Bishop of Durham | |
---|---|
Bishopric | |
Anglican | |
Incumbent: vacant acting: the Bishop of Jarrow | |
Location | |
Ecclesiastical province | York |
Information | |
First holder | Aidan Aldhun (first bishop of Durham) |
Established | 635 (at Lindisfarne) 995 (translation to Durham) |
Diocese | Durham |
Cathedral | Durham Cathedral (since 995) St Mary and St Cuthbert, Chester-le-Street (882–995) Lindisfarne (635–875) |
The bishop of Durham is responsible for the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham until his retirement in February 2024.
The bishop is officially styled The Right Reverend (First Name), by Divine Providence Lord Bishop of Durham, but this full title is rarely used. In signatures, the bishop's family name is replaced by Dunelm, from the Latin name for Durham (the Latinised form of Old English Dunholm). In the past, bishops of Durham varied their signatures between Dunelm and the French Duresm. Prior to 1836 the bishop had significant temporal powers over the liberty of Durham and later the county palatine of Durham. The bishop, with the bishop of Bath and Wells, escorts the sovereign at the coronation.
Durham Castle was a residence of the bishops from its construction in the 11th century until 1832, when it was given to the University of Durham to use as a college. Auckland Castle then became the bishops' main residence until July 2012, when it was sold to the Auckland Castle Trust. The bishop continues to have offices there. [1] [2]
The bishop of Lindisfarne is an episcopal title which takes its name after the tidal island of Lindisfarne, which lies just off the northeast coast of Northumberland, England. The title was first used by the Anglo-Saxons between the 7th and 10th centuries. In the reign of Æthelstan (924–939) Wigred, thought by Simon Keynes to have been Bishop of Chester-le-Street, attested royal charters. [3] According to George Molyneaux, the church of St Cuthbert "was in all probability the greatest landholder between the Tees and the Tyne". [4] Traditionally, following the chronology of the twelfth-century writer Symeon of Durham, historians have believed that the body of St Cuthbert and centre of the diocese lay at Chester-le-Street from the ninth century until 995, but recent research has suggested that the bishops may have been based at Norham on the River Tweed until after 1013. [5] [6] The title of "bishop of Lindisfarne" is now used by the Roman Catholic Church for a titular see (there is also a Catholic titular see of Cuncacestre, the latin form of Chester-le-Street).
The Anglo-Saxon bishops of Lindisfarne were ordinaries of several early medieval episcopal sees (and dioceses) in Northumbria and pre-Conquest England. The first such see was founded at Lindisfarne in 635 by Saint Aidan. [7]
From the 7th century onwards, in addition to his spiritual authority, the bishops of Lindisfarne, and then Durham, also acted as the civil ruler of the region as the lord of the liberty of Durham, with local authority equal to that of the king. The bishop appointed all local officials and maintained his own court. After the Norman Conquest, this power was retained by the bishop and was eventually recognised with the designation of the region as the County Palatine of Durham. As holder of this office, the bishop was both the earl of the county and bishop of the diocese. Though the term 'prince-bishop' has become a common way of describing the role of the bishop prior to 1836, the term was unknown in Medieval England. [8]
A UNESCO site describes the role of the bishops as a "buffer state between England and Scotland": [9]
From 1075, the bishop of Durham became a prince-bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting England's northern frontier.
