ALMO (ALANO), ABATE

ALMUS (ALANUS), abbot. — Almus is a form due to an error by Dempster, but the true name is Alanus: a Cistercian abbot who died on 28 June 1236. From the (Benedictine until 1136) abbey of Melrose (Scotland), he came on 13 December 1229 as abbot, with the statutable number of 12 monks, to Balmerino, a monastery then built by Queen Ermengarda, widow of King William I (1165–1214). He was considered the greatest scholar of his age, but we do not possess his two works: *De perfectione religiosa* and the *Acta reginae Ermengarda*, written to honour the memory of the foundress of Balmerino, who died in 1233 and was buried in the monastic church. He died in a reputation for holiness. Although he is not listed in the catalogue of blessed of the Cistercian Order compiled by Henriquez, he is cited in the *Calendarium Benedictinum* of A. M. Zimmermann (Metten, ed. 1934).