George Durie
Encyclopedia
George Durie [Dury confused by Watt & Shead with Drury] (d. 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. From 1527 till 1530 he acted as judge
and executor of the monastery of Arbroath
. During this same period he assumed the title of abbot of Dunfermline
, and discharged some of the duties of that office under the direction of his uncle, Archbishop James Beaton
, the actual titular, on whose death in 1539 he was promoted by James V to the full dignity of the office.
, one of the earliest martyrs to reformation
principles in Scotland
, his name is appended as George, abbot
of Dunfermline
. He was one of the most zealous abettors in all attempts that were made to combat the new doctrines. He went so far as to bring to trial and to condemn to death for heresy his cousin, John Durie, who was, however, liberated from his power by the Earl of Arran
. All the bitter prosecutions that took place in Scotland during this stormy period of history were the result of measures devised by succeeding archbishops of St Andrews
and their active and trusted co-adjutor the abbot of Dunfermline.
Cardinal Beaton, in a letter dated 6 July 1545 addressed to Pope Paul III
, informs the latter that his prerogative of cardinal had been rudely assailed by the archbishop of Glasgow (Gavin Dunbar
), and that he had named Robert Reid
, bishop of Orkney
, and George, abbot of Dunfermline, to examine witnesses and report to his holiness. When the cardinal was murdered (29 May 1546) at St Andrews
, and his murderers sustained a siege within the castle, the abbot was very active in trying to avenge the murder. When the siege had lasted six months, he proposed that the besieged should be lured into submission by an offer of obtaining absolution from the pope and of being set at liberty on delivering up the castle.
s held in 1540, 1542, 1543, and 1554. During the latter year, in which Mary of Guise
assumed the title of queen-regent, he was keeper of the privy seal
. He was appointed an extraordinary lord in 1541, and was frequently chosen one of the lords of the articles. He was present at a convention of lords spiritual and temporal held at Stirling
, 18 June 1545, in which both the contending factions in the state were represented, when, by mutual concessions, a basis of agreement was formed. The regent Arran was to have a privy council
of twenty members, four of whom were to act in rotation for a month. The abbot was appointed to act during the second month of this new arrangement. He was again in office as a privy councillor two years later, in September 1547, at the critical juncture of affairs which led to the battle of Pinkie.
, the English chronicler of the "Expedition into Scotland", and an eye-witness of the battle, gives a very minute description of a banner found on the field after the fight, which was said to be that of the abbot of Dunfermline, and under which the "kirkmen" had fought.
When the popular tide had run so far in Scotland that many of the queen-regent's most influential advisers had deserted her, the abbot showed no sign of defection. When her prospects were the darkest, he approved of her withdrawal to Leith
, whither he accompanied her with others of the catholic clergy. The defence was entrusted almost entirely to French troops, to obtain help against whom the Scottish Protestant party applied to England. The Catholics, in their turn, sent the abbot to France to represent to King Francis
and Queen Mary how they were situated. Although then sixty-seven years of age, he seems to have been quite as resolute as before. He embarked at Dunbar
for France on 29 January 1560. In August following the Scottish parliament
voted the abolition of the Roman Catholic Church
and hierarchy in Scotland, and sent Sir James Sandilands
to France to obtain the ratification of this measure by the queen. His untoward reception was attributed in Scotland partly to the influence of Durie, who was then at the French court.
, where she remained six months. Holinshed says: "The queen, being desirous to have peaceful landing in Scotland, would not for the present meddle with religion, although Durie, abbot of Dunfermline, and John Sinclaire, lately appointed bishop of Brechin, did vehemently persuade and labour her to the contrary".
who had been deprived of their benefices on account of their attachment to their faith. Two years after his death he was beatified
by the Roman Catholic Church. Dempster and other writers of the same period call him a saint
and a martyr
.
He left a numerous family in Scotland. His two elder sons, Peter and Henry, were legitimated by an act passed under the great seal, dated 30 September 1543. They appear to have acted as guardians to two younger ones, George and John, who were sent when young to the Scots college
at Paris
, and subsequently to the Catholic University of Leuven
. Several of their letters, dated from Leuven
1571, addressed to their brothers in Scotland, have been preserved in state papers relating to Scotland in the Record Office. John Durie (Jesuit)John Durie became a Jesuit.
He died in October, 1577, by which time he was suffering from senility.