A 1788 report adds that the bishops had the authority to appoint judges and barons and to offer pardons. [10]
Except for a brief period of suppression during the English Civil War, the bishopric retained this temporal power until it was abolished by the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 19) with the powers returned to the Crown. [11] A shadow of the former temporal power can be seen in the bishop's coat of arms, which contains a coronet as well as a mitre and crossed crozier and sword. The bishop of Durham also continued to hold a seat in the House of Lords; that has continued to this day by virtue of the ecclesiastical office. [12] [13]
Bishops of Lindisfarne | |||
---|---|---|---|
From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
635 | 651 | Aidan | Saint Aidan. |
651 | 661 | Finan | Saint Finan. |
661 | 664 | Colmán | Saint Colmán. |
664 | Tuda | Saint Tuda. | |
In 664 the diocese was merged to York by Wilfrid (who succeeded Tuda following his death), leaving one large diocese in the large northern Kingdom of Northumbria. | |||
The diocese was reinstated in 678 by Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury following Wilfrid's banishment from Northumbria by King Ecgfrith. Its new seat was initially (at least in part) at Hexham (until a new diocese was created there in 680). | |||
678 | 685 | Eata of Hexham | Saint Eata. |
685 | 687 | Cuthbert | Saint Cuthbert. |
688 | 698 | Eadberht | Saint Eadberht. |
698 | 721 | Eadfrith | Saint Eadfrith. |
721 | 740 | Æthelwold | Saint Æthelwold. |
740 | 780 | Cynewulf | |
780 | 803 | Higbald | Viking raid 793 |
803 | 821 | Egbert | |
821 | 830 | Heathwred | |
830 | 845 | Ecgred | |
845 | 854 | Eanbert | |
854 | 875 | Eardulf | |
883 | 889 | Eardulf | |
900 | c. 915 | Cutheard | |
c. 915 | c. 925 | Tilred | |
c. 925 | maybe 942? | Wilgred | |
maybe 942? | unknown | Uchtred | |
unknown, expelled after 6 months | Sexhelm | ||
before 946 | maybe 968? | Aldred | |
maybe 968? | maybe 968? | Ælfsige | Called "Bishop of St Cuthbert". |
990 | 995 | Aldhun | According to the traditional account, the see was moved to Durham. |
In 995, the King had paid the Danegeld to the Danish and Norwegian Kings and peace was restored. According to the legend, Aldhun was on his way to reestablish the see at Lindisfarne when he received a divine vision that the body of St Cuthbert should be laid to rest in Durham. | |||
Source(s): [14] | |||
Bishops of Durham | |||
From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
995 | 1018 | Aldhun | |
1021 | 1041 | Edmund | |
1041 | 1042 | Eadred | |
1042 | 1056 | Æthelric | |
1056 | 1071 | Æthelwine | |
Source(s): [15] |
Bishops of Durham | |||
---|---|---|---|
From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
1071 | 1080 | Walcher | |
1081 | 1096 | William de St-Calais | |
1099 | 1128 | Ranulf Flambard | |
1133 | 1140 | Geoffrey Rufus | |
1141 | 1143 | William Cumin | |
1143 | 1153 | William of St. Barbara | |
1153 | 1195 | Hugh de Puiset | |
1197 | 1208 | Philip of Poitou | |
1209 | 1213 | Richard Poore | Election quashed by Pope Innocent III (who was quarrelling with King John); later elected and consecrated. |
1214 | 1214 | John de Gray | Died before consecration. |
1215 | 1215 | Morgan | Election quashed. |
1217 | 1226 | Richard Marsh | |
1226 | 1227 | William Scot | Election quashed. |
1229 | 1237 | Richard Poore | Translated from Salisbury. |
1237 | 1240 | Thomas de Melsonby | Resigned before consecration. |
1241 | 1249 | Nicholas Farnham | |
1249 | 1260 | Walter of Kirkham | |
1260 | 1274 | Robert Stitchill | |
1274 | 1283 | Robert of Holy Island | |
1284 | 1310 | Antony Bek | Also Titular Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1306 to 1311 (the only English person ever to hold this post). |
1311 | 1316 | Richard Kellaw | In the ensuing vacancy, Thomas de Charlton, John Walwayn and John de Kynardesley were nominated by Edward II, Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster respectively, but the chapter elected Henry de Stamford OSB on 6 November 1316. That election was never confirmed, but quashed by Pope John XXII on 10 December. |
