I of Scotland in 839. Cistercian abbey Melrose was the first Cistercian abbey in Scotland. King David I wanted the new abbey to be built on the same site, but the Cistercians insisted that the land was not good enough for farming and selected the current site. It was said to have been built in ten years. The church of the convent was dedicated to St. Mary (like all Cistercian houses) on 28 July 1146. The abbey became the mother church of the order in Scotland. Its first community came from Rievaulx Abbey, the North Yorkshire house colonised from Cîteaux. In the 12th century, around Melrose, the Cistercians implemented new farming techniques and marketed Melrose wool throughout the great trading ports across northern Europe. A town slowly grew up around the abbey. During a time of famine four thousand starving people were fed by the monastery for three months. The monastery had 100 monks, exclusive of the abbot and dignitaries. The privileges and possessions of the abbey were very extensive. Its founder David endowed it with the lands of Melrose, Eildon, and other places; and the right of fishery on the River Tweed. Succeeding monarchs increased their property. The house was famed for its wealth, for many of its abbots were men of distinction and honour. Waltheof of Melrose, stepson of King David and at one time prior of Kirkham, was abbot of Melrose from 1148 to 1159. He endowed Melrose with a reputation for sanctity and learning which placed it on a par with houses such as Fountains and Rievaulx and made it the premier abbey in Scotland. The tomb of St. Waltheof, in the chapter house, later became the focus of pilgrimage. One of the earliest accounts of the Magna Carta agreement reached at Runnymede in 1215 is found in the Chronicle of Melrose Abbey. Melrose was located on one of the main roads running from Edinburgh to the south making it particularly vulnerable to attack. In 1322, the town was attacked by the army of Edward II, and much of the abbey was destroyed. It was rebuilt by order of King Robert the Bruce, with Sir James Douglas being the principal auditor of finance for the project. In 1385, the abbey was burned by the army of Richard II of England, "partly because of support for the Avignon Pope Clement VII" he forced the army of Robert