Travelling Map of Durham and Northumberland

ORIGIN AND HISTORY.-The History of Durham, from the fact of its having formed a County Palatine, under the government of its bishops, is chiefly ecclesiastical. Nevertheless, the fact that this bishopric was the only part of England with an individual history of its own, de-mands more historical detail than is usual in a Handbook.

At the time of the Roman invasion, the district between Tyne and Tees was inhabited by the tribe called Brigantes. By the Romans this territory was included in the division called "Maxima Cæsariensis,' and was governed by a "Dux Britanniarum." In the time of the Saxons it formed part of the Northumbrian province called Bernicia.

In 634, Oswald king of Northumbria, assisted by St. Aidan, founded the monastery of Lindisfarne, from which the see of Durham eventually sprang. Eata, its first abbot and bishop, was accompanied thither by a monk named Cuthbert, who rose in the odour of sanctity to be prior and bishop himself, and whose miraculous story will be fully told in the description of his haunts at Farne and Holy Island. In 875 the Danes invaded Lindisfarne, and the monks fled, bearing with them the body of St. Cuthbert. They first took refuge in Ireland, then at Melrose (whence the body of the saint is said to have floated in its stone coffin down the Tweed to Tillmouth), and afterwards at Chester-le-street, [Dur. & N.]

B

where Guthred, the viceroy of Alfred, established a new see for Eardulph, the exiled bishop of Lindisfarne, and set apart all lands betwixt Tyne and Tweed as the patrimony of St. Cuthbert, investing the bishop, as his representative, with full powers for their jurisdiction. Cutheard, the second bishop who ruled in Chester-le-street, added Bedlingtonshire to the domains of the see, to which it was united till the reign of Victoria. In 987 the monks under Bishop Aldune were again compelled to fly from the Danes, and took refuge for 3 years at Ripon. In 990 they once more retraced their steps, but, according to monastic tradition, upon reaching the summit of Wardonlaw, the body of St. Cuthbert became immovable, until after three days of prayer and fasting, when it was revealed to the monk Eadmer that the saint must eventually rest in "Dunholme." This spot was discovered by following the wanderings of a cow, and there, on a promontory almost encircled by the Wear, the body of the saint first rested in a tabernacle of branches, "the bough-church." Hence it was removed in 995 to another church of wicker-work ("facta citissime de virgis ecclesiola"), “the white church," where it remained till the erection of a cathedral by the first of a long succession of bishops, whose acts, as far as they influenced the palatinate, will be briefly noticed.

Aldune, 990-1018, built the first cathedral, extended the power of the see, and died of grief at the defeat of his people by the Scots at Carham.

Edmund, 1021-1041, moved the remains of Bede from Jarrow to Durham. In his reign Canute walked barefoot, on pilgrimage to St. Cuthbert, from Trimdon to Durham, and afterwards liberally increased the patrimony of the saint. To this monarch is due the actual erection of the see into a county-palatine, by which he transferred the allegiance of the inhabitants from the crown to the bishop, but at the same time left to the latter the arduous and difficult task of defending the English border.

Eadred, 1041-42.

Egelric, 1042-56, was a monk of Peterborough, and regarded as an alien at Durham, whence he was eventually expelled. He was afterwards thrown by the Conqueror into prison, where he died.

Egelwin, 1056-71.-During this reign Robert Comyn, attempting to carry out the cruel exactions of the Conqueror in the north, was burned at Durham, with his Norman adherents, in a fortress in which he had taken refuge. His death was avenged by William, who plundered the monastery of Durham, whence for a time the monks once more fled, with the body of St. Cuthbert, to Lindisfarne. Soon afterwards the King of Scots invaded the palatinate, and burnt the monasteries at Wearmouth and Hartlepool. Egelwin, worn out by such repeated misfortunes, attempted to escape with his treasures to Cologne, but was taken prisoner, and died in confinement at Abingdon Abbey.

Walcher, 1072-80.-A native of Lorraine, invested by the Conqueror with all the powers of a Count Palatine, the better to enable him to repel the savage incursions of the Scottish borderers, and to check the

Saxon influence in the north. These powers eventually became his ruin, for when Lyulph, a Saxon patriot, was slain by the Normans, the bishop was suspected of having instigated the crime, and was murdered by the inhabitants of Tynedale at Gateshead.

William de Carileph, 1080-1095, took part with Duke Robert against William Rufus, and was driven into exile. When restored to his see he devoted its great revenues to the rebuilding of the cathedral upon a plan which he had brought from Normandy, and the building as it now stands is, in the main, the cathedral of Carileph.

Ralph Flambard, 1099-1128, was a favourite of Rufus, during whose life his extortions as the king's justiciary rendered him exceedingly unpopular. One of the first acts of Henry I. was the arrest of the bishop of Durham, who was assisted by Duke Robert to escape from prison, and fled to Normandy. Robert afterwards made the restoration of Flambard one of the conditions of reconciliation with his brother. From this time the character of the bishop changed, and he devoted his energies and revenues to the profit of the palatinate. Norham Castle, Kepyer Hospital, additions to the Castle and Cathedral, and Framwellgate Bridge, at Durham, bear witness to his liberality.

Galfrid Rufus, 1133-1140.—After Flambard's death, Henry I. kept the see vacant for five years, and appropriated its revenues, but at length appointed his chancellor, a man of high character and learning. In his reign the diocese was ravaged during the civil wars, by David of Scotland, the partizan of Matilda, who had taken the fortress of Norham, and thence carried on his devastations. On the death of Galfrid Rufus in 1140, his confidential agent William Comyn seized forcibly upon the bishopric and palatinate, the latter of which he was enabled to hold for nearly five years by the aid of David King of Scotland, who thus hoped to gain a footing on the English border. But while Comyn held the temporal powers of the palatinate, the clergy steadily refused to elect him as bishop, upon which he forged letters from Rome recognising his claims.

William de St. Barbara, 1143-1153, formerly Dean of York, was elected by the clergy when they discovered the fraud of Comyn. At first, however, he was almost banished from the palatinate, which was held by the armed force of the usurper. Only Conyers, the exconstable of Durham Castle, remained faithful to the true bishop, and gave him a refuge in his stronghold of Bishopton. Hence he emerged, confiding in a temporary truce, but was forced to fly to Jarrow and thence to Lindisfarne. At length the cause of Comyn became desperate, with that of the Empress Maud, to whom he had constantly adhered, and on the approach of Stephen he surrendered, and threw himself on the mercy of his rival, by whom he was pardoned, after he had done penance. În 1144 Bp. St. Barbara was formally enthroned at Durham, and exercised the full powers of a prince-palatine, even to coining money in a mint which was set up by his predecessor Galfrid Rufus.

Hugh Pudsey, 1153-1195, took advantage of disputes at Durham to