The abbey was founded in 1150 by King David I "in order to extend the benefits of civilisation to the remoter regions under his sway."[1] The legend of its founding is similar to that of the founding of Holyrood Abbey. According to the legend, while hunting, the king lost his way in the woods but was rescued by a deer, which guided him to a clearing. He was later persuaded by a vision, which he regarded to have been sent by the Virgin Mary, to build a church there in her honor.[2] It was first colonised by monks from Melrose Abbey. It received its Papal Bull from Pope Alexander III in 1174, and later came under the protection of the Bishop of Moray in 1187. The abbey went on to become one of the largest and wealthiest religious houses in Scotland, receiving the valuable salmon fishing rights on the River Findhorn from Robert the Bruce in 1312, subsequently renewed by James I and James IV.
During its history the abbey has received many royal visitors, including Edward I in 1303, Edward III in 1336 and Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1562. The most renowned of the 24 abbots the monastery had was Robert Reid. Reid introduced organised education, erecting a new fireproof library enriched with volumes belonging to him personally and, in 1537, a new abbot's house.[3] He became Bishop of Orkney in 1541. In his will of 1583, he bequeathed "8000 merks 'for to big [build] ane college' in the Burgh of Edinburgh."[4]
While a student in Paris, Robert Reid formed a friendship with John Ferrerius, a native of the Piedmont region in Italy, and in 1528 invited him to Kinloss to serve as an educator. While there, Ferrerius wrote a long account of the various abbots of Kinloss and their works, the majority of which have not survived.[5]
In 1553, Bishop Reid was succeeded as abbot by his nephew, Walter Reid, whose abbacy coincided with the upheavals of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. During that time, a great part of the lands of Kinloss were alienated to the Crown. Edward Bruce commendator after the Reformation, was granted some of the lands and fishing areas of Kinloss, raising him to the temporal lordship, Lord Bruce of Kinloss. In 1645 the remaining buildings of the abbey were conveyed to Alexander Brodie of Lethen, who sold the materials for the construction of Oliver Cromwell’s citadel at Inverness.[6]
Few of the monastic buildings remain standing today. The remains of the abbey are now situated within a graveyard owned by the local authority, and are therefore accessible at all times. They are designated a scheduled ancient monument.[7]
* Now in England, but at the time of its foundation, part of the Scottish kingdom of David I. ** Filiation from Mellifont Abbey in Ireland, founded 1142. *** If this existed, it was shortly afterwards replaced by a Premonstratensian establishment. **** In the line of filiation from Melrose (above).
