their patron, St. Cuthbert, subverted the mild mandates of Christianity, by a union of temporal severity; and from their abhorrence of his latter character, lost all reverence of his episcopal office: at length an act of injustice, to which he does not appear to have been privy, but which he did not exert his authority to punish, raised such an insurrection in his territory, as was only allayed by his murder in the most savage and cruel manner.*

The

• The circumstances are thus related: Symeon says, "that the Bishop was a man of moral life, and, for virtue and good manners, worthy the affection of the best of men; but it is certain, from every authority, that he delegated his power to unworthy ministers and favorites; that Leofwin, his archdeacon, purloined the treasure of the Church in favor of his; and that Gilbert, his kinsman, to whom the care of the earldom had been delegated, had suffered his soldiers not only to oppress the common people in various ways, but to insult, rob, and immolate those of higher rank. A Saxon nobleman, named Liulph, eminent for his personal virtues, possessions, and great alliance, (he having married Algitha, sister of Elfleda, wife of Earl Siward, and mother of Waltheof, the late Ear',) was in great favour with the Bishop, being frequently at his council, and at his table. When Gilbert afflicted the province by frequent rapine and oppression, it was conceived, his evil actions were supported by the connivance of the Bishop. Amidst the indiscriminate depredations of the deputy, Liulph's estates suffered part of the marks of the despoiler's hand, on which he applied to the Bishop, with remonstrances against his vice-comes and archdeacon. The jealousy and resentment of the Norman favorites thenceforth were grievously excited; and Leofwin thinking himself particularly affronted by Liulph's repeated charges to the Bishop, solicited his coadjutor Gilbert to murder him. This, from an equal spirit of resentment, the deputy readily undertook; and besetting the house in the night-time, inhumanly butchered Liulph, and the greatest part of his family. This act of violence encreased the tumult of the Northumbrians, by whom Liulph was greatly revered and beloved; and they anxiously waited a proper opportunity to revenge the horrid massacre of this illustrious and innocent family. It was in vain for the Bishop to attempt appeasing the inflamed populace, by the most solemn asseverations of his innocence, and detestation of the crime, He did not bring the perpetrators to justice, notwithstanding the anger which he expressed against the of fence; but, negligent of the rights of the injured, he suffered the guilty persons still to go at large, and execute the high offices they held; which appearances determined the judgment of the people, that the crimes were perpetrated by his connivance, and with his privity. It is probable he might not be anxious

The King, highly incensed, sent his brother Odo, Bishop of Baieux, into the North, with orders to punish the insurgents, and to take vengeance for the massacre of the Bishop and his retinue. Odò performed his task not as a Bishop, but as a Norman soldier, (he being at that time Earl of Kent,) and made Durham feel the extent of his power, by robbery, desolation, and murder. He stained his sacred vesture by the innocent blood of the relations of the rebellious: he robbed the church of Durham of a rich pastoral staff, which he pretended was taken by the soldiery; and reduced the province to a solitary desart.

About this time the Domesday Book was made; and as Durham does not occur in it, a supposition arises, that the county was so wasted, as not to be worth the expence of a survey. Malcolm, King of Scotland, now entered the county, to revenge on Odo, the enormities he had committed; but William, sending his eldest

son,

to relax any part of the severities of his government, thinking he should thereby bring the Northumbrians earlier to submission.

Not long after the foregoing transaction, the Bishop, in exercise of his civil jurisdiction, held a public assembly of his council and ministers at Gateshead, whither the suitors repaired. To this place he had come without a sufficient guard to secure him from injury, depending on the veneration hitherto paid to the sacredness of his office. The appearance of the populace, however, immediately indicated their disposition for mischief; they were not to be restrained, were insolent and refractory. The Bishop was at length alarmed for his safety, when it was too late to procure succour. He caused his officers to assure the people, that part of the business of the assembly was to make restitution to the relations of the deceased. The rage of the populace increased to such a height, that he But offered to bring Leofwin to trial, that the law might determine his fate the mob, tumultuous and inflamed, refused to submit to the common forms of justice. The Bishop perceived it was too late to appease them; their ferocity of temper displayed a total contempt of his official authority as Earl, or of sanctity as Bishop; they beset the house with a clamour which struck the whole assembly with terror; and, on a watch-word being pronounced from every quarter, which some of the monastic authors have recorded, “Short red, good red, slea ye the Bishoppe." Implying, Short riddance, good riddance, &c. They discovered their arms, which hitherto were concealed under their garments. The few guards the Bishop brought with him, dreading no mischief, on their

arrival,

son, Robert, against Malcolm, a scene of warfare commenced, highly obnoxious to humanity; but congenial to the rude period wherein it was transacted.

