Durham (Dunelmum)

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Ancient Catholic Diocese of Durham (Dunelmensis).

This diocese holds a unique position among Englishbishoprics. Owing to its geographical position on the Scottish border, the successivebishops were led to assume constitutional and political functions in addition to their spiritual office. Consequently theirrights and privileges were peculiar and extensive; and even to this day theAnglicanBishop of Durham has precedence over all otherEnglishprelates except those ofCanterbury,York, andLondon. Thediocese is the lineal continuation of the Anglo-SaxonSee of Lindisfarne, founded bySt. Aidan in 635, when he came from themonastery of Iona at the request of St. Oswald, King of Northumbria, to evangelize that newly conqueredheathen kingdom. He built hismonastery on the Island of Lindisfarne, now Holy Island, off Northumbria. Thus NorthumbrianChristianity was of Celtic origin and followed the Celtic use as to the observance ofEaster and other matters. But in the south the Roman use prevailed and conflict became inevitable. The controversy arose in the time of St. Colman, the thirdbishop, and was settled in 664 at theSynod of Whitby when the Roman use was adopted. Shortly after, St. Colman resigned the episcopate and thesee was transferred toYork, withSt. Wilfrid asbishop.

In 678, St. Theodore,Archbishop ofCanterbury, cut off from it two new sees, one for the Lundiswaras of Lincolnshire and the other for Bernicia. In 680 the Bernician see was subdivided into the Dioceses ofLindisfarne andHexham, while finally a separatebishopric was created for the Southern Pics. So that whenSt. Cuthbert becameBishop ofLindisfarne thediocese was only a fragment of what it had been underSt. Aidan. In the ninth century when the Danes repeatedly harassed Northumbria, the Diocese ofHexham ceased to have a separate existance, and about 820 was merged in that of York. In 875, Eardulf,Bishop ofLindisfarne, was driven from hissee, and taking the body ofSt. Cuthbert, he with hismonks fled from the Danes. After wandering seven years they found a resting place at Chester-le-Street (882); and from here Eardulf and his eight immediate successors ruled thesee. In 995 Bishop Aldhun again found himself defenseless before the Danes and fled withSt. Cuthbert's body to Ripon. When peace was restored, he was returning to Chester-le-Street whenmiraculous signs were given that the body of thesaint was to remain where the city of Durham now stands. A stonechapel was built to receive the remains ofSt. Cuthbert's body and Aldhun began a great church where thecathedral now is, which was finished andconsecrated in 999. In this way Aldhun became the firstBishop of Durham.

The following is a list of thebishops with thedates of theiraccession.

Bishops ofLindisfarne

Chester-le-Street

Bishops of Durham

The cathedral

The first Normanbishop, Walcher, wasmurdered by the people in 1080, and was succeeded by William de S. Carilef, who began the presentcathedral, the foundation being laid 29 July, 1093. He also replaced the secularcathedralclergy byBenedictinemonks from Jarrow andWearmouth. The situation of thecathedral is very remarkable, as it stands high on the cliff overhanging the river, and the building itself is most imposing, with its noble proportions, and what Dr. Johnson called its appearance of "rocky solidity and of indeterminate duration". Bishop Carilef died shortly after beginning it; but the building was carried on with energy by the nextbishop, theinfamous Rannulf Flambard. He built thenave andaisles and the lower part of the west front, and in 1104 the shrine ofSt. Cuthbert was transferred to the newcathedral. In 1143 thesee was usurped by William Cumin, chancellor of the King ofScotland, who for sixteen monthsviolently kept the rightfulbishop out of possession. This interfered with the building, but the nextbishop, Hugh de Pudsy, was a great builder, and among his additions is the "Galilee Chapel", a unique specimen of transitional work. Another special feature of Durhamcathedral is the easterntransept,know as the "Chapel of Nine Altars", built by Bishop Poor about 1230. The central tower (214 feet) was rebuilt towards the end of the fifteenth century. Thebishops also built their own half-regal residence, Durham Castle, and the extensive buildings of themonastery, portions of which still remain. The relations between thebishops and themonks were frequently very strained, especially in the time of the warrior-prelate, Antony Beck, thoughbishops like Richard Poor, Richard de Kellaw, or the scholarRichard de Bury, lived in harmony with them.

