Jocelin (or Jocelyn) (died 1199) was a Scottish Cistercian monk and cleric who became the fourth Abbot of Melrose before becoming Bishop of Glasgow, Scotland. He was probably born in the 1130s, and in his teenage years became a monk of Melrose Abbey. He rose in the service of Abbot Waltheof, and by the time of the short abbacy of Waltheof's successor Abbot William, Jocelin had become prior. Then in 1170 Jocelin himself became abbot, a position he held for four years. Jocelin was responsible for promoting the cult of the emerging Saint Waltheof, and in this had the support of Enguerrand, Bishop of Glasgow.
His Glasgow connections and political profile were already well-established enough that in 1174 Jocelin succeeded Enguerrand as Glasgow's bishop. As Bishop of Glasgow, he was a royal official. In this capacity he travelled abroad on several occasions, and performed the marriage ceremony between King William the Lion and Ermengarde de Beaumont, later baptising their son, the future King Alexander II. Among other things, he has been credited by modern historians as "the founder of the burgh of Glasgow and initiator of the Glasgow fair",For this view and quote, see Norman F. Shead, "Jocelin, abbot of Melrose), and bishop of Glasgow)", in The Innes Review, vol. 54, no. 1 (Spring, 2003), p. 1. as well as being one of the greatest literary patrons in medieval Scotland, commissioning the Life of St Waltheof, the Life of St Kentigern and the Chronicle of Melrose.
Early life Jocelin and his family probably came from the south-east of Scotland. The names of neither his father nor his mother are known, but he had two known brothers, with the names Helia and Henry, and a cousin, also called Helia. The names suggest that his family were of French, or at least Anglo-Norman origin, rather than being a Scot or native Anglo-Saxon.Norman F. Shead, "Jocelin", p. 2. There are some indications that his family held land in South Lanarkshire, namely because they seem to have possessed rights in the church of Dunsyre.A. A. M. Duncan, "Jocelin (d. 1199)", in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 29 Nov 2006. It is unlikely that he would have thought of himself as "Scottish". For Jocelin's contemporary and fellow native of the Borders, Adam of Dryburgh, this part of Britain was still firmly regarded as terra Anglorum (the "Land of English"), although it was located inside the regnum Scottorum (the "Kingdom of the Scots").The full Latin description is "in terra Anglorum et in regno Scottorum", Adam of Dryburgh, De tripartito tabernaculo, II. 210, tr. Keith J. Stringer, "Reform Monasticism and Celtic Scotland", in Edward J. Cowan & R. Andrew McDonald (eds.), Alba: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages, (East Lothian, 2000), p. 133. This would be no obstacle to Jocelin, however. His Anglo-French cultural background was in fact probably necessary for the patronage of the King of Scots. As Walter of Coventry wrote of King William's era, "the modern kings of Scotland count themselves as Frenchmen, in race, manners, language and culture; they keep only Frenchmen in their household and following, and have reduced the Scots to utter servitude".W. Stubbs (ed.), Memoriale Fratris Walteri de Coventria, (Rolls Series, no. 58), ii. 206; trans. G. W. S. Barrow, "The Reign of William the Lion", in G.W.S. Barrow (ed.), Scotland and its Neighbours in the Middle Ages, (Edinburgh, 1972), p. 72.
Like that of almost every character from this period, Jocelin's year of birth is unknown to modern historians. It is known that he entered as a novice monk in Melrose Abbey during the abbacy of Waltheof (ab. 1148–1159), and from documentary evidence it seems likely that Jocelin entered Melrose about 50 years before he died in 1199. As the rules of the Cistercian order prevented entry as a novice before the age of 15, it is likely that he was born around the year 1134.For this argument, and the references to the relevant primary material, see Norman F. Shead, "Jocelin", pp. 1–2. Little is known about Jocelin's early life or his early career as a Melrose monk. He obviously successfully completed his one-year noviciate, the year in which a prospective monk was introduced to monasticism and judged fit or unfit for admittance. We know that Abbot Waltheof (Waldef) thought highly of him and granted him many responsibilities. After the death of Abbot Waltheof, his successor, Abbot William, refused to encourage the rumours which had quickly been spreading about Waltheof's saintliness. Abbot William attempted to silence such rumours, and shelter his monks from the intrusiveness of would-be pilgrims. However, William was unable to get the better of Waltheof's emerging cult, and his actions had alienated him from the brethren. As a result, William resigned the abbacy in April 1170.For the account of Abbot William and the cult of Waltheof, see Richard Fawcett, & Richard Oram, Melrose Abbey, (Stroud, 2004), pp. 23–24. Jocelin was by this stage the Prior of Melrose, that is, the second in command at the monastery, William's second in command and so potentially his replacement.D.E.R. Watt, N. F. Shead (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries (The Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24), (Edinburgh, 2001), p. 149.
