Andrew Durie (died 1558),

bishop of Galloway The Bishop of Galloway, also called the Bishop of Whithorn, was the eccesiastical head of the Diocese of Galloway, said to have been founded by Saint Ninian in the mid-5th century. The subsequent Anglo-Saxon bishopric was founded in the late 7th ...

and

abbot of Melrose The Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a ...

, was the son of John Durie of Durie in Fife, and brother to

George Durie George Durie (Dury confused by Watt & Shead with Drury) (died 1577), abbot of Dunfermline and archdeacon of St Andrews, son of John Durie of Durie in the county of Fife, and brother to Andrew Durie, bishop of Galloway, was born about 1496. Fro ...

abbot of Dunfermline The Prior, then Abbot and then Commendator of Dunfermline was the head of the Benedictine monastic community of Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, Scotland. The abbey itself was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland, but was of earlier origin. King ...

and archdeacon of St. Andrews.

Biography

Early career and abbacy of Melrose

Both brothers, Andrew and George Durie, entered the church under the patronage of their uncle, Archbishop

James Beaton James Beaton (or Bethune) (1473–1539) was a Roman Catholic Scottish church leader, the uncle of David Cardinal Beaton and the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. Life James Beaton was the sixth and youngest son of John Beaton of Balfour ...

of Glasgow, who named them abbots in 1526. The appointment of Andrew Durie to the abbey of Melrose was made in opposition to the will of James V, who had already asked the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

to grant the charge to John Maxwell, brother of

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...

, Lord Maxwell, but letters of commendation to the pope in favour of Durie were obtained by fraud. Sir Christopher Dacre, in a letter dated 2 December 1526, says that Durie, "a monk of Melrose Abbey, will probably hold the place, notwithstanding that the king and the lords in this parliament have enacted that no Scotchman should purchase a benefice at the pope's hand, without license of the king and the lords of council".Quoted in Fotheringham, Durie, Andrew (d 1558). James wrote to Cardinal Wolsey on the subject, and requested him to lay the matter before Henry VIII, so that the English king might use his influence with the pope to annul the appointment of Durie. Maxwell's friends obtained from the Scottish parliament a revocation of the letters sent to the pope in Durie's behalf. The Earl of Arran also wrote to Cardinal Wolsey to remind him that he had promised before to obtain the pope's consent to the appointment of his friends to the bishopric of Moray and to the abbey of Melrose, both of which charges were then vacant. The 'Vatican Papers' contain a letter from Henry VIII to the pope on the subject, dated Hertford, 2 December 1524, in which he recommends John Maxwell of Dundrennan to the abbey of Melrose. All these efforts were of no avail. Maxwell, who had entered on the functions of abbot, had to retire in favour of Durie, who personally had nothing to recommend him as a churchman to any office whatever. He was dissolute and profane. His talk was mixed with terms derived from dice and cards. He had also a vulgar habit of making trivial rhymes. In giving his advice to the queen-regent, Mary of Guise, regarding a concourse of

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

preachers that had assembled in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, he is reported to have said: "Madame, because they are come without order, I rede ye, send them to the border".

Bishop of Galloway

On 2 July 1541 he was made an

extraordinary lord of session Extraordinary Lords of Session were lay members of the Court of Session in Scotland from 1532 to 1762, and were part of the historical judiciary of Scotland. When the Court of Session was founded in 1532, it consisted of the Lord President, 14 ...

, and was on the following day recommended to the pope for the

see of Galloway The Roman Catholic Diocese of Galloway ( la, Dioecesis Candidae Casae o Gallovidianus) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. The pre-Reformation Diocese of Galloway, held to have been founded by St N ...

. The king stipulated that before receiving the bishopric he should resign Melrose, although he might hold the abbey of Tongland. He is, however, spoken of as bishop and

in 1556. He accompanied the queen-regent on her visit to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1550. He was an inveterate enemy to

protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, and vowed openly that, in despite of God, so long as they that then were prelates lived, that word called the gospel should never be preached within the realm. He died in Edinburgh in his house on Melrose Close on or soon after 1 September (St Giles Day) 1558 from the shock occasioned by a riot in Edinburgh when the Protestants broke up the procession in honour of

St Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

. Knox asserts that Durie had a very bad character. He was succeeded in the bishopric by Alexander Gordon. Sources

Notes

References

* This article lists the following in its citations: ''State Papers, Henry VIII'', vol. iv.; ''Vatican Papers'', Caligula B. vi. 420; Brunton and Haig's ''Senators of the College of Justice'', p. 68; Keith's ''Scottish Bishops'', p. 278. ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Durie, Andrew 15th-century births 1558 deaths Abbots of Melrose Alumni of the University of St Andrews Bishops of Galloway (pre-Reformation) People from Fife 16th-century Scottish Roman Catholic bishops