crown to gain effective control of major ecclesiastical appointments within the kingdom, a position recognised by the Papacy in 1487. This led to the placement of clients and relatives of the king in key positions, including James IV's illegitimate son Alexander, who was nominated as Archbishop of St. Andrews at the age of eleven, intensifying royal influence and also opening the Church to accusations of venality and nepotism.[8] Despite this, relationships between the Scottish crown and the Papacy were generally good, with James IV receiving tokens of papal favour.[7]
Like every other Christian country, one of the main features of Scottish Christianity is the Cult of Saints. Saints were the middle men between the ordinary worshipper and God. Every locality, church and burgh tended to have its own particular saint. Burgh saints tended to be continental or simply biblical, as in the case of St John at Perth. Typically, local saints were ones associated with the area, as with St Duthac in Easter Ross. In Scotland north of the Forth, these local saints were either Pictish or Gaelic. The national saint of the Scottish Gaels was Colum Cille or Columba (in Latin, lit. dove), in Strathclyde it was St Kentigern (in Gaelic, lit. Chief Lord), in Lothian, St Cuthbert.
Later, owing to learned confused between the Latin words Scotia and Scythia, the Scottish kings adopted St Andrew, a saint who had more appeal to incoming Normans and was attached to the ambitious bishopric that is now known by the saint's name, St Andrews. However, Columba's status was still supreme in the early 14th century, when King Robert I carried the brecbennoch (or Monymusk reliquary) into battle at Bannockburn.
Other important Celtic saints, or saints who influenced the development of Christianity amongst the Celtic-speaking peoples, include SS. Dubricius, Illtud, David, Cadoc, Deiniol, Samson, Paul Aurelian, Petroc, Piran, Ia, Brigid, Moluag, Kentigern (aka Mungo), and Germanus of Auxerre.
That remained the picture until the Scottish Reformation was initiated in 1560 by John Knox, who was a Calvinist and the Church in Scotland broke with the papacy, and adopted a Calvinist confession. At that point the celebration of the Roman Mass was outlawed. When Mary, Queen of Scots, returned from France to rule, she found herself as a Roman Catholic in a largely Protestant state and Protestant court. For more information on the history of the Reformation in Scotland, see also Scottish Reformation, John Knox, Jenny Geddes, Book of Common Order, and Bishops' Wars
Following political turmoil in 1688 and 1689 (see Glorious Revolution) those adhering to an Episcopal form of church government left or were expelled from Church of Scotland congregations, leading to the formation of the Scottish Episcopal Church, which now forms part of the Anglican Communion.
The Roman Catholic Church survived the Reformation, especially on islands like Uist and Barra, despite the suppression of the 16th to the late 18th centuries.
The late 18th century saw the beginnings of a fragmentation of the Church of Scotland that had been created in the Reformation. These fractures were prompted by issues of government and patronage, but reflected a wider division between the Evangelicals and the Moderate Party over fears of fanaticism by the former and the acceptance of Enlightenment ideas by the latter. The legal right of lay patrons to present clergymen of their choice to local ecclesiastical livings led to minor schisms from the church. The first in 1733, known as the First Secession and headed by figures including Ebenezer Erskine, led to the creation of a series of secessionist churches. The second in 1761 lead to the foundation of the independent Relief Church.[15] These churches gained strength in the Evangelical Revival of the later 18th century.[16]
Long after the triumph of the Church of Scotland in the Lowlands, Highlanders and Islanders clung to an old-fashioned Christianity infused with animistic folk beliefs and practices. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw some success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society.[17] Catholicism had been reduced to the fringes of the country, particularly the Gaelic-speaking areas of the Highlands and Islands. Conditions also grew worse for Catholics after the Jacobite rebellions and Catholicism was reduced to little more than a poorly-run mission. Also important was Episcopalianism, which had retained supporters through the civil wars and changes of regime in the 17th century. Since most Episcopalians had given their support to the Jacobite rebellions in the early 18th century, they also suffered a decline in fortunes.[15]
