Radulf II, Abbot of Kinloss

Radulf (died 1220) was a 13th-century Scoto-Norman Cistercian monk and abbot.
Radulf
Most details about Radulf's career and all details about his early life are not known.
His earliest certain occurrence in history is his appearance as Abbot of Kinloss in a
Melrose charter datable to between 1202 and 1207.[1] It is not known for certain
when he became abbot of Kinloss Abbey, but the last known abbot of Kinloss, also
called Radulf, left Kinloss in 1194 to become abbot of Melrose, putting Radulf II's
succession somewhere between 1194 and 1207.[2] Written in the margins next to
Radulf's obituary is the assertion that he was the 4th Abbot of Kinloss, and if these
are accurate, Radulf II would have succeeded not long after Radulf I's departure to
Melrose Abbey in 1194.[3] Modern ruins of Kinloss Abbey
Radulf is given centre role in a passage by the 15th-century historian Walter Bower, Born Probably mid-to-late
Abbot of Inchcolm. Bower related that in 1214 it was the turn of Radulf to go the 1100s
meeting of the general chapter of the Cistercian Order. The Cistercian order in Unknown
Scotland was obliged to attend the general Cistercian chapter at Cîteaux every four Died 2 November 1220
years.[4] While on the journey in France, a lay brother who was serving as the cook Kinloss
of the various abbots had the tasking of purchasing and preparing a meal for the
Other names Radulphus
travel party. According to Bower, he served the abbots fish and the others meat, but
Occupation Abbot
used the fat from the meat on the fish, pretending it to be butter. All the abbots,
forbidden to eat animal meat, believed that it was butter, and consumed the fat Title Abbot of Kinloss
drenched fish. After the meal, all of the abbots save Radulf (who was meditating)
fell asleep. In Bower's story, a spirit (sent by the Devil) in the form of a black man (Ethiops) came through a high window, and went
around the sleeping abbots laughing at them; when the black man came to the lay brother, he embraced him, kissed him and
applauded him. This prompted Abbot Radulf to interrogate the lay brother, who confessed his transgression and received penance.[5]
Bower's source for this story is not known.[6]

Radulf's abbacy witnessed the foundation of Deer Abbey as a daughter house of Kinloss.[7] According to the Chronicle of Melrose,
Abbot Radulf died on 2 November 1220.[8] The Chronicle reported his death as follows:

Dominus Radulphus, the abbot of Kinloss, full of good days, in holy old age migrated, as we believe, from earth to
heaven.[9]

He was succeeded by theAbbot of Deer, Robert.[10]

Notes
1. Liber Sancte Marie de Melros, vol. i, no. 44; Watt & Shead, Heads of Religious Houses, p. 131.
2. Watt & Shead, Heads of Religious Houses, p. 131.
3. Anderson, Early Sources, vol. 2, p. 442 & n. 4; the accessions, deaths and resignations of Kinloss abbots are usually
well recorded because our much of our source material comes either directly or indirectly from
Melrose Abbey, the
mother house of Kinloss, which took an interest in the af
fairs of Kinloss.
4. Taylor & Watt (eds.), Scotichronicon, vol. 5, p. 240, n. 3.
5. For this story, see Taylor & Watt (eds.), Scotichronicon, vol. 5, pp. 106, 108 (Latin), pp. 107, 109 (English); Black
men, or "Ethiopians", were often seen as demonic figures in Medieval Europe.
6. Taylor & Watt (eds.), Scotichronicon, vol. 5, p. 240.
 7. Anderson, Early Sources, vol. 2, p. 439-40, n. 3.
8. Anderson et al (eds.), Chronicle of Melrose, p. 72.
9. Written in Anderson, Early Sources, vol. 2, p. 442; the migration from earth to heaven, and the tradition reported by
Bower, is strong evidence that Abbot Radulf was being regarded as asaint.
10. Watt & Shead, Heads of Religious Houses, p. 131.

References
Anderson, Alan Orr et al. (eds.), The Chronicle of Melrose, (London, 1936)
Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History, 2 vols, (Edinburgh, 1922)
Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E.,Medieval Religious Houses: ScotlandWith an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of
Man, Second Edition, (London, 1976)
Innes, Cosmo, Liber Sancte Marie de Melros: Munimenta vetustiora monasterii Cisterciensis de Melros , 2 vols
(Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh, 1837)
Taylor, Simon, & Watt, D. E. R. (eds.), Scotichronicon by Walter Bower in Latin andEnglish, vol. 5, (Aberdeen, 1990)
Watt, D. E. R. & Shead, N. F., The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the 12th to the 16th Centuries , The
Scottish Records Society, New Series, Volume 24, (Edinburgh, 2001)

Religious titles
Preceded by Abbot of Kinloss Succeeded by
Radulf (I) 1194( x 1207)–1220 Robert

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