Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Durham Part 5

#Richard le Poore# (1229-1237), who was the next bishop, elected after the see had been vacant two years and four months, was translated from Salisbury, where he had commenced building the new cathedral. He ended the dispute between the monks and the Bishop of Durham by an agreement known as "Le Convenit."

#Nicholas de Farnham# (1241-1248) became bishop after a three years'

dispute with the king. He resigned in 1248.

#Walter de Kirkham# (1249-1260), Dean of York, was next elected.

#Robert de St.i.tchill# (1261-1274), Prior of Finchale, succeeded him.

Dissensions again arose between the bishop and the monks. He died on his return from France, where he had attended a council at Lyons. He was buried in a monastery in France, but his heart was brought to Durham, and buried in the chapter-house.

#Robert de Insula# (1274-1283), a native of Holy Island, as his name suggests, was then elected bishop. His tenure of office was peaceful.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stone Coffin Lid.]

#Anthony Bek# (1283-1310). The next bishop was of n.o.ble birth, the son of Walter Bek, Baron of Eresby, in Lincolnshire. He took part with Edward I. in his expedition to Scotland, and, being very wealthy, was of great a.s.sistance to the king. His following consisted of twenty-six standard bearers, one hundred and forty knights, and an army of five thousand foot and five hundred horse. He was employed by the king, with success, in many important State matters. In the year 1300 trouble again arose with the monks. Some of them being dissatisfied with the Prior Hotoun, the bishop proposed to hold a visitation. The prior refusing to admit him unless he came unattended, the bishop deposed and excommunicated him. The convent took sides, some with the bishop and some with the prior, and it was only on the interference of the king that a partial peace was restored. The quarrel soon reopened. Some men made a complaint against the bishop. He had compelled them to take arms under him in the Scottish war, and had imprisoned some who had returned without leave. The barons upheld the men, and it led to them taking sides with Prior Hotoun in his dispute. The bishop, calling the monks together, ordered them to elect a new prior, which they promptly refused to do. On this the bishop appointed Henry de Luceby of Holy Island to be prior of Durham, and brought men from Weardale and Tynedale to expel the old prior. They laid siege to the convent, and for three days Prior Hotoun and forty-six monks were shut up with only six loaves and sixteen herrings. They continued the services however. On the third day a Tynedale man was sent to pull the prior out of his stall, but was so awed by his venerable appearance that he dared not touch him. A monk on the bishop's side, however, did the work. Prior Luceby was installed, and Prior Richard seized and imprisoned. He soon escaped, however, and carried his complaint before Parliament, and afterwards to the Pope, Boniface VIII. The Pope decided in his favour, and Hotoun returned to Durham, and Luceby and his friends were obliged to go, though they tried, when doing so, to carry off some silver plate and other valuables. Bek continued in great splendour until his death in 1310.

When he died he was king of the Isle of Man, Patriarch of Jerusalem, Bishop of Durham, and Prince Palatine.

#Richard de Kellaw# (1311-1316), formerly a monk of Durham, succeeded Bek. He was a good and learned man, and lived in harmony with the monks.

#Louis de Beaumont# (1318-1333) was next appointed bishop, after great compet.i.tion and intrigue. He was chosen in opposition to the wishes of the chapter, who had elected Stamford, Prior of Finchale, to succeed Kellaw. On his way to Durham for consecration and enthronement, accompanied by two cardinals and a large retinue, he was waylaid at Rushyford by a band of ruffians under Gilbert Middleton. They plundered the cardinals, but carried the bishop a prisoner to Mitford Castle. His release was only secured on payment by the monastery of a heavy ransom.

He was an ignorant man, and so innocent of Latin that he could not read his profession of obedience, being continually prompted. Later, at an ordination, he stumbled over the words "_in oenigmate_" and cried in French, "_Par Seynt Lewis, il ne fuit pas curtays qui cest parole ici escrit._" "By Saint Lewis he was no gentleman who wrote this word."

#Richard de Bury# (1333-1345), who succeeded, was a great scholar, tutor to Edward III., and author of "Philobiblon," a book still extant.

He was a good man, and very kind to the poor.

#Thomas de Hatfield# (1345-1381) was, like Bishop Bek, a warrior ecclesiastic. Soon after his election he led eighty archers to the siege of Calais. His episcopate was notable for the wars with the Scots, and the great victory obtained over them, with the capture of King David and many n.o.bles, at Neville's Cross, near Durham. Fifteen thousand Scots were slain. The victory was attributed to the presence of the sacred banner of S. Cuthbert, which Prior John Fossor took to a place near the battlefield, kneeling in prayer the while for success. A hymn of thanksgiving was appointed to be sung on the top of the cathedral tower on each anniversary of the battle. This custom is still carried out, though the day has been changed to the twenty-ninth of May. Hatfield was a liberal supporter of Durham College at Oxford. He erected his own tomb in the choir of the cathedral, in which he was afterwards buried.

