Durham by Night - Part 1
Article by Matt Machell (July 2001)
"There are two kings in England, namely the Lord King of England,
wearing a crown in sign of his regality,
and the Lord Bishop of Durham wearing a mitre in place of a crown,
in sign of his regality in the diocese of Durham".
Introduction: The land of the Prince Bishops
I went to Durham last year, and it struck me that it was the ideal setting for Vampire: Dark Ages. Not just because of its epic setting (a conical hill in the bend of a river, surmounted by the castle and the cathedral), but because of its intriguing history. The fact that it was an all but independent state, ruled by the church, makes it a very interesting setting, with some good character and roleplaying opportunities. I've started putting together ideas for the setting, based on existing material from House of Tremere, and the Storytellers' Companion. The first part of this series of articles details the mortal history of the city: Cainite affairs will follow in the next article, followed by a selection of NPCs.
History
Before the Norman conquest, Durham was part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, which extended from the Humber to the River Forth, covering almost a third of the entire mainland of Britain. During its greatest period in the 7th and 8th centuries, Northumbria was a great centre for arts, learning and early Christianity. It was especially noted for the great saints it produced, like Cuthbert and Wilfrid. Its most famous resident was the Jarrow monk, known as the Venerable Bede, who greatly advanced learning in the Dark Ages. In later centuries, Northumbria's strength waned due to repeated invasion by the Vikings and Scots. These raids forced the monks of Lindisfarne to abandon their home, and wander the northeast for nearly a century, carrying with them St Cuthbert's mythical, pristinely preserved body.
In 995 AD, after years of wandering the north, the carriers of St Cuthbert’s coffin came to a halt at a hill called Warden Law, the site of an Iron Age fort near Hetton to the east of Durham. Here the vehicle on which the coffin was transported came to stand still, and despite the efforts of the whole congregation, the coffin would not move. Aldhun Bishop, the leader of the congregation, committed the monks to three days of fasting and prayer in order to learn the reason why. St Cuthbert appeared in a vision to a monk called Eadmer, instructing that the coffin should be taken to a place called Dun Holm ('Hill Island'). They did so and the first stone chapel was erected around 998. Around this settlement, a city began to grow.
In 1006, the Scots attempted to sieze the city under the leadership of King Malcolm. They were defeated, and the heads of the best looking Scottish soldiers were displayed around the city walls. Some Durham women were presented with the generous gift of a cow for washing the heads and combing their hair.
William the Conqueror became king of England in 1066, and soon realised his kingdom could not be safely protected from Scottish invasion until Northumbria was subject to his rule. At the same time, the earldom's remoteness and independence meant that it would not be easily controlled by a king in distant London.
The king and the saint.
William the Conqueror is said to have visited Durham with the intention of viewing the uncorrupted body of St Cuthbert. William ordered his men to expose the body from its tomb, and warned that he would put to death all Durham churchmen of senior rank if it were found that the saint’s body was not in an incorrupt state.
Mysteriously before the king had even looked at the saint’s coffin, he found himself breathless and panic stricken by a sudden burning fever. Thinking himself to be possessed by some strange force associated with Saint Cuthbert, he quickly fled from Durham and would not dismount his horse until he had crossed the River Tees into Yorkshire, which was seemingly outside the limits of St Cuthbert’s mysterious powers. The lane by which the king made his hasty retreat from Durham acquired the name of `King’s Ride’ or Kingsgate
The Relics of Durham
The Treasury of Durham Cathedral contains many relics of the `Golden Age of Northumbria’, including the wooden coffin and the pectoral cross of St Cuthbert. Other interesting items include ancient books, valuable silver plate and the sword called Conyer's Falchion which is said to have been used by Sir John Conyers in the killing of the legendary `Sockburn Wyrm’.
The two most powerful men in Northumbria were its Earls, descendants of the old kings of Northumbria who had remained virtually independent of the Kings of England during Anglo-Saxon times, and the Bishop of Durham. William's problem was how to acknowledge the independence of Northumbria and at the same time ensure England was properly defended. The king originally gained the allegiance of Northumbria's Bishop and Earl and confirmed their powers and privileges. However, the area quickly became a hotbed of rebellion, and he realised the province could not be trusted.
William therefore sent a trusted Norman noble, Robert Comine, to be the new Earl of Northumbria. Shortly after arrival in Durham, he and his 700 men were massacred by the locals. In revenge the king led his army in a vicious and devastating raid into Northumbria, an event which became known as `the Harrying of the North'. Aethelwine, the Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Durham tried to flee Northumbria at the time of the raid, taking with him many important treasures and relics (see sidebar). The bishop was caught by the Normans and imprisoned, where he later died, leaving his see vacant.