After prolonged years of struggle, in 1834 the Evangelicals gained control of the General Assembly and passed the Veto Act, which allowed congregations to reject unwanted "intrusive" presentations to livings by patrons. The following "Ten Years' Conflict" of legal and political wrangling ended in defeat for the non-intrusionists in the civil courts. The result was a schism from the church by some of the non-intrusionists led by Dr Thomas Chalmers known as the Great Disruption of 1843. Roughly a third of the clergy, mainly from the North and Highlands, formed the separate Free Church of Scotland. The evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly in the Highlands and Islands, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.[17] Chalmers's ideas shaped the breakaway group. He stressed a social vision that revived and preserved Scotland's communal traditions at a time of strain on the social fabric of the country. Chalmers's idealized small equalitarian, kirk-based, self-contained communities that recognized the individuality of their members and the need for cooperation.[18] That vision also affected the mainstream Presbyterian churches, and by the 1870s it had been assimilated by the established Church of Scotland. Chalmers's ideals demonstrated that the church was concerned with the problems of urban society, and they represented a real attempt to overcome the social fragmentation that took place in industrial towns and cities.[19]
In the late 19th century the major debates were between fundamentalist Calvinists and theological liberals, who rejected a literal interpretation of the Bible. This resulted in a further split in the Free Church as the rigid Calvinists broke away to form the Free Presbyterian Church in 1893.[15] There were, however, also moves towards reunion, beginning with the unification of some secessionist churches into the United Secession Church in 1820, which united with the Relief Church in 1847 to form the United Presbyterian Church, which in turn joined with the Free Church in 1900 to form the United Free Church of Scotland. The removal of legislation on lay patronage would allow the majority of the Free Church to rejoin Church of Scotland in 1929. The schisms left small denominations including the Free Presbyterians and a remnant that had not merged in 1900 as the Free Church.[15]
Catholic Emancipation in 1829 and the influx of large numbers of Irish immigrants, particularly after the famine years of the late 1840s, principally to the growing lowland centres like Glasgow, led to a transformation in the fortunes of Catholicism. In 1878, despite opposition, a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy was restored to the country, and Catholicism became a significant denomination within Scotland.[15] Episcopalianism also revived in the 19th century as the issue of succession receded, becoming established as the Episcopal Church in Scotland in 1804, as an autonomous organisation in communion with the Church of England.[15] Baptist, Congregationalist and Methodist churches had appeared in Scotland in the 18th century, but did not begin significant growth until the 19th century,[15] partly because more radical and evangelical traditions already existed within the Church of Scotland and the free churches. From 1879 they were joined by the evangelical revivalism of the Salvation Army, which attempted to make major inroads in the growing urban centres.[16]
In the 20th century existing Christian denominations were joined by other organisations, including the Brethren and Pentecostal churches. Although some denominations thrived, after World War II there was a steady overall decline in church attendance and resulting church closures for most denominations.[16] In the 2001 census 42.4 per cent of the population identified with the Church of Scotland, 15.9 per cent with Catholicism and 6.8 with other forms of Christianity, making up roughly 65 per cent of the population (compared with 72 per cent for the UK as a whole). 5.5 per cent did not state a religion. There were 27.5 per cent who stated that they had no religion (which compares with 15.5 per cent in the UK overall).[20][21] Other more recent studies suggest that those not identifying with a denomination or who see themselves as non-religious may be much higher at between 42 and 56 per cent, depending on the form of question asked.[22]
The Church of Scotland, also known as The Kirk, is recognised in law (by the Church of Scotland Act 1921) as the national church of Scotland, but is not an established church and is independent of state control in matters spiritual. The Church of Scotland is a Reformed church, with a Presbyterian system of ecclesiastical polity as determined in 1690. Prior to this date, Episcopalian and Presbyterian parties vied for control of the church (see Bishop's Wars). Throughout the 18th century, the Church of Scotland maintained its reformed theology and kept a tight control over the morality of much of the population. The Kirk had a significant influence on the cultural development of Scotland in early modern times. The monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II) is an ordinary member of the Church of Scotland, and is represented at the General Assembly by their Lord High Commissioner.
The second largest church in Scotland in terms of membership is the Roman Catholic Church which continued its revival for much of the 20th century, during which significant numbers of Catholics from Italy and Poland also migrated to Scotland. Some parts of Scotland (particularly the West Central Belt around Glasgow) have experienced problems caused by sectarianism, particularly football rivalry between the traditionally Roman Catholic team, Celtic, and the traditionally Protestant team, Rangers.
Other denominations in Scotland include the Jehovah's Witnesses, Methodists, the Congregationalists, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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