Sign in Using FacebookSt Andrews Guide » More About St Andrews: Overview
Overview
Around AD82 Romans established camps near St Andrews and throughout the northeast of Fife. However, they were no match for the indigenous Picts, known as the painted men, who chased the Romans away by the end of the third century.
St Columba brought Christianity to Scotland in AD565. By AD710, the King of the Picts, Nechtan, had embraced Christianity and the Roman church and within the next three hundred years Catholicism became the established religion in most parts of Scotland.
In AD800 the Culdees ("Celi de" meaning companions of God) set up the first Christian community at St Andrews.
St Andrews takes its name from the Apostle whose relics (a kneecap, a tooth, an arm bone, and some finger bones) were said to have been brought to the settlement called Kilrimont that was later to become St Andrews around AD736, by a Greek Monk, St Regulus (or Rule), who had been told by an angel to take them "to the ends of the earth". He was shipwrecked off the Fife coast, landed in St Andrews and built a small chapel called St Mary on the rock where the relics were kept. You can see the remains of this church above the harbour.
By AD906, the Bishop of Alba was seated in St Andrews – as it had now become known – and grew increasingly influential. St Andrews became the centre of religious life in medieval Scotland.
The Cathedral was built around 1160 and the relics were taken to be kept there. This shrine put St Andrews on the map and the town attracted huge numbers of pilgrims.
St Andrews had always been a busy market town but the pilgrims and the increased status of the town made it immensely prosperous. At one point it is said that the harbour may have berthed as many as 300 ships. It was awarded burgh status in 1153 and a Royal Burgh in 1620.
St Andrews University was founded in 1411 by Bishop Henry Wardlaw and was recognized by the Papal Bull of Benedict XIII in 1413. It was Scotland's first university and is one of the three oldest universities in the UK.
Being at the centre of all things ecclesiastical, Catholic St Andrews heavily resisted the Protestant Reformation of the mid-16th century and burned a number of heretics (or martyrs as they were to become known). The Martyrs Monument can be found at the western end of the Scores by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.
In charge of rooting out the heretics were the Blackfriars monks, established in St Andrews by Bishop William Wishart. Their white robes with black crosses invoked the fear of torture and a hideous death among those who rejected popery, or were thought to have. Blackfriars Chapel is all that remains of this once powerful monastery.
After 400 years of mass being held at the Cathedral, all was to change on June 14, 1559, when Protestants, fired up after hearing the reformer John Knox preach at the local Trinity Hall, converged on the Cathedral and burned it to the ground. The reason? "To purge the kirk and break down the altars and images and all kind of idolatrie..."
Catholic Mary Queen of Scots visited St Andrews a number of times between 1561 and 1565 and records show that in 1562 she stayed in a house on South Street, now used as a library by St Leonard's School.
In 1754, 22 Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Kingdom of Fife came together and created the Society of St Andrews Golfers. In 1834, King William IV became patron of the Society of St Andrews Golfers, allowing them to use the title of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. Soon after, it merged with the Union Club, who had premises that overlooked the golf course. In 1854 the grand clubhouse was built; to this day it marks the first tee of the Old Course.
The medieval layout of St Andrews makes navigation easy: its three main streets, North, Market and South, all lead to the Cathedral. The stones from the burnt-out cathedral were used to build the houses in North Street.
St Columba brought Christianity to Scotland in AD565. By AD710, the King of the Picts, Nechtan, had embraced Christianity and the Roman church and within the next three hundred years Catholicism became the established religion in most parts of Scotland.
In AD800 the Culdees ("Celi de" meaning companions of God) set up the first Christian community at St Andrews.
St Andrews takes its name from the Apostle whose relics (a kneecap, a tooth, an arm bone, and some finger bones) were said to have been brought to the settlement called Kilrimont that was later to become St Andrews around AD736, by a Greek Monk, St Regulus (or Rule), who had been told by an angel to take them "to the ends of the earth". He was shipwrecked off the Fife coast, landed in St Andrews and built a small chapel called St Mary on the rock where the relics were kept. You can see the remains of this church above the harbour.
By AD906, the Bishop of Alba was seated in St Andrews – as it had now become known – and grew increasingly influential. St Andrews became the centre of religious life in medieval Scotland.
The Cathedral was built around 1160 and the relics were taken to be kept there. This shrine put St Andrews on the map and the town attracted huge numbers of pilgrims.
St Andrews had always been a busy market town but the pilgrims and the increased status of the town made it immensely prosperous. At one point it is said that the harbour may have berthed as many as 300 ships. It was awarded burgh status in 1153 and a Royal Burgh in 1620.
St Andrews University was founded in 1411 by Bishop Henry Wardlaw and was recognized by the Papal Bull of Benedict XIII in 1413. It was Scotland's first university and is one of the three oldest universities in the UK.
Being at the centre of all things ecclesiastical, Catholic St Andrews heavily resisted the Protestant Reformation of the mid-16th century and burned a number of heretics (or martyrs as they were to become known). The Martyrs Monument can be found at the western end of the Scores by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.
In charge of rooting out the heretics were the Blackfriars monks, established in St Andrews by Bishop William Wishart. Their white robes with black crosses invoked the fear of torture and a hideous death among those who rejected popery, or were thought to have. Blackfriars Chapel is all that remains of this once powerful monastery.
After 400 years of mass being held at the Cathedral, all was to change on June 14, 1559, when Protestants, fired up after hearing the reformer John Knox preach at the local Trinity Hall, converged on the Cathedral and burned it to the ground. The reason? "To purge the kirk and break down the altars and images and all kind of idolatrie..."
Catholic Mary Queen of Scots visited St Andrews a number of times between 1561 and 1565 and records show that in 1562 she stayed in a house on South Street, now used as a library by St Leonard's School.
In 1754, 22 Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Kingdom of Fife came together and created the Society of St Andrews Golfers. In 1834, King William IV became patron of the Society of St Andrews Golfers, allowing them to use the title of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. Soon after, it merged with the Union Club, who had premises that overlooked the golf course. In 1854 the grand clubhouse was built; to this day it marks the first tee of the Old Course.
The medieval layout of St Andrews makes navigation easy: its three main streets, North, Market and South, all lead to the Cathedral. The stones from the burnt-out cathedral were used to build the houses in North Street.
