Michael Tregury, in French Michel Trégore or Trégorre (died 1471), was

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

from 1450 to 1471.

Life

Michael Tregury was born in the parish of St Wenn in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. He was educated at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and was at some time Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. He is said to have been an outstanding scholar. He was

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

Henry VI of England Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English thron ...

and a distinguished scholar. He became the first rector of the University of Caen in 1439. He was Archdeacon of Barnstaple from 1445 to 1449. He was consecrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin and was Archbishop of Dublin from 1450 to 1471. In 1451 more than fifty people from his diocese went to Rome to celebrate the jubilee then promulgated by Pope Nicholas V. Those who returned safely in 1453 brought the sad news that

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

was taken by the Turks, and the Emperor Palaiologos slain. Archbishop Michael was so afflicted at the news that he proclaimed a fast to be observed strictly throughout his diocese for three successive days, and granted indulgences to those who observed it, he himself walking in procession before his clergy to

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the ( ...

, and clothed in sackcloth and ashes. In 1453 he was taken prisoner in Dublin Bay by

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, who were carrying off some ships from the harbour of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. They were pursued to

Ardglass Ardglass () is a coastal fishing village, townland (of 321 acres) and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the historic Barony (geographic), barony of Lecale Lower. It is still a relatively important fis ...

, in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

; five hundred and twenty of them were slain and the

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

released. Like his predecessor Archbishop Talbot, he evidently had something of a temper: in 1465 he was accused in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

of assaulting Stephen Fitzwilliam. He was a noted music lover, and owned a pair of

organs In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a fu ...

, which he

bequeathed A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the ...

to St Patrick's Cathedral. Having presided over his

see See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

for twenty years, he died on 21 December 1471, at a very advanced age, in the manor-house of Tallaght, which he had previously repaired. His remains were conveyed to Dublin attended by the clergy and citizens, and were buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.Thomas Walsh
''History of the Irish Hierarchy''
(1854), page 119.

Burial

He was buried in Dublin and his epitaph reads:

''Preasul Metropolis Michael hic Dublinenus''
''Marmore tumbatus, pro me Christum flagitetis ''

which translates as

''Here's Michael the Prelate of Dublin See'',
''In Marble intomb'd, invoke Christ for me.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tregury, Michael Archbishops of Dublin 15th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ireland Year of birth missing University of Caen Normandy faculty 1471 deaths Medieval Cornish people Burials at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Honorary Chaplains to the Queen Archdeacons of Barnstaple Alumni of the University of Oxford