# Turgot of Durham

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For the French economist and statesmen, see [Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune](/source/Anne_Robert_Jacques_Turgot%2C_Baron_de_Laune).

**Thorgaut** or **Turgot** (c. 1050–1115) (sometimes, **Thurgot**) was [Archdeacon](/source/Archdeacon) and [Prior of Durham](/source/Prior_of_Durham), and [Bishop of Saint Andrews](/source/Bishop_of_Saint_Andrews).[1]

## Biography

### Early life and prior at Durham

Turgot came from the [Lindsey](/source/Kingdom_of_Lindsey) in [Lincolnshire](/source/Lincolnshire). After the [Norman Conquest](/source/Norman_Conquest) he was held as a hostage, but escaped to Norway, where he taught [psalmody](/source/Psalmody) to King [Olaf III](/source/Olaf_III_of_Norway). In about 1074 he returned to England and became a clerk at [Jarrow monastery](/source/Monkwearmouth%E2%80%93Jarrow_Abbey). He then became a monk at Wearmouth, and in 1087 he was appointed [prior](/source/Prior_(ecclesiastical)) of the monastery at Durham, from 1093 combining this with the [archdeaconry](/source/Archdeacon) of Durham. He became close to the Scottish court and became in 1089 a close friend and spiritual adviser to [Saint Margaret of Scotland](/source/Saint_Margaret_of_Scotland), wife of King [Malcom III](/source/Malcolm_III_of_Scotland) and a profoundly religious person.[2] After her death and between the years 1100 and 1107, Turgot wrote a [vita](/source/Hagiography) of her life at the request of her daughter, [Matilda](/source/Matilda_of_Scotland), wife of King [Henry I of England](/source/Henry_I_of_England).[1]

The cathedral of Durham

In 1093, he and Bishop [William de St-Calais](/source/William_de_St-Calais) laid the foundation stone for what would later become [Durham Cathedral](/source/Durham_Cathedral).[3]

### Bishop of St Andrews and death

In 1107, the Prior was elected as bishop to the [see of St Andrews](/source/Archdiocese_of_St_Andrews) which had been without a bishop since 1093.[4] 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](/source/Symeon_of_Durham), he found that he could not exercise the office "worthily" as there was only a primitive [reliquary](/source/Reliquary) church, no Benedictine monks to support him and conflicts between various factions he had to deal with, including the Scottish King [Alexander](/source/Alexander_I_of_Scotland), the Archbishop of York and the [culdees](/source/Culdees), a local Scottish monastic community. Alexander asked [Pope Paschal II](/source/Pope_Paschal_II) to advice Turgot on these matters and the pope sent Turgot two letters as well as a book of excerpts of [canon law](/source/Canon_law_of_the_Catholic_Church) to support him. Turgot, perhaps in response to these letters, proposed to go to Rome to speak directly with Pope Paschal II but Alexander prevented him from doing so.[5]

Tugot became ill in June 1115 and was allowed to return to Durham where he had begun his clerical life, where he died on 31 August 1115.[1] Turgot's last words were from [Psalm 76](/source/Psalm_76) "His dwelling is in peace and his habitation in Sion" and he was buried in the [chapter house](/source/Chapter_house) of Durham next to the graves of other bishops.[6] His [mortuary roll](/source/Mortuary_roll), which may have been prepared by Symeon of Durham himself, circulated as far as the French counties of [Anjou](/source/County_of_Anjou), [Blois](/source/County_of_Blois), [Touraine](/source/Touraine) and [Vermandois](/source/County_of_Vermandois).[7]

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-DNB_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-DNB_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-DNB_1-2) [Bartlett, Robert](/source/Robert_Bartlett_(historian)) (2004). ["Turgot (c.1050–1115), author and bishop of St Andrews"](http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27831). *Oxford Dictionary of National Biography*. Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ref:odnb/27831](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F27831). Retrieved 25 August 2013. (subscription, [Wikipedia Library](https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/partners/88/) access or [UK public library membership](https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGreen201390_2-0)** [Green 2013](#CITEREFGreen2013), p. 90.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Houses of Benedictine monks"](https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/durham/vol2/pp86-103). British History. Retrieved 29 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGreen201394_4-0)** [Green 2013](#CITEREFGreen2013), p. 94.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGreen201395_5-0)** [Green 2013](#CITEREFGreen2013), p. 95.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGreen201399_6-0)** [Green 2013](#CITEREFGreen2013), p. 99.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEGreen2013100_7-0)** [Green 2013](#CITEREFGreen2013), p. 100.

## 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

- Green, Lionel (July 2013). Hopkins, Peter (ed.). *Building St Cuthbert's Shrine Durham Cathedral and the Life of Prior Turgot*. Sacristy Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781908381620](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781908381620).

- 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"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185217/http://mw.mcmaster.ca/scriptorium/margaret.html). Archived from [the original](http://mw.mcmaster.ca/scriptorium/margaret.html) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011.

Religious titles Preceded by Giric or Cathróe Bishop of Cell Rígmonaid (Saint Andrews) 1107–1115 Succeeded by Eadmer

Catholic Church titles Preceded by Aldwin (prior) Prior of Durham 1087–1109 Succeeded by Algar

v t e 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.)

Authority control databases International VIAF 2 GND WorldCat National United States Vatican People Deutsche Biographie

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