Robert of Scone

Robert of Scone (died 1159) was a 12th-century bishop of Cell Rígmonaid (or Kilrymont, now St Andrews). Robert's exact origins are unclear. He was an Augustinian canon at the Priory of St. Oswalds, at Nostell. His French name indicates a Norman rather than an Anglo-Saxon origin, but as he was likely born in the later 11th century, this may be due merely to the acculturation of his parents.

Robert was one of the most important clerics in the reign of King Alexander I of Scotland (Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim). He was appointed as the first Prior of Scone, the flagship Augustinian monastic establishment of Alexander's reign. This may have happened as early as 1114, and Walter Bower tells us that the new priory was dedicated by Thurgot, then bishop of Cell Rígmonaid. As Turgot left Scotland in 1115, no later date would be possible if Bower is to be believed. Many historians have rejected this date, because the Augustinian Rule was not instituted at Nostell until 1119, but as Kenneth Veitch points out, the date of the formal institution of the Rule is little guide to the actual activities of the monastic establishment. Moreover, the year 1114 just happened to be the year in which Alexander was present in England in the service of his overlord, King Henry I of England.

It was this context that made Robert a natural candidate for the chief Scottish bishopric. He was probably elected to the bishopric in 1124. The Chronicle of Melrose tells us that "in the same year, four months before his death, he [Alexander] had caused Robert, prior of Scone, to be elected bishop of St Andrews, but his ordination (i.e. consecration) was delayed for some time". The delay was certainly caused by the issue of submission to the archbishops of York, which the archbishops pressed for, but the kings of Alba refused to allow. Robert however was able to attain consecration at the hands of Thurstan, Archbishop of York in 1127, with no profession of obedience being made; it is possible the consecration took place after a meeting organized in the summer of 1127 at the church of St John at Roxburgh, where it was probably agreed that the lack of submission would not constitute a precedent.

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