William Walcher was appointed as the new Bishop of Durham, but the north was still not subdued, so an Anglo-Saxon called Waltheof, descendant of the old Northumbria house, was appointed Earl. A close friendship developed between Walcher and Waltheof, and the earl built a castle at Durham for his bishop. Waltheof was later implicated in a rebellion and was executed in 1075. Shortly afterwards, Walcher became the first and only `Earl-Bishop' of Northumbria. Walcher's status as an `Earl-Bishop' meant that the defence of northern England was in the hands of one of the king's trusted men, but also that Northumbria maintained some political independence. Walcher, though a well-intentioned man, was a rather incompetent leader. His inability to control his own men caused anger and resentment, and in 1081, he was murdered at Gateshead.
Despite the murder of Bishop Walcher, the new king, William Rufus, decided to continue with his father's policy towards the area. Walcher's successor, Bishop William St Carileph (1081-1096), was thus also given the powers of Earl. This time however, the powers were confined only to that part of Northumbria south of the Rivers Tyne and Derwent, an area which became known as the `County Palatinate of Durham'. The remainder of Northumbria, to the north of the Rivers Tyne and Derwent, became the county of Northumberland, where the political powers of the Bishops of Durham were limited to only certain districts.
William St Carileph, a much stronger bishop than his predecessor, became the first head of the County Palatinate of Durham. His Palatinate was a effectively a separate state, a `buffer zone' sandwiched between England and the dangerous borderlands. Carileph and successive bishops had nearly all the powers within this area that the king had in the rest of England, and became known as `the Prince Bishops'. They were given powers enabling them to hold their own parliament; raise their own armies; appoint their own sheriffs and justices; administer their own laws; levy taxes and customs duties; create fairs and markets; issue charters; salvage shipwrecks; collect revenue from mines; administer the forests; and mint their own coins.
Under the Prince Bishops, Durham quickly became an important administrative city for the northeast, and the area was developed considerably. In 1093, the building of the Cathedral was commenced, the foundation stones being laid by Bishop William St Carileph, King Malcolm of Scotland and Prior Tugot of Durham. Willian St Carileph did not live to see the completion of his cathedral: he died in 1096, after being summoned to Windsor to face charges of treason.
The new Bishop was Ranulf Flambard, an advisor of King William Rufus, who assumed the post in 1099. It was rumoured that he paid a small fee for the bishopric. His reign was filled with troubles, and the Bishop was locked in the tower of London by Henry I, following advice from his councillors. The Bishop managed to escape (after someone smuggled in a rope), and fled to Normandy. There he managed to convince the king's brother, the Duke of Normady, to invade England. King Henry backed down from the confrontation and agreed to pay for the duke's expedition and grant pardons to all the duke's allies. The bishop founded the Hospital of Kepier in Durham City, and led raids into Scotland. Flambard eventually died in 1128, four years before the completion of the cathedral.
Geoffrey Rufus was appointed the new Bishop of Durham in 1133. Previously the king's chancellor, he was consecrated as the new Bishop of Durham in York by Thurstan, Archbishop of York. During his reign, King Stephen of England and David, King of Scotland, signed a treaty at Durham in an attempt to settle land disputes. This went a little way to calming open hostility between the countries. Geoffrey Rufus also established the Durham mint, which minted its first coins in 1135.
In 1141, William Cumin, who was a devious chaplain to the bishop, attempted to usurp the bishop's throne by seizing the castle with the support of several of the bishop's servants. The only royal support he had for his claim was from King David of Scotland, and forged papal documents claiming that he was the new Bishop of Durham. The monks of Durham Cathedral monastery refused to accept him. In 1143, William of St Barbara, the Dean of York, was rightfully elected to the Prince Bishop's post. William Cumin was eventually captured by Durham Barons in 1144.
In 1154, Hugh du Puiset (known as Bishop Pudsey) was elected the new Bishop of Durham by the monks, following the death of William of St Barbara the previous year. Only 25, and a nephew of King Stephen, Pudsey, treasurer of York and Archdeacon of Winchester, was thought too young for the job. In 1171, Count Hugh de Barr, Pudsey's nephew, brought a fleet of ships into Hartlepool to assist William, King of Scotland, in his invasion of England. Many suspected that Bishop Pudsey encouraged his nephew to assist in this way.
In 1183, the Bishop of Durham carried out a survey of all his territory in Durham and in parts of Northumberland. The survey, known as the Boldon Buke, was Durham's equivelant of the Domesday Book. Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmoorland were notably absent from that famous survey.
In 1189, Richard “The Lionheart” became King of England. Pudsey assembled a fleet at Hartlepool to join Richard in the Crusades, but Richard persuaded the bishop to stay and defend the north. As a reward, the King gave Pudsey new political powers, making him Justiciar of England and Regent of the North (he shares these responsibilities with Bishop Longchamp of Ely). In 1190, Pudsey was tricked, arrested and locked in the Tower by Bishop Longchamp. He was released after agreeing to give Windsor, Northumberland and Newcastle to Longchamp. Pudsey’s son Henry was taken hostage by Longchamp as a means of security, but King Richard’s brother Prince John exiled Longchamp.
In 1195 Bishop Pudsey died, which brings me to the time I've decided to set the background material.