1317 | 1333 | Lewis de Beaumont | |
1333 | 1345 | Richard de Bury | |
1345 | 1381 | Thomas Hatfield | |
1382 | 1388 | John Fordham | Translated to Ely. |
1388 | 1406 | Walter Skirlaw | Translated from Bath & Wells. |
1406 | 1437 | Thomas Langley | |
1437 | 1457 | Robert Neville | Translated from Salisbury |
1457 | 1476 | Lawrence Booth | Translated to York. |
1476 | 1483 | William Dudley | |
1484 | 1494 | John Sherwood | |
1494 | 1501 | Richard Foxe | Translated from Bath & Wells, later translated to Winchester. |
1502 | 1505 | William Senhouse | Translated from Carlisle. |
1507 | 1508 | Christopher Bainbridge | Translated to York. |
1509 | 1523 | Thomas Ruthall | |
1523 | 1529 | Thomas Wolsey | Archbishop of York. Held Durham in commendam . |
1530 | 1552 | Cuthbert Tunstall | Translated from London. |
Source(s): [15] |
Bishops of Durham | |||
---|---|---|---|
From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
1530 | 1552 | Cuthbert Tunstall | |
1552 | 1554 | The diocese was abolished under Edward VI and restored after Mary I became queen. [16] | |
1554 | 1559 | Cuthbert Tunstall | Deprived in 1559, when he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy after the accession of Elizabeth I. Died on 18 November that year. [17] |
1561 | 1576 | James Pilkington | |
1577 | 1587 | Richard Barnes | Translated from Carlisle. |
1589 | 1595 | Matthew Hutton | Translated to York. |
1595 | 1606 | Tobias Matthew | Translated to York. |
1606 | 1617 | William James | |
1617 | 1627 | Richard Neile | Translated from Lincoln, later translated to Winchester. |
1627 | 1628 | George Montaigne | Translated from London, later translated to York. |
1628 | 1632 | John Howson | Translated from Oxford |
1632 | 1646 | Thomas Morton | Translated from Lichfield; deprived of the see when the English episcopacy was abolished by Parliament on 9 October 1646; died 1659. |
1646 | 1660 | The diocese was abolished during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate. [18] [19] | |
1660 | 1672 | John Cosin | |
1674 | 1722 | Nathaniel Crew | Translated from Oxford. |
1722 | 1730 | William Talbot | Translated from Salisbury. |
1730 | 1750 | Edward Chandler | Translated from Lichfield. |
1750 | 1752 | Joseph Butler | Translated from Bristol. |
1752 | 1771 | Richard Trevor | Translated from St David's. |
1771 | 1787 | John Egerton | Translated from Lichfield. |
1787 | 1791 | Thomas Thurlow | Translated from Lincoln. |
1791 | 1826 | Shute Barrington | Translated from Salisbury. |
1826 | 1836 | William Van Mildert | Translated from Llandaff. |
Source(s): [15] |
Among those who have served as assistant bishops of the diocese have been:
Eadberht of Lindisfarne, also known as Saint Eadberht, was Bishop of Lindisfarne, England, from 688 until his death on 6 May 698.
Eadfrith of Lindisfarne, also known as Saint Eadfrith, was Bishop of Lindisfarne, probably from 698 onwards. By the twelfth century it was believed that Eadfrith succeeded Eadberht and nothing in the surviving records contradicts this belief. Lindisfarne was among the main religious sites of the kingdom of Northumbria in the early eighth century, the resting place of Saints Aidan and Cuthbert. He is venerated as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church, and in the Eastern Orthodox Church, as also in the Anglican Communion.
Aldhun of Durham, also known as Ealdhun, was the last Bishop of Lindisfarne and the first Bishop of Durham. He was of "noble descent".
Gisa was Bishop of Wells from 1060 to 1088. A native of Lorraine, Gisa came to England as a chaplain to King Edward the Confessor. After his appointment to Wells, he travelled to Rome rather than be consecrated by Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury. As bishop, Gisa added buildings to his cathedral, introduced new saints to his diocese, and instituted the office of archdeacon in his diocese. After the Norman Conquest, Gisa took part in the consecration of Lanfranc, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and attended Lanfranc's church councils. His tomb in Wells Cathedral was opened in the 20th century and a cross was discovered in his tomb.