#John Fordham# (1381-1388), secretary to Richard II., and Canon of York, was next elected. Suspected of giving bad advice to the king, he was compelled to resign, but was given the inferior bishopric of Ely, where he lived to extreme old age, dying in 1425.

#Walter de Skirlaw# (1388-1405), translated from Bath and Wells, was a munificent prelate. He built bridges at Shincliffe, Bishop Auckland, and Yarm; a refuge tower, a beautiful chapter-house (now in ruins) at Howden; and was a large contributor to the expense of building the central tower of York Cathedral. His work in the building of the cloisters of Durham has already been referred to.

#Thomas Langley# (1406-1437) succeeded. He was Chancellor of England, Dean of York, and in 1411 was made a cardinal. He occupied the see during part of the reign of Henry IV., the whole of that of Henry V., and fifteen years of that of Henry VI. He founded two schools on the Palace Green at Durham, and in his will left collections of books to many colleges.

#Robert Neville# (1437-1457), son of the Earl of Westmoreland and his wife Joan, who was a daughter of John of Gaunt. He was therefore uncle of the Earl of Warwick, the "king-maker" of Richard III. and of Edward IV. He had a peaceful episcopate of nineteen years, and was buried in the cathedral, in the south aisle near his ancestors.

#Laurance Booth# (1457-1476), Canon of York and Lichfield, Archdeacon of Richmond, and Dean of S. Paul's, was the next bishop. He was a supporter of the House of Lancaster. He was translated to the archbishopric of York in 1476, the first of the bishops of Durham who was raised to that dignity.

#William Dudley# (1476-1483), Dean of Windsor, succeeded him.

#John Sherwood# (1483-1494), who was appointed next, was a learned man, and made a large collection of Greek ma.n.u.scripts. He died in Rome in 1494.

#Richard Fox# (1494-1501) was translated from Bath and Wells after the see had remained vacant for eleven months. Nothing of particular moment occurred during his episcopate. He was an early patron and helper of Wolsey, and lived to regret having a.s.sisted him. He made alterations in the castle at Durham. He was translated to the see of Winchester in 1501, and died in 1528.

#William Sinews# or #Sever# (1502-1505), translated from Carlisle.

He is said to have been the son of a sieve-maker at Shincliffe, near Durham.

#Christopher Bainbridge# (1507-1508), Dean of York, was next elected, and after an episcopate of one year was translated to York. In 1511 he was sent to Rome as amba.s.sador by Henry VIII., and while there was created cardinal. He died in Rome, poisoned by a servant whom he had struck in anger.

#Thomas Ruthall# (1509-1522), Dean of Salisbury, was the next bishop.

He was immensely wealthy, and his love of money brought him into disgrace. King Henry commanded him to draw up an account of the lands and revenues of the Crown. The bishop, in error, sent to the king the wrong book, in which was set forth an account of his own possessions.

The king, though tampered with by Wolsey, made no use of the knowledge thus obtained. But the affair rankled in the mind of the bishop, and is said to have hastened his death.

#Thomas Wolsey# (1522-1528) was appointed to succeed him. The famous cardinal held the see for six years, as well as that of York. During the whole of his episcopate he never visited Durham, and in 1528 he resigned it for the see of Winchester.

#Cuthbert Tunstall# (1530-1559) was translated from London by a Papal Bull, the last used for this purpose. Tunstall was a remarkable man, and he occupied the see during an important period of Church history, the Reformation, all the stages of which he saw. During his episcopacy, the great privileges of the bishops of Durham as Princes Palatine were very much curtailed. In 1526, while Tunstall was Bishop of London, the English translation of the New Testament by Tyndall appeared, causing great alarm among the clergy. The part played by Tunstall in relation to this is well known. He opposed the supremacy of King Henry as head of the Church, but eventually gave up the struggle and preached in its favour. The monastery of Durham was suppressed in 1540, and a dean and twelve canons appointed. Soon after the accession of Edward VI., Bishop Tunstall was committed to the Tower and deprived of his see, on a charge of having encouraged rebellion in the north. On the accession of Mary to the throne he was released and restored, but there would seem to be no grounds for supposing that he took any part in the cruelties practised during her reign. When Elizabeth became queen, Tunstall refused to take the oath, and was again deprived of his see, and, being now an old man, was committed to the custody of his friend Archbishop Parker (Canterbury), with whom he lived till his death in 1559. He was a scholarly prelate, of a kindly nature, and was held in universal esteem.

#James Pilkington# (1560-1575) left the buildings of the see in a ruinous condition.

#Richard Barnes# (1575-1587), translated from Carlisle. He is said to have been removed to Durham in order to spy upon the correspondence and messengers of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots.

#Matthew Hutton# (1589-1594), Dean of York, was the next bishop. A man of great learning, and considered one of the best preachers of his day. He was translated to York in 1594.

