George Durie
| George Durie | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1496 Fife |
| Died | 1577 Dunfermline (?) |
| Education | University of St Andrews, MA (1531) |
| Occupation | Abbot of Dunfermline |
| Spouse(s) | Katherine Sibbald (mistress) |
| Children | Peter, Henry, George, John, not to be confused with his cousin John, Protestant Minister, or that John's grandson John, protestant divine and Ireneist |
| Parent(s) | John Durie & Janet née Beaton |
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. 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.
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 Hamilton, 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.
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