The Bishop of Hexham was an episcopal title which took its name after the market town of Hexham in Northumberland, England. The title was first used by the Anglo-Saxons in the 7th and 9th centuries, and then by the Roman Catholic Church since the 19th century.
The bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723.
Hervey le Breton was a Breton cleric who became Bishop of Bangor in Wales and later Bishop of Ely in England. Appointed to Bangor by King William II of England, when the Normans were advancing into Wales, Hervey was unable to remain in his diocese when the Welsh began to drive the Normans back from their recent conquests. Hervey's behaviour towards the Welsh seems to have contributed to his expulsion from his see. Although the new king, Henry I wished to translate Hervey to the see of Lisieux in Normandy, it was unsuccessful.
Robert Waldby was a native of York and friar of the Order of Saint Augustine who followed Edward, the Black Prince into Aquitaine, and undertook a number of diplomatic missions on his behalf. After studying at Toulouse, he became professor of theology there. He later became close to Edward's son, King Richard II. He was a firm opponent of John Wycliffe, wrote a book denouncing him, and was a member of the Synod which assembled at Oxford in 1382 to judge his orthodoxy.
Æthelwine was the last Anglo-Saxon bishop of Durham, the last who was not also a secular ruler, and the only English bishop at the time of the Norman Conquest who did not remain loyal to King William the Conqueror.
The County Palatine of Durham was a jurisdiction in the North of England, within which the bishop of Durham had rights usually exclusive to the monarch. It developed from the Liberty of Durham, which emerged in the Anglo-Saxon period. The gradual acquisition of powers by the bishops led to Durham being recognised as a palatinate by the late thirteenth century, one of several such counties in England during the Middle Ages. The county palatine had its own government and institutions, which broadly mirrored those of the monarch and included several judicial courts. From the sixteenth century the palatine rights of the bishops were gradually reduced, and were finally abolished in 1836. The last palatine institution to survive was the court of chancery, which was abolished in 1972.
Wigred was appointed Bishop of Chester-le-Street around 925. He was also known as the Bishop of the Church of St Cuthbert. He attested charters of King Æthelstan between 928 and 934, and the bishopric in his time was probably the greatest landholder between the Tees and the Tyne.
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the northern regions of England as well as the Isle of Man.
The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (cathedra) is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.
The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.
The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire, together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its episcopal see in the City of Ely, Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity. The diocesan bishops resided at the Bishop's Palace, Ely until 1941; they now reside in Bishop's House, the former cathedral deanery.
Tidfrith or Tidferth was an early 9th-century Northumbrian prelate. Said to have died on his way to Rome, he is the last known Anglo-Saxon bishop of Hexham. This bishopric, like the bishopric of Whithorn, probably ceased to exist, and was probably taken over by the authority of the bishopric of Lindisfarne. A runic inscription on a standing cross found in the cemetery of the church of Monkwearmouth is thought to bear his name.
James Bowstead (1801–1843) was an Anglican clergyman who served in the Church of England as the Bishop of Sodor and Man (1838–1840) and Bishop of Lichfield (1840–1843).
Henry Bridgeman was an Anglican clergyman who served in the Church of England as the Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1671 to 1682.
William Forster, D.D. was an Anglican clergyman who served in the Church of England as the Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1633 to 1635.
Burchard du Puiset was a medieval Anglo-Norman clergyman and treasurer of the diocese of York. Either the nephew or son of Hugh du Puiset, the Bishop of Durham, Burchard held a number of offices in the dioceses of York and Durham before being appointed treasurer by King Richard I of England in 1189. His appointment was opposed by the newly appointed Archbishop Geoffrey, which led to a long dispute between Geoffrey and Burchard that was not resolved until the mid 1190s. After the death of Hugh du Puiset, Burchard was a candidate for the Hugh's old bishopric, but lost out in the end to another candidate. Burchard died in 1196.
The term 'prince-bishop' did not exist in medieval England. It is a literal translation of the German compound Fürstbischof.