FORTALITIUM
146
FORTESOUE
Fortalitium Fidei. ^ee Spina, Alfonso de.
Fort Augustus Abbey. — St. Benedict's Abbey, at Fort Augustus, Inverness-shire, is at present the only monastery for Benedictine monks in Scotland. It owed its inception to the desire of John, third Mar- quess of Bute, for the restoration of monasticism in a country which, before the Reformation, possessed so many glorious abbeys and priories, and in later days owned many others on the Continent. The marquess brought the matter before the superiors of the .\nglo- Benedictine Congregation in 1874, promising substan- tial pecuniary help in the establishment of a house in Scotland, with the understanding that when two other monasteries should have been founded they should all form a separate Scottisli congregation. The suggestion was approved of, and the Anglo- Benedictine authorities resolved to incorporate with the Scottish monastery the more ancient foundation of Sts. Adrian and Denis, formerly existing at Lamhspring, in Hanover, which was peopled by English monks from 1645 to 1S03, and when suppressed liy a hostile government was after- wards resuscitated in England; inadequacy of funds had prevented any lasting restoration of this house, but with the help promised by Lord Bute, it seemed possible to revive it in Scotland. Dom Jerome Vaughan, a brother of Cardinal Vaughan, was ap- pointed to superintend the work, and succeeded in collecting from rich and poor in England, Scotland, and Ireland, sufficient means for the erection of a fine monastery at a cost of some £70,000. A site was given by Simon, fifteenth Baron Lovat, comprising the buildings of a dismantled fort, built in 1729 and known as Fort Augustus, a title given in compliment to George Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, son of George II. The fort, originally erected for the suppression of Highland Jacobites, had been purchased from the Government by the Lovat family, in 1867. The mo- nastic buildings commenced in 1876 were completed in 1880. They occupy the four sides of a quadrangle about one hundred feet square. In one wing a school for boys of the upper classes was conducted by the monks, with the assistance of university graduates and other lay masters, for about sixteen years, but was reluctantly closed in 1894, as its distance from Eng- land and the dearth of Scottish Catholic families of rank made its continuance a matter of difficulty. This school was one of the pioneers of a more refined style of equipment than was usual at the time of its inception.
Up to the year 1882 St. Benedict's monastery re- mained under the jurisdiction of the Anglo-Benedic- tine Congregation, but in response to the wishes of the Scottish hierarchy, and of the leading Scottish nobil- ity — notably Lords Lovat and Bute — Leo XIII, by his Brief " Summa cum animi laetitia ", dated 12 Decem- ber, 1882, erected it into an independent abbey, imme- diately subject to the Holy See, thus separating it from English rule. When this step had been accom- plished. Lord Lovat made over the property to the Scottish community, by signing the title deeds, which for a time had been held over. In 1888 Dom Leo Linse of the Beuron Benedictine Congregation, who had resided for more than ten years in England, part of that time as superior of Erdington Priory, near Birmingham, was nominated abbot by the Holy See and received the abbatial benediction at the hands of Archbishop, afterwards Cardinal, Persico, who had been sent to the abbey as Apostolic Visitor. In 1889, special constitutions, liased upon those of the Beuron Benedictine Congregation, were adopted, with the approval of the Holy See, for a term of ten years. These, after certain modifications suggested by ex- perience, received definite approbation in 1901. In 190.5, in view of the excerpt ional position of the monas- tery as an independent abbey, the Holy See conferred upon the primate of the Benedictine Order, as regards
Fort Augustus Abbey, the powers ordinarily exercised
by the president of a congregation. This arrange-
ment has not only provided for regular canonical
visitations at definite intervals, but has facilitated
intercourse with the Holy See, under whose immediate
jurisdiction the abbey still remains.
From its foundation the monastery made it a promi- nent duty, in accordance with the tenor of its consti- tutions, to fulfil St. Benedict's precept regarding the celebration with befitting solemnity of the liturgi- cal worship of the Church. Mass, Vespers, and the Divine Office are daily celebrated with the music and ritual demanded by the varying importance of season or festival. Since 1893 the Solesmes version of the Gregorian melodies, since recognized as the au- thoritative edition of the chant, has been exclusively used in all liturgical services. The time that is not occupied by choir duties and other community exer- cises is claimed by a variety of occupations. The management of a large farm and of an adjoining estate, annually let to tenants for shooting purposes; the generation of electric light for the use of the abbey and of many of the residents of the village; the work- ing of a small printing press; the spiritual charge of a tract of country forty square miles in extent, containing many habitations of Catholics scattered over the hills; the preaching of missions, and the giving of retreats both within and without the abbey; the rendering of assistance to the diocesan clergy when required ; Bibli- cal, theological, musical, artistic, and scientific studies; literary work, facilitated by a fine library of some 20,000 volumes and some rare and precious manuscripts; all these afford abundant employment to a community of about fifty monks and lay brothers. The graceful group of buildings whose spires and turrets rise above the trees forms a con- spicuous object from Loch Ness, and is visible from a distance of many miles. A church of large size, de- signed by Peter Paul Pugin, was commenced in 1890; a temporary wooden church has been in use since 1880.
Archives of Fort Augustus Abbey: The Nineteenth Century (October, 1884); The Catholic World (New York, September, 1895).
Michael Barrett.
Fort-de-France. See Martinique, Diocese of.
Fortescue, Adrian, Blessed, Knight of St. John, martyr; b. about 1476, executed 10 July, 1.539. He belonged to the Salden branch of the great Devonshire family of Fortescue, and was a true country gentleman of the period, occasionally following the king in the wars with France (1513 and 1522), not unfrequently attending the court, and at other times acting as j\is- tice of the peace or commissioner for subsidies. He was knighted in 1503 (Clermont; but D. N. B. gives 1528), attended the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520), and late in life (1532) became a Knight of St. John. When Anne Boleyn became queen, Sir Adrian (whose mother, Alice Boleyn, was Anne's grand-aunt) natur- ally profited to some extent, but, as we see from his papers, not very much. The foundations of his worldly fortunes had been laid honourably at an earlier date. He was a serious thrifty man, pains- taking in business, careful in accounts, and a lover of the homely wit of that day. He collected and signed several lists of proverbs and wise saws, which, though not very brilliant, are never offensive or coarse, always sane, and sometimes rise to a high moral or religious level.
All of a sudden this quiet, worthy gentleman was overwhelmed by some unexplained whim of the Tudor tyrant. ( )n 29 August, 1,'>34, he was put under arrest, no one knows why, but released after some months. On 3 February, 1539, he was arrested a second time and sent to the Tower. In April he was condemned untried by an act of attainder; in July he was be- headed. No specific act of treason was alleged against
