Turgot of Durham

Thorgaut or Turgot (c. 1050-1115) (sometimes, Thurgot) was Archdeacon and Prior of Durham, and Bishop of Saint Andrews.^[1]

Turgot came from the Kingdom of Lindsey in Lincolnshire. After the Norman conquest he was held as a hostage, but escaped to Norway, where he taught king Olaf psalmody. In about 1074 he returned to England and became a clerk at Jarrow monastery. He then became a monk at Wearmouth, and in 1087 he was appointed prior of the monastery at Durham, from 1093 combining this with the archdeaconry of Durham. He became close to the Scottish court, and between 1100 and 1107 he wrote the life of Malcolm's wife, Saint Margaret of Scotland, at the request of her daughter, Matilda, wife of king Henry I of England.^[1]

In 1107 he was elected bishop of St Andrews at the wish of king Malcolm III. Consecration was delayed by ecclesiastical disputes between York and St Andrews, and did not take place until 1 August 1109. According to Symeon of Durham, he found that he could not exercise the office "worthily", and resolved to go to Rome, but he was prevented by the king. He then became ill and was allowed to return to Durham, where he died on 31 August 1115.^[1]

Notes

Further reading

• Dowden, John, The Bishops of Scotland, ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912), pp. 1–3
• Dawson, Christopher, "Religion and the Rise of Western Culture", (Doubleday, 1950), pp. 100
• Veitch, Kenneth, "Replanting Paradise: Alexander I and the Reform of Religious Life in Scotland", in The Innes Review, 52, (Autumn, 2001), pp. 136–166
• "The Life Of St Margaret, Queen Of Scotland". Retrieved 14 March 2011. 

Bishops and Archbishops of St Andrews Known pre-Norman era Bishops Cellach I Fothad I Máel Ísu I Cellach II Máel Muire Máel Ísu II Ailín Máel Dúin Túathal Fothad II Giric Cathróe Scoto-Norman era Bishops Turgot of Durham Eadmer Robert of Scone Ernald Richard the Chaplain Hugh the Chaplain John Scotus Roger de Beaumont Geoffrey de Liberatione William de Malveisin David de Bernham Robert de Stuteville Abel de Gullane Gamelin William Wishart William Fraser William de Lamberton James Bane William Bell William de Landallis Stephen de Pa Walter Trail Thomas Stewart Walter de Danielston Gilbert de Greenlaw Henry Wardlaw James Kennedy Patrick Graham Pre-Reformation Archbishops Patrick Graham William Scheves James Stewart, Duke of Ross Alexander Stewart John Hepburn Cardinal Innocenzo Cybo Andrew Forman James Beaton Cardinal David Beaton John Hamilton Gavin Hamilton Post-Reformation Archbishops John Douglas Patrick Adamson George Gledstanes John Spottiswoode James Sharp Alexander Burnet Arthur Rose Afterwards, see also: Episcopal Archbishops of St Andrews, Bishops of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane (etc.) & Roman Catholic Archbishops of St Andrews and Edinburgh (etc.)