The Abbot of Arbroath or Abbot of Aberbrothok (and later Commendator) was the head of the Tironensian Benedictine monastic community of Arbroath Abbey, Angus, Scotland, founded under the patronage of King William of Scotland from Kelso Abbey and dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. The abbot, John Gedy, was granted the mitre on 26 June 1396.Cowan & Easson, Religious Houses, p 67Sumerson, ODNB, John Gedy Arbroath Abbey became the wealthiest and most powerful abbey in later medieval Scotland.
According to the poem "The Inchcape Rock" by Robert Southey, John Gedy, then Abbot of Aberbrothok, fixed a bell to the Inchcape Rock in the 1300s to warn mariners of the perilous rock.
The following is a list of abbots and commendators.
Reginald, 1178–79 Henry, 1179–1207 Gilbert, 1208–19 x 1229 Radulf de Lamley, 1225–39Became Bishop of Aberdeen. Adam, 1240–46 Walter, 1247–58 x Robert, 1261–67 Sabinus, 1267 ? John, 1268–70 William, 1276–84Became Bishop of Dunblane. Henry, 1285–96 Nicholas, 1296 x 99-1301Became Bishop of Dunblane. John de Anegus, 1303–09 Bernard, 1310–28 Geoffrey, 1329–47 William, 1348–66 John, 1370–84 John Gedy, 1384–1410 Walter Paniter, 1410–49 Robert Bowmaker, 1419 Richard Guthrie, 1449–55 Malcolm Brydy, 1456–70 Richard Guthrie, 1470–12 Hugh Douglas, 1470 Francis Gonzaga, 1472 Alexander Scrymgeour, 1472 Patrick Graham, 1473–76 George Boyce, 1472–82 William Bonkil, 1482–84 David Lichton, 1484–1503 James Stewart, 1503–04 George Hepburn, 1504–13 Gavin Douglas, 1514 Andrew Forman, 1514 James Stewart, 1514–17 Peter de Accoltis, 1517 James Beaton, 1517–23 x 1524 David Beaton, 1524–45 James Beaton II, 1545–51 George Douglas, 1546 John, Lord Hamilton 1551–68 George Douglas, (again) 1568–72, became Bishop of Moray John, Lord Hamilton (again), 1573–79 Esmé Stuart, 1579–83
Notes
References Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man, Second Edition, (London, 1976) Summerson, Henry, "Gedy, John (fl. 1370–1401?)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 27 Jan 2009 Watt, D. E .R. & Shead, N. F. (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)