Biography
Andrew the Scot
About Andrew the Scot
Andrew the Scot is remembered as Donatus’s companion and a deacon at Fiesole in the ninth century. His received commemoration is 22 August.
Margaret Stokes retells how Andrew undertook the restoration of San Martino a Mensola with Donatus’s blessing. The story describes clearing ruins, obtaining building materials, seeking donations and working alongside hired builders. It remembers him gathering a religious community and distributing what remained to the poor.
Stokes also recounts a miraculous reunion with his sister Brigid at his deathbed: an angel carries her from Ireland to comfort him. This is a sacred legend, not an independently established journey or family record.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia judges his surviving acta, dated to the fourteenth or fifteenth century, too late to provide a dependable contemporary life. Precise personal dates remain uncertain.
His remembrance remains visible at San Martino a Mensola. Florence’s official heritage guide describes a wooden chest beneath the high altar, holding the remains attributed to him and decorated with scenes of his life by Agnolo Gaddi and his workshop in 1389. These later images document devotion to Andrew, rather than a contemporary portrait of him.
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