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Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Event ID 561102
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Accessing Scotland's Past Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/561102
St Michael's Cross stands in the churchyard at Kirkmichael. Local tradition holds that this was a preaching cross erected by the Culdees.
The cross is about 1.5m high with a shaft 0.3m wide, broadening to 0.7m at the crosspiece. No decoration on the cross is recorded, and the local association with the Culdees remains to be proven.
The Culdees were a religious order active throughout Scotland and Ireland from the eighth century to the twelfth century, and their name derived from the Gaelic for 'Servant of God'. They followed a strict ascetic life and often lived in communities that followed the model of St Columba's community on Iona. They were largely superseded by the Augustinian Canons, who were in some respects a similar organisation, often being based in and serving a local community.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
