Le prieuré de Coldingham est un ancien prieuré bénédictin situé à Coldingham, un village du Berwickshire, dans le sud-est de l'Écosse.

1. Histoire


1. = L'abbaye anglo-saxonne =

Dès le VIIe siècle, un monastère double, abritant à la fois des moines et des bonnes sœurs, est fondé à Coldingham (urbs Coludi) par la princesse anglo-saxonne Æbbe, fille du roi Æthelfrith de Bernicie. Sa fondation ne lui survit guère : l'abbaye est détruite par un incendie vers 683. Bède le Vénérable, qui voit dans la destruction de l'abbaye un châtiment divin pour le comportement dissolu de ses occupants, rapporte que le site est toujours désert à son époque, au début du VIIIe siècle. Il existe une légende associée à une autre Æbbe, également abbesse de Coldingham, qui aurait été confrontée à une attaque de Vikings en 870, mais son historicité n'est pas établie.

1. = Le prieuré écossais =

En 1098, le roi écossais Edgar confirme la possession de Coldingham aux moines du chapitre de la cathédrale de Durham. Un prieuré y voit le jour sous le règne de David Ier. Le premier prieur connu est un certain Édouard, mentionné en 1147. Coldingham reste une dépendance de Durham jusqu'au XIVe siècle : en 1378, Robert II en expulse les moines de Durham, et le monastère passe sous la coupe de l'abbaye de Dunfermline. Le prieuré de Coldingham décline à partir de la Réforme, mais une partie de ses activités religieuses se poursuivent jusqu'au passage des armées d'Oliver Cromwell, en 1648. Les bâtiments sont alors gravement endommagés. Au XIXe siècle, les pierres de l'ancien prieuré sont réutilisées pour restaurer son église, qui devient l'église paroissiale du village de Coldingham.

1. Références


1. Bibliographie

Bède le Vénérable (trad. Philippe Delaveau), Histoire ecclésiastique du peuple anglais, Gallimard, coll. « L'Aube des peuples », 1995, 399 p. (ISBN 2-07-073015-8). (en) R. B. Dobson, « The Last English Monks on Scottish Soil : The Severance of Coldingham Priory from the Monastery of Durham 1461-78 », The Scottish Historical Review, vol. 46, no 141,‎ avril 1967, p. 1-25 (JSTOR 25528677). (en) Alan Thacker, « Æbbe (d. 683?) », dans Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (lire en ligne ).

1. Liens externes

Portail du catholicisme Portail du monachisme Portail de l’Écosse Portail des Anglo-Saxons Portail des monuments classés au Royaume-Uni

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Coldingham Priory

Coldingham Priory was a house of Benedictine monks. It lies on the south-east coast of Scotland, in the village of Coldingham, Berwickshire. Coldingham Priory was founded in the reign of David I of Scotland, although his older brother and predecessor King Edgar of Scotland had granted the land of Coldingham to the Church of Durham in 1098, and a church was constructed by him and presented in 1100. The first prior of Coldingham is on record by the year 1147, although it is likely that the foundation was much earlier. The earlier monastery at Coldingham was founded by St Æbbe sometime c. AD 640. Although the monastery was largely destroyed by Oliver Cromwell in 1650, some remains of the priory exist, the choir of which forms the present parish church of Coldingham and is serviced by the Church of Scotland.
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Coldingham

Coldingham is a village and parish in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. It lies a short distance inland from Coldingham Bay, three miles northeast of the fishing village of Eyemouth.
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Coldingham Bay

Coldingham Bay is an inlet in the North Sea coast, just over three kilometres north of the town of Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is situated at grid reference NT918666 and is easily reached by a minor road which leaves the B6438 road at Coldingham.
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St Abbs

St Abbs is a small fishing village on the southeastern coast of Scotland, within the Coldingham parish of Scottish Borders. The village was originally known as Coldingham Shore, the name St Abbs being adopted in the 1890s. The new name was derived from St Abb's Head, a rocky promontory located to the north of the village, itself named after the 7th-century saint Æbbe of Coldingham.
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St. Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve

St. Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve is a Voluntary Marine Reserve—the first established in the United Kingdom. Located in the Scottish Borders, it covers 8 kilometres of the Berwickshire coast, from Eyemouth in the south to St. Abb's Head in the north. At its centre is the fishing village of St. Abbs. The reserve is one of the most popular scuba diving locations in the United Kingdom. The water of the reserve is unusually clear, in contrast to the more silt-laden coastal waters further to the north and south. The reserve was opened on 18 August 1984 by botanist and environmental campaigner David Bellamy.