A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



behaviour, and forfeited his sovereign's goodwill by his tactless, if sincere, 

 remark at the Parliament at Lincoln and the contemptuous manner in which 

 he disregarded the compact which Edward I had arranged between him and 

 the convent of Durham. 



How great Bek's influence was during the early years of his episcopate 

 may be seen in his collision with the crown over the Quo Warranto pro- 

 ceedings, and his high-handed treatment of the officials of the archbishop 

 of York. The Quo Warranto proceedings (under the Statute of Gloucester) 

 are of interest, as they describe the privileges of the franchise, and were the 

 cause of first seizure of the temporalities of the bishopric by Edward I. In 

 January, 1293, Hugh of Cressingham and his fellow justices itinerant were 

 at Newcastle on Tyne, and the twenty-four jurors ^^^ of the county of 

 Northumberland presented in regard to the bishop of Durham : — 



That by his BaiUffs he was wont to meet the Justices about to go in eyre at Chylewell 

 or at Fourstones or at Quakenbrigg, and afterwards to come before them at Newcastle on 

 the first day of the Eyre and as well at the meeting of the Justices as at Newcastle sue for 

 the Articles of the Crown. This had been done by all Bek's predecessors till Bishop Robert 

 de L'isle allowed the practice of craving Court to drop. 



That he had his Chancery,'"^ and by his Writs and by his own Justices he pleaded in 

 his Liberties of Durham, Sadberge, Bedlington, and Norham. 



That he had his Mint'-' at Durham and his Coroners'-* one for Sadberge and three in 

 the other Wards'-^ of the Liberty of Durham and one at Bedlington and one at Norham. 



That immediately after the close of the Eyre at Newcastle the Bishop firstly at 

 Durham and then in his other Liberties by his Justices pleaded all pleas of the Crown of 

 the same Liberty and all other pleas by the Law of England and by the Articles delivered 

 to him at Newcastle. 



That he had gallows at Durham and Norham and used infangenethef and 

 utfangenethef. 



That he had Market and Fair at Durham, Darlington and Norham. 



That he pleaded at Norham pleas of the Crown every fortnight or three weeks at 

 his will. 



That he put men in exigent and caused them to be demanded every six weeks till 

 outlawed. 



That if outlaws returned he granted them his peace at will. 



That he had of late raised warren at Tweedmouth where it was never before. 



That he granted free warren to whomsoever he would. 



And that his Bailiffs seized at Berwick Bridge all wools, hides, or skins for sale which 

 did not bear the mark called Coket.'-' 



'" Of the twenty-four jurors twelve were drawn from beyond the Coquet and twelve from the district 

 south of the Coquet. The present county of Durham would appear to have once formed part of a district 

 of which the northern boundary was the Coquet. Compare Simeon's account of the foundation of the City 

 of Durham (Rolls Ser. i, 8l), when the entire population between the Coquet and the Tees assisted. 



"' This appears to be the earliest mention of the Bishop's Chancery (Lapsley, Palatinate, i86), though 

 before the middle of the thirteenth century Walter de Merton held the office of chancellor to the bishop 

 nbid. 175). It is possible that earlier chancellors may have existed, though the absence of any such official 

 as witness to the numerous deeds of the twelfth century which have survived renders it improbable (ibid. 94). 



'^' For mint at Durham see Mark Noble's Tzco Dissertations on the Mint and Coins of the Episcopal 

 Palatines of Durham, and Lapsley, op. cit. 278. Royal coins were struck at Durham from the time of 

 the Conqueror, but the origin of the episcopal as distinguished from the Royal Mint is obscure. It can 

 first be traced with surety during Geoffrey Rufus's episcopate. 



'" Coroners are first mentioned in 1279; Lapsley, op. cit. 86. They would appear to have been 

 always appointed by the bishop and not elected as was the case in the kingdom (ibid.). 



'" This is the first reference to the division of the bishopric into wards. None are mentioned in Boldon 

 Book. In addition to the three civil wards, Chester, Darlington, and Easington, there were forest wards, 

 viz. Chester, Lanchester, and Roughside in Chester civil ward, and High Forest in Darlington civil ward 

 (Longstaffc Papers, Dean and Chapter Library, Durham, i.x). 



'^' The other holders of franchises in Durham mentioned in the Quo Warranto proceedings are the prior 

 of Durham who had infangenethef, a moiety of the chattels of felons condemned in his court, amendment of 

 assize of bread and ale broken in Elvet, and a moiety of wreck upon his land ; John Balliol, king of Scotland, 



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