#Tobias Matthew# (1595-1606), Dean of Durham, was his successor. He was also a great preacher, and was celebrated for his wit. He was translated to York.

#William James# (1606-1617), Dean of Durham, was next elected.

#Richard Neile# (1617-1627) was translated from Lincoln. He was remarkable as being the only bishop who held six sees successively--viz.

1608, Rochester; 1610, Lichfield; 1613, Lincoln; 1617, Durham; 1627, Winchester; and 1631, Archbishop of York. He did much to help forward men of learning and ability by giving them preferment in his see, and reserving apartments for their use in Durham House, London, which became known as Durham College. He spent large sums of money on repairs to the buildings at Durham.

#George Monteigne# (1628), Bishop of London, only held the see of Durham for three months, when he was translated to York.

#John Howson# (1628-1631), Bishop of Oxford, held the see for two years, and died in 1631.

#Thomas Morton# (1632-1659), translated from Lichfield. The North of England was much disturbed in 1640 by the invasion of the Scots, and Bishop Morton fled--first to Stockton, afterwards to York--and never returned to his diocese. The successful Scots levied heavy taxes on the district for the maintenance of their troops, as much as 850 a day being demanded. In 1646, Episcopacy was abolished, and the estates of the bishops ordered to be sold. Thus we find at Durham the castle sold to the Mayor of London for 1267 and Durham, Borough, and Framwellgate disposed of to the Corporation for 200. The bishop lived a life of suffering in London, cared for by his friends, till his death in 1659, at the age of ninety-four. During his episcopate, in 1656, Oliver Cromwell arranged for the founding of a college in Durham, but his death prevented him carrying out his scheme. His son, however, did so, and it flourished until the Restoration, which, by giving back property to its rightful owners, put an end to its existence.

#John Cosin# (1660-1671), Canon of Durham, was the first bishop after the Restoration. He was a most munificent prelate, leaving many charitable bequests. He spent large sums in the restoration of the cathedral and castle and the palace at Bishop Auckland. He built a hospital for eight poor people, and erected a library on the palace green.

#Nathaniel Crewe# (1642-1722), translated from Oxford. He was a strong supporter of King James II., but afterwards took the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. He was noted for his charity and munificence, and left large sums to the poor, and in scholarships tenable by natives of Durham.

#William Talbot# (1722-1730), translated from Salisbury.

#Edward Chandler# (1730-1750), Bishop of Lichfield, was next elected.

He gave 2000 to be laid out for the benefit of the widows of clergymen of his diocese.

#Joseph Butler# (1750-1752) was translated from Bristol. He is best known as the author of "The a.n.a.logy of Religion, Natural and Revealed."

#Richard Trevor# (1752-1771), Bishop of S. David's, a learned, pious, and unostentatious man. He left 200 in his will to the poor of Durham and Auckland.

#John Egerton# (1771-1787), Bishop of Lichfield, was next elected. He married the daughter of Henry, Duke of Kent, and his eldest son afterwards became Earl of Bridgewater.

#Thomas Thurlow# (1787-1791) was translated to Durham from Lincoln.

He was brother of the Lord Chancellor.

#Shute Barrington# (1791-1826) was the next bishop, having previously held the sees of Llandaff and Salisbury. A most beneficent prelate; his charities, especially those for the founding of schools and augmentation of poor livings, were magnificent. During his episcopacy, external repairs to the cathedral having become absolutely necessary, James Wyatt, who had already done such mischief at Salisbury, was given charge of the work. Then it was that the paring process, spoken of previously, was completed, the chapter-house destroyed, and the Galilee Chapel only saved from destruction by the intervention of Dean Cornwallis. Wyatt's other wild schemes, to extend the choir eastwards, to the utter ruin of the Nine Altar Chapel, to remove the beautiful Neville screen, and surmount the central tower of the church by a spire, were happily checked in time, or there is no saying to what extent the building would have been mutilated. Bishop Barrington died in London, in his ninety-third year.

#William Van Mildert# (1826-1836), Bishop of Llandaff, succeeded to the see. During his episcopate, many important changes were made. The Ecclesiastical Commission, appointed in 1833, to consider in what manner the funds of the Church might be made more available for the purposes for which they were intended, decided to give future bishops a fixed yearly payment, and to reduce the number of canons from twelve to six.

On the appointment of a new bishop, the Palatinate was to be annexed by the State. Thus Van Mildert was the last Count Palatine. Before these changes came into force, however, the bishop and the dean and chapter founded and endowed the university out of the revenues of the see, for the use of which the bishop gave up the castle. Bishop Van Mildert was a man of great charity, and though his income was immense, he died comparatively poor. He died in February 1836, and was interred in the chapel of the Nine Altars.

#Edward Maltby# (1836-1856), his successor, was translated from Chichester, and held the see for twenty years, when, owing to advanced age and increasing infirmity, he resigned in 1856.