William de Carilepho, the next Bishop, in 1080, was among the malecontents on the accession of William Rufus, and flying into Normandy, his temporalities were seized into the hands of the Crown. John de Tailbois, and Ernesius de Burone, were made governors of the Castle and Palatinate; and it was not till the year 1091 that the Bishop was restored. Soon after the resumption of his dignity," he granted to the convent, Elvet, in the order of a borough, where the monks should have forty merchants' houses, or tradesmen's shops, distinct and separate from the Bishop's bo

rough

arrival, dispersed themselves, and were reposing in a careless manner: such were surrounded, and put to the sword. The Bishop privately retreated to the church, whither he summoned a few of the chief men of each party, to propose terms of amity and satisfaction. Those who conceived they could influence the mob, went out to appease them; but, without respect of persons, many were slain. The Bishop then commanded Gilbert to go forth, and endeavor to reconcile their wrath; but he was an immediate victim to their vengeance. Some of the rioters now set fire to the church, whilst others guarded the door, and put every one to death that attempted to depart. Those that remained within, no longer able to endure the force of the flames, rushed out, and were instantly slain. The last of the assembly was the venerable Prelate; his heart overwhelmed with affliction for the death of his people. Whilst his benevolence lamented their unhappy deaths, he was denied all the feelings his own approaching fate might have inspired in more generous bosoms; for he could not hope that his life would be spared by the savage and mad multitude. Between the impending evils, for a moment, he was indeterminate what death he should die. The fire urged him to the sword of the enemy; the enemy drove him back to the flames. At length no time was left to irresolution. The fire blazed all round him. Putting up a short prayer to Heaven, he advanced towards the howling and clamorous multitude. With one hand he made a fruitless signal to command silence; with the other, he sanctified himself with the sign of the cross; and folding himself in his robe, he veiled his face, and was instantly pierced to the heart with a lance; and his body was afterwards inhumanly mangled. This catastrophe happened on the fourteenth of May, 1080; the Bishop having held the See nine years and ten months. The leader of the riot was Eadulf, surnamed Rus, great grandson of Earl Uchtred, and consequently of affinity with Liulph. Hutchinson's Durham, Vol. I. p. 130.

rough of Durham, that they might trade there, freed from duties payable to the Bishop and his successors. Though we have no previous account of the borough of Durham, yet, by inference, we may determine, that such borough existed, with exclusive privileges, even till the institution of the borough of Elvet held an entire trade. How this diminution was relished, or how the new borough supported its authority, we are not informed."

Durham sustained great injury by fire in the time of Bishop Flambard, whilst the temporalities were in the hands of the Crown, in consequence of his flight to Robert, Duke of Normandy. This Bishop, to ingratiate himself at Court, oppressed the bishopric with taxes, but without success, King Henry having an invincible hatred to the principles of the Prelate. In 1112, the Bishop founded the hospital of Kepier, which he dedicated to St. Egidius, or Giles, and amply endowed it: after his restoration to the See, he improved the fortifications, by extending the walls between the Cathedral and Castle, removing the houses on the area between those edifices, and levelling the ground; fortified the Castle with a moat, improved the banks of the river, and built Framwell-gate Bridge.

When Stephen usurped the Crown, David, King of Scotland, having taken an oath on behalf of his niece Matilda, daughter of Henry the First, levied an army, and took possession of several fortresses in Northumberland. On this occasion Stephen came to Durham, concluded a peace, which not being lasting, the country again experienced all the horrors of war. The King of Scotland, after committing the grossest enormities, advanced to the neighbourhood of the city; but here his army, composed of the refuse of the surrounding nations, proving seditious, he was com pelled to retreat; taking, in his way, the Bishop's Castle of Norham, on the banks of the Tweed. By the interposition of Alberic, Bishop of Ostia, and legate from the Holy See, a peace was established between the two nations; and the city of Durham was honored with the presence of the members of this Convention, in April, 1139; Maud, Queen of England, with many southern

Hutchinson's Durham, Vol. II. p. 8.

Barons,

Barons, on the part of the English Crown; and Prince Henry, with several Scottish Barons, on the part of David. About this period a coinage was established at Durham.

The Bishop, Galfrid Rufus, is not said to have taken any active part during these troubles; he seems rather to have occupied his time more agreeably to his character, in the ornament and defence of his See. During the Prelate's last illness, his chaplain, William Cumin, gained the confidence of his household, and particularly such as had the custody of the castle, who entered into a confederacy to deliver up to him the palace and tower, immediately upon the Bishop's decease. Having obtained also the assistance of the King of Scotland, to whom he styled himself Chancellor, he induced the people to submit to his authority, which, by means of the most iniquitous methods, he endeavored to esta blish; but being foiled in his measures, he resorted to the sword. After desolating the country, his soldiers reduced the Hospital and Church of St. Giles, with the whole village, to ashes; and having burnt a part of the borough of Elvet, the Earl of Northumberland, with whom the Bishop, William de St. Barbara, was in league, completed the destruction, by burning the remainder of the borough.

After Henry the Second succeeded, he had a dispute with Bishop Pudsey; and, during his displeasure, took possession of the castle and city of Durham, and on various pretexts, deprived the Bishop of the custody of so strong a post. This Bishop "granted to the burgesses, that they should be for ever exempt from the customs called in-toll and out-toll, and from marchets and heriots; and to have the like free customs as Newcastle.

This

* It was a custom for the burgesses, on the demise of a Prelate, to deposite the keys of the city-gates at the shrine of St. Cuthbert. On the death of Bishop Pudsey, the officers of the Crown, who had seized the temporalities, took violent possession of the keys, contrary to the ancient usage. As the election of a Prelate was studiously delayed, and much oppression happened during the va cancy of the See, under the influence of the Crown officers, and as a creature of the King's succeeded, it is not to be wondered, that we hear no further than the mere mention of this infringement of the privileges of the convent. Hutchinson's Durham, Vol. II. p. 8.