Andrew Durie
| Andrew Durie | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Galloway | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| See | Diocese of Galloway |
| In office | 1541–1558 |
| Predecessor | Henry Wemyss |
| Successor | Alexander Gordon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Late 15th century Probably Durie, Fife |
| Died |
Edinburgh 1558 Edinburgh |
| Previous post | Abbot of Melrose (1525–1541) |
Andrew Durie (died 1558), 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.
Both brothers, Andrew and George Durie, entered the church under the patronage of their uncle, Archbishop James Beaton, 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 to grant the charge to John Maxwell, brother of Robert Maxwell, 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".
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.
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