Abbot of Melrose
Prior Jocelin became abbot on 22 April 1170.For date of accession, see John Dowden, The Bishops of Scotland, ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912), p. 298. Jocelin embraced the cult without hesitation. Under the year of his accession, it was reported in the Chronicle of Melrose that:
Promoting saints was something Jocelin would repeat at Glasgow, where he "transferred his enthusiasm to St Kentigern"A. A. M. Duncan, "Sources and Uses of the Chronicle of Melrose", in Simon Taylor (ed.), Kings, Clerics and Chronicles in Scotland, 500–1297, (Dublin, 2000), p. 150. and commissioned a hagiography of that saint, the saint most venerated by the Celts of the diocese of Glasgow. Jocelin of Furness, the man who wrote the Life of St. Waltheof, was the same man later commissioned to write the Life of St. Kentigern.Robert Bartlett, "Furness, Jocelin of (fl. 1199–1214)", in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 30 May 2025.
This kind of literary patronage started while Jocelin was abbot of Melrose. Archie Duncan has shown that it was probably Jocelin who first commissioned the writing of the Chronicle of Melrose. Duncan argued that Jocelin commissioned the entries dealing with the period between 731 and 1170, putting the writing in the hands of a monk named Reinald (who later became Bishop of Ross).Ibid., pp. 149–150. This chronicle is one of the few extant chronicles from "Scotland" in this period. G. W. S. Barrow, writing before Duncan advanced these arguments, noted that down to the end of King William's reign "the chronicle of Melrose Abbey ... represents a strongly 'Anglo-Norman' as opposed to a native Scottish point of view".G. W. S. Barrow, The Acts of William I, Regesta Regum Scottorum, vol. ii, (Edinburgh, 1971), p. 7.
After his election to the prestigious bishopric of Glasgow in 1174, Jocelin would continue exerting influence on his home monastery. Jocelin brought one of his monks from the abbey, a man called Michael, who acted as Jocelin's chaplain while Bishop of Glasgow.Norman F. Shead, "Jocelin", p. 16. He did not resign his position as abbot until after his consecration in 1175. Jocelin consecrated his successors as abbot, and continued to spend a great deal of time there. Moreover, he used his position as bishop to offer the monastery patronage and protection.Fawcett & Oram, Melrose Abbey, pp. 23–24.
Bishop of Glasgow After the death of his friend Bishop Enguerrand, Jocelin was elevated to the bishopric of Glasgow. He was elected on 23 May 1174. The election, like many other Scottish episcopal elections of the period, was done in the presence of the king, William the Lion, at Perth, near Scone, the chief residence of Scotland's kings.John Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 298. The election was probably done by compromissarii, meaning that the general chapter of the bishopric of Glasgow had selected a small group to which they delegated the power of election.A.A.M. Duncan, Scotland: The Making of the Kingdom, (Edinburgh, 1975), p. 277, n. 38. Pope Alexander III was later told that Jocelin was elected by the dean and chapter of the see.Norman F. Shead, "Jocelin", p. 4. The Chronicle of Melrose states that he was elected "by demand of the clergy, and of the people; and with the consent of the king himself",Chronicle of Melrose, s.a. 1174, trans. Alan Orr Anderson, Early Sources of Scottish History, vol. ii, p. 289. perhaps indicating that the decision had already been made by the Glasgow clergy before the formal election at Perth. The election was certainly an achievement. Cistercian bishops were rare in Great Britain, and Jocelin was only the second Cistercian to ascend a Scottish bishopric. Jocelin was required to go to France to obtain permission from the General Chapter of the Cistercian order at Cîteaux to resign the abbacy. Pope Alexander III had already sanctioned his consecration and permitted the consecration to occur without forcing Jocelin to travel to Rome. Conveniently, it was at Cistercian house of Clairvaux that, sometime before 15 March 1175, Jocelin was consecrated by the Papal legate Eskil, Archbishop of Lund and Primate of Denmark.Chronicle of Melrose, s.a. 1175, for which see A.O.Anderson, Early Sources of Scottish History, vol. ii, p. 296; see also John Dowden, Bishops of Scotland, p. 298, & Norman F. Shead, "Jocelin", pp. 5–6. Jocelin had returned to the Kingdom of Scotland by 10 April, and it is known that on 23 May he had consecrated a monk named Laurence as his successor at Melrose.Norman F. Shead, "Jocelin", p. 6.