Civil jurisdiction of the bishopric of Durham

The twofoldjurisdiction of thebishops of Durham was clearly recognized by thelaw from early times. In the reign of Edward I the Rolls of Parliament state: "Episcopus Dunelmensis duos habet status, videlicet, statem episcopi quoad spiritualia et statum comitis palacii quoad tenementa sua temporalia." But the original of thiscivil jurisdiction has never been ascertained. According to one theory it represents local survival of the old Northumbrian Kingdom. According to another view it was conferred by grant of some king, Alfred or, more plausibly, William the Conqueror. There is however, no historical trace of such grant, and recent research makes it more probable that it is a development ofimmunities granted to the Bishopric of Durham. Even before the Conquest thebishops held large endowments of land known as the patrimony ofSt. Cuthbert,Terra orPatrimonium Sancti Cuthbert. Therefore the diocese possessed large franchise or immunity both as against the sovereign power of the King ofEngland and the localrights of the Earl of Northumberland. Thus thebishopric was not included in the Domesday Book, and even at the time of the Conquest the county of Durham was governed by thebishop with almost complete local independence. These extremerights were strengthened by the fact that thebishops frequently had to repel Scottish invasions, by their own forces and at their own expense, which fostered both the military and financial independence of the palatinate. The strong feeling of Northumbrian independence also prevented the formation of any firm ties with the English sovereigns, until the masterful policy of Henry II brought Durham into subordination to the central government. But this subordination was exceedingly limited even then, and thebishopric escaped the deprivation of its privileges which befell many other franchises at that time. This was due to Bishop Hugh de Pudsey, who was the king's cousin and personal friend, and who took care as time went on to obtain the chartersnecessary to safeguard the liberties of hissee.

These were most considerable. First, thebishop had within thebishopric every right that the king had in the country:Quicquid rex habet extra episcopus habet intra. He was therefore the head of the civil government, with appointment of all civil officers. Thebishop's writ, not the king's, ran within thebishopric, and the "Bishop's peace" was regarded as different from the "King's peace" until the time ofHenry VIII. Offenders and lawbreakers were tried in thebishop's court and ifnecessary punished by his officials. Forfeiture for treason and forfeitures ofwar were both his right, and he could create corporations, and erect fairs and markets. He did not, however, have the right of making treaties with foreign powers, though instances of attempted secret treaties withScotland are not wanting. Thebishops had their own mint, and theircoinage bears their initials on the reverse of each coin. From thefeudal point of view thebishops were very strong, as he was the universal landlord, and all land was held mediately or immediately of him and not of the king. From this follows hisrights of wardship,rights to all mines and to treasure-trove, as well as his extensive forestrights. At law he could stay procedure against offenders, grant pardons, and even suspend the application of a statute. He had courts ofcommon law, equity, and admiralty, besides his spiritual courts; and he regulated the relations between the latter and the temporal courts.

Thus, in theory, thebishop was as a king in hisbishopric, but in practice his power was limited by the sovereign. In some instances the king actually infringed upon hisrights, and in other cases there was conflict ofjurisdiction. Up to the end of the thirteenth century the episcopal power developed in every way, then followed a period during which the kings somewhat unwillingly tolerated the position, for the sake of the convenience of having what amounted to a buffer state betweenEngland andScotland, and also because it was difficult to solve a problem so beset with complications bothecclesiastical andfeudal. Although it is sometimes stated that thebishops had a council in the nature of a parliament, it is becoming increasingly clear that we have here a confused tradition of two separate bodies — the assembly and the council. The assembly (communitas) was practically the same gathering as the shiremoot in other counties. It raises money by taxation at both the request of the king and thebishop, and sometimes for its own purposes. But it was not a legislative assembly, since all general legislation applied to the palatinate, although Durham was not represented in Parliament till the time of the Stuarts. When Acts were not intended to apply to Durham express exemption was stated. The council was in origin afeudal body, chosen from thebishop's immediate followers and officials, the functions entrusted to it being the general administration of the palatinate, financial affairs, and theduty of advising thebishop. The judicial courts of the palatinate arose out of this body. Much of the civil and judicial independence of the palatinate was destroyed by the Act of Resumption passed in 1536, at the will ofHenry VIII. By this act thebishop's semi-regal power was abolished. The see at this time was held byCuthbert Tunstall, the venerableprelate who was the lastCatholicbishop and who lived to witness the suppression of themonasteries, ThePilgrimage of Grace (1536), and finally the surrender of Durham Abbey (1540) which involved the spoliation ofSt. Cuthbert's shrine. During the reign of Edward VI he wasimprisoned and an Act of Parliament was passed dissolving thebishopric and forming it into a county palatinate. After the brief respite of Mary's reign.Bishop Tunstall was deprived of hissee by Elizabeth, July, 1559. With his death in confinement, on 18 Nov., the line ofCatholicbishops ended. Ten years later during the "Rising of the North" theCatholics seized Durhamcathedral, restored the altar, and publicly celebrateMass, thus making it the last of the oldEnglishcathedrals in which Mass has been said.

In thebishopric there were six collegiate churches,Auckland, Darlington, Chester-le-Street, Lanchester, Norton, and Staindrop. TheBenedictines held Durham Abbey, with the dependent houses of Jarrow,Wearmouth, and Finchale. There were Augustinians atHexham and Brinkburn;Cistercians at Newminster; andPremonstratensians at Blanchland. Durham College (now Trinity), atOxford, was greatly protected and helped by variousbishops andpriors of Durham, and possibly was originally a Durham foundation. The arms of thesee are: azure, a cross between four lions rampant, or. The miter over the arms is encircled by a ducal coronet.

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