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 Máel Coluim mac Donnchada had founded a church there...
and archdeacon of St Andrews
Archdeacon of St Andrews
The Archdeacon of St Andrews was the head of the Archdeaconry of St Andrews, a sub-division of the Diocese of St Andrews, from the twelfth to the seventeenth century...
, son of John Durie of Durie in the county of Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, and brother to Andrew Durie
Andrew Durie
Andrew Durie , bishop of Galloway and abbot of Melrose, was the son of John Durie of Durie in Fife, and brother to George Durie, abbot of Dunfermline and archdeacon of St. Andrews.-Early career and abbacy of Melrose:...
, bishop of Galloway
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 century or early 8th century, and the first known...
, was born about 1496. From 1527 till 1530 he acted as judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
and executor of the monastery of Arbroath
Arbroath Abbey
Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to the deceased Saint Thomas Becket, whom the king had met at the English court...
. During this same period he assumed the title of abbot of Dunfermline
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 Máel Coluim mac Donnchada had founded a church there...
, and discharged some of the duties of that office under the direction of his uncle, Archbishop James Beaton
James Beaton
Dr. James Beaton was a Scottish church leader, the uncle of Dr. David Cardinal Beaton and the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland....
, the actual titular, on whose death in 1539 he was promoted by James V to the full dignity of the office.
Countering protestantism
His name appears in the chapter-book of the abbey of Dunfermline so early as 1523, but merely as that of a witness. In the judgment pronounced in 1527 by the ecclesiastical court against Patrick HamiltonPatrick Hamilton (martyr)
Patrick Hamilton was a Scottish churchman and an early Protestant Reformer in Scotland. He travelled to Europe, where he met several of the leading reforming thinkers, before returning to Scotland to preach...
, one of the earliest martyrs to reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
principles in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, his name is appended as George, abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of Dunfermline
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
. He was one of the most zealous abettors in all attempts that were made to combat the new doctrines. He went so far as to bring to trial and to condemn to death for heresy his cousin, John Durie, who was, however, liberated from his power by the Earl of Arran
Earl of Arran
Earl of Arran is a title in both the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland. The two titles refer to different places, the Isle of Arran in Scotland, and the Aran Islands in Ireland...
. All the bitter prosecutions that took place in Scotland during this stormy period of history were the result of measures devised by succeeding archbishops of St Andrews
Archbishop of St Andrews
The Bishop of St. Andrews was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews and then, as Archbishop of St Andrews , the Archdiocese of St Andrews.The name St Andrews is not the town or church's original name...
and their active and trusted co-adjutor the abbot of Dunfermline.
Cardinal Beaton, in a letter dated 6 July 1545 addressed to Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
, informs the latter that his prerogative of cardinal had been rudely assailed by the archbishop of Glasgow (Gavin Dunbar
Gavin Dunbar (archbishop)
Gavin Dunbar was a 16th century archbishop of Glasgow. He was the third son of John Dunbar of Mochrum and Janet Stewart.Gavin Dunbar, his uncle, resigned as Dean of Moray on 5 November 1518 to take up the post of bishop of Aberdeen but managed to secure his former position for his nephew...
), and that he had named Robert Reid
Robert Reid (bishop)
Robert Reid was abbot of Kinloss, commendator-prior of Beauly, and bishop of Orkney. He was one of the greatest of the bishops of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Scotland, and his legacy was the founding of the University of Edinburgh....
, bishop of Orkney
Bishop of Orkney
The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics within the territory of modern Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St...
, and George, abbot of Dunfermline, to examine witnesses and report to his holiness. When the cardinal was murdered (29 May 1546) at St Andrews
St Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
, and his murderers sustained a siege within the castle, the abbot was very active in trying to avenge the murder. When the siege had lasted six months, he proposed that the besieged should be lured into submission by an offer of obtaining absolution from the pope and of being set at liberty on delivering up the castle.
Government during the regency
The abbot sat in parliamentParliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...
s held in 1540, 1542, 1543, and 1554. During the latter year, in which Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
assumed the title of queen-regent, he was keeper of the privy seal
Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland
The office of Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, one of the Great Officers of State, first appears in the reign of David II. After the Act of Union 1707 its holder was normally a peer, like the Keeper of the Great Seal...
