Editing Holyrood Abbey (section)

===16th century onwards===
Royal influence over the abbey further increased when in 1538 [[Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney|Robert Stewart]], the infant, illegitimate son of [[James V of Scotland|James V]], was appointed as [[commendator]] of Holyrood.<ref name="Fawcett, p.62"/><ref>Gallagher, p. 1080.</ref>

[[File:Ruins of Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh.JPG|thumb|left|The ruins of the abbey church]]

During the [[The Rough Wooing|War of the Rough Wooing]], the invading English armies of the [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Earl of Hertford]] inflicted structural damage on Holyrood Abbey in 1544 and 1547. Lead was stripped from the roof, the bells were removed, and the contents of the abbey were plundered. In 1559, during the [[Scottish Reformation]], the abbey suffered further damage when a mob destroyed the altars and looted the rest of the church.<ref name="Gallagher, p.1084">Gallagher, p. 1084.</ref> With the reformation and the end of monastic services, the [[Liturgical east#Liturgical east end|east end]] of the abbey church became redundant. In 1569, Adam Bothwell, the commendator of Holyrood, informed the [[General Assembly of the Church of Scotland]] that the east end was in such a state of disrepair that the choir and transept should be demolished. This was done the following year, retaining only the nave, which by then was serving as the parish church of the [[burgh]] of [[The Canongate|Canongate]]. Between 1570 and 1573 an east gable was erected, closing the east end of the former nave, all but two of the windows in the nave were blocked up, the royal tombs were removed to a new royal burial vault in the south aisle and the old east end was demolished.<ref name="Gallagher, p.1084"/>

The abbey was extensively remodelled in 1633 for the coronation of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] which was undertaken with full [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] rites.

[[File:Holyrood Abbey ruin 200411.jpg|thumb|The ruined nave]]

In 1686, [[James II of England|James VII]] established a [[Jesuit]] college within Holyrood Palace. The following year, the Protestant congregation was moved to the new [[Kirk of the Canongate]], and the abbey was converted into a Roman Catholic Chapel Royal and the chapel of the [[Order of the Thistle]].<ref name="Burnett and Bennett. p.7">Burnett and Bennett. p. 7.</ref> The abbey church was remodelled according to the plans of [[James Smith (architect, died 1731)|James Smith]], and was fitted with elaborate thrones and stalls for the individual [[Knights of the Thistle]], carved by [[Grinling Gibbons]]. However, in 1688, following the [[Glorious Revolution]], the Edinburgh mob broke into the abbey, entered the Chapel Royal and desecrated the royal tombs.<ref name="Burnett and Bennett. p.7"/><ref name="Gallagher, p.1085">Gallagher, p. 1085.</ref>

The association of the church with these events and the absence of a royal court left the building out of public interest. [[James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton]] commissioned the architect [[John Douglas (Scottish architect)|John Douglas]] and the stonemason James McPherson to replace the ageing timber roof trusses by stone vaults and outer stone slabs,  the work being carried out between 1758 and 1760.<ref>Freeman, W.F. (1984), ''[[Robert Fergusson]] and the Scots Humanist Compromise'', [[Edinburgh University Press]], pp. 205 & 206, {{isbn|0852244746}}</ref> However, this proved to be a disastrous change. The excessive weight of the stone could not be supported by the walls. The strength of stone vaults depends on the containment of their thrusts, which the decayed flying buttresses could not contain any more, and a small movement (less than 1/30 of the span) can cause severe deformation and collapse.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Theodossopoulos|first=Dimitris|title=Case Study of the Failure of a Cross Vault: Church of Holyrood Abbey|journal= Journal of Architectural Engineering|volume=9 |issue=3 |page=2003|doi=10.1061/(ASCE)1076-0431(2003)9:3(109)|year=2003}}</ref><ref>Theodossopoulos, D. 2016 pp. 954–974</ref> It took six years for the deformation to become alarming. This forced the [[Court of Exchequer (Scotland)|Barons of the Exchequer]] (the administrators of the Palace) to close the church on safety grounds in 1766, following inspection by [[William Mylne]].

On 2 December 1768 the roof collapsed in two stages,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fywoAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Scots+Magazine%22++1768&pg=PA639|title=Holyroodhouse Abbey falls down |magazine=The Scots Magazine |date=December 3, 1768 |volume=XXX |page=667 |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> leaving the abbey as it currently stands, a roofless ruin.

[[File:Edinburgh Abbey Strand-20110904-RM-131415.jpg|thumb|The Abbey Strand, originally served as apartments for those seeking refuge within the Abbey sanctuary]]

The restoration of the abbey has been proposed several times since the 18th century – in 1835 by the architect [[James Gillespie Graham]] as a meeting place for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and, in 1906, as a chapel for the Knights of the Thistle – but both proposals were rejected.<ref name="Gallagher, p.1085" />

In July 1829, the ruins of the Holyrood Chapel were visited by [[Felix Mendelssohn]]. Holyrood, as Mendelssohn related to his family in a letter, served as inspiration for his [[Symphony No. 3 (Mendelssohn)|''Scottish Symphony'']].<ref>R. Larry Todd, 'Mendelssohn', in D. Kern Holoman (ed.), ''The Nineteenth-Century Symphony'' (New York: Schirmer, 1997), pp. 78–107</ref>