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Andrew was one of the apostles<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Little is known about the life of St Andrew. A fisherman from Galilee \u2013 whose name in Greek means \u2018manly\u2019 \u2013 he was among the first of Jesus Christ\u2019s 12 apostles along with his brother Peter. Christ said he would make them \u201cfishers of men\u201d.<\/p>\n
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The saltire (diagonal cross) on the Scottish flag comes from Andrew\u2019s execution<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Around AD 60, Andrew was martyred by the Romans in the Greek city of Patras. Legend has it that he requested to be crucified on a X-shaped cross, or saltire, because he did not feel worthy to be executed on the same shaped cross as Jesus. That became known as the Saint Andrew\u2019s Cross and a symbol of Scotland in the medieval period.<\/p>\n
![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-114311296-bc1bfef.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"The\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> During the Dark Ages, it looked as though another would have the best claim to the status Andrew eventually enjoyed. Though saints such as Duthac and Ninian had regional standing (in the far north and deep south respectively), it was Columba who initially looked most likely to become the emerging nation of Alba\u2019s patron saint.<\/p>\n But then its political and ecclesiastical focus moved east (and later south) as Irish Gaels made inroads from the west. Originally championed by the Northumbrian Angles, one of whom introduced the cult of the apostle into Fife in the early eighth century, the Picts promoted the more exotic Andrew as a counterweight to Columba, with his Irish roots.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Legend has it that St Regulus (also called Rule), a fourth-century monk in Patras, was told by an angel to hide some of Andrew\u2019s bones. He took them from their resting place in Constantinople, of which Andrew was also patron saint, and sought to place them at the ends of the earth, eventually being shipwrecked on the coast of Fife, at the Pictish royal centre of Cennr\u00edgmonaid (later renamed St Andrews). The C\u00e9li D\u00e9, or Culdees (hermitical\u00a0Celtic monks) already settled there erected a chapel to house a sarcophagus or box-shrine, possibly containing the relics.<\/p>\n \u00a0 In a public relations triumph, clergy and laity alike promoted the community\u2019s development as a pilgrimage destination. The identification of the prelate [ecclesiastical dignitary] based at St Andrews as bishop of the Scots in the 11th century strongly suggests the pre-eminence of both the community and its saint. Then, starting around 1160, a massive new cathedral of the Augustinian canons was built.<\/p>\n \u00a0 From a regional, minority cult, St Andrew gradually became the spiritual father of all of Scotland. This was officially recognised in 1286, when he appears on the seal of the Guardians of Scotland \u2013 the regents after the death of King Alexander III \u2013 framed by his diagonal cross and surrounded by the words: Andreas dux esto Scotis compatriotis<\/em> (\u2018Andrew be leader of the Scots, your fellow countrymen\u2019).<\/p>\n St Andrew became a protector of Scots, and an (honorary) Scotsman himself. Association with the Scottish cause in the late 13th and early 14th-century Wars of Independence<\/a> only cemented his status, turning him into a powerful national symbol. The 1320 Declaration of Arbroath<\/a> officially named Andrew as patron saint.<\/p>\nMore patron saints history:<\/h4>\n
There were other contenders for Scotland\u2019s patron saint<\/h3>\n<\/div>
While St Andrew never came to Scotland, it is said that his remains did<\/h3>\n<\/div>
The town that became St Andrews became the centre of Scottish religious life<\/h3>\n<\/div>
St Andrew\u2019s status as patron saint of Scotland was established by 1320<\/h3>\n<\/div>