. He was appointed an extraordinary lord in 1541, and was frequently chosen one of the lords of the articles. He was present at a convention of lords spiritual and temporal held at Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
, 18 June 1545, in which both the contending factions in the state were represented, when, by mutual concessions, a basis of agreement was formed. The regent Arran was to have a privy council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
of twenty members, four of whom were to act in rotation for a month. The abbot was appointed to act during the second month of this new arrangement. He was again in office as a privy councillor two years later, in September 1547, at the critical juncture of affairs which led to the battle of Pinkie.
Rough wooing, Regent Mary and Queen Mary
Much obloquy has been attached to his name for the part he took in the negotiations prior to the battle. The members of the privy council deceived the Scottish army as to the conciliatory demands of the English, which they gave out to be insulting. They have been thought to have acted thus, less from patriotic feeling than from religious rancour. A large number of the clergy had been enrolled in the Scottish army, among whom a similar feeling prevailed. William PattenWilliam Patten (historian)
William Patten was an author, scholar and government official during the reigns of King Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth I.-Early career:...
, the English chronicler of the "Expedition into Scotland", and an eye-witness of the battle, gives a very minute description of a banner found on the field after the fight, which was said to be that of the abbot of Dunfermline, and under which the "kirkmen" had fought.
When the popular tide had run so far in Scotland that many of the queen-regent's most influential advisers had deserted her, the abbot showed no sign of defection. When her prospects were the darkest, he approved of her withdrawal to Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
, whither he accompanied her with others of the catholic clergy. The defence was entrusted almost entirely to French troops, to obtain help against whom the Scottish Protestant party applied to England. The Catholics, in their turn, sent the abbot to France to represent to King Francis
Francis II of France
Francis II was aged 15 when he succeeded to the throne of France after the accidental death of his father, King Henry II, in 1559. He reigned for 18 months before he died in December 1560...
and Queen Mary how they were situated. Although then sixty-seven years of age, he seems to have been quite as resolute as before. He embarked at Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
for France on 29 January 1560. In August following the Scottish parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
voted the abolition of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and hierarchy in Scotland, and sent Sir James Sandilands
James Sandilands, 1st Lord Torphichen
James Sandilands was born circa 1511 in Calder, West Lothian, Scotland, and died in 1596.He was the second son of Sir James Sandilands, 7th Lord of Calder...
to France to obtain the ratification of this measure by the queen. His untoward reception was attributed in Scotland partly to the influence of Durie, who was then at the French court.
Mary, Queen of Scots
In December Francis II died. Deputations were sent to France by both the Protestant and catholic parties to invite Queen Mary to return. The abbot had the advantage of being with the queen previous to the deaths of her mother and her husband. He was also with her when she went to pay her visits of leave-taking among her relatives in Rheims and JoinvilleJoinville, Haute-Marne
Joinville is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France.Its medieval château-fort, which gave to members of the House of Guise their title, duc de Joinville, was demolished during the Revolution of 1789, but the 16th-century Château du Grand Jardin built by Claude de Lorraine,...
, where she remained six months. Holinshed says: "The queen, being desirous to have peaceful landing in Scotland, would not for the present meddle with religion, although Durie, abbot of Dunfermline, and John Sinclaire, lately appointed bishop of Brechin, did vehemently persuade and labour her to the contrary".
Death and legacy
The abbot left for France shortly afterwards, late January 1561. Nicholas Sanders, in his De Visibili Monarchia Ecclesiæ, chap. viii., has included him in the list he gives of the catholic clergy in Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
who had been deprived of their benefices on account of their attachment to their faith. Two years after his death he was beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
by the Roman Catholic Church. Dempster and other writers of the same period call him a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
and a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
.
He left a numerous family in Scotland. His two elder sons, Peter and Henry, were legitimated by an act passed under the great seal, dated 30 September 1543. They appear to have acted as guardians to two younger ones, George and John, who were sent when young to the Scots college
Scots College (Paris)
The Scots College was a college of the University of Paris, France, founded by an Act of the Parlement of Paris on 8 July 1333. The act was a ratification of an event that had already taken place, the founding of the Collegium Scoticum, one of a number of national colleges into which the...
at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and subsequently to the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
. Several of their letters, dated from Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
1571, addressed to their brothers in Scotland, have been preserved in state papers relating to Scotland in the Record Office. John Durie (Jesuit)John Durie became a Jesuit.
He died in October, 1577, by which time he was suffering from senility.