George Durie - Government During The Regency

Government During The Regency

The abbot sat in parliaments 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.