POLITICAL HISTORY 



had in the remainder of the county. The rights of the bishop in the territory 

 of Hart and town and port of Hartlepool were the subject of dispute with 

 Robert Bruce in 1280. By agreement the difference was referred to the 

 arbitration of the bishop of Norwich and Anthony Bek, then archdeacon of 

 Durham, who whilst allowing Bruce free warren, free borough, free port, 

 free market and fairs, confirmed the bishop's right to wreck. In addition, 

 prisoners charged with offences beyond the jurisdiction of the local courts 

 were to be taken to Sadberge Gaol and tried there.*' 



The question of homage was the subject in dispute between the bishop 

 and the Balliols. The latter held in chief of the king the barony of 

 Gainford, which was within the wapentake of Sadberge, by service of 

 5J knights' fees. On the transfer of Sadberge the bishop claimed the homage 

 of 5^ knights' fees from the Balliols. They resisted the claim, but in 1231 

 an agreement was made between Bishop le Poor and John Balliol, whereby the 

 latter undertook to do his best to persuade the king to allow the bishop to 

 have the homage of the fees within the wapentake. 



John Balliol did not carry out the agreement, and was in 1234, and 

 again in 1241, ordered by the king to do homage to the bishop. In 1255 

 the dispute culminated in an attack by John's brothers Eustace and Jocelin de 

 Balliol on the bishop and his retinue, four of the latter being taken as prisoners 

 to Barnard Castle. The king then intervened and John Balliol submitted.* 7 



Before dealing in detail with the history of the fourteenth century in 

 which the Scottish wars play so large a part, it may be as well shortly to review 

 the general military situation of Durham in the Middle Ages, first considering 

 the routes by which Durham was liable to be invaded, then the invading 

 force, and lastly, the means at the disposal of the bishop to repel the Scottish 

 inroads. 



Three main routes were available to the Scots. By the first the Tweed 

 was forded, and the whole length of the county of Northumberland traversed ; 

 the valley of the North Tyne formed the second, whilst the third ran from 

 Carlisle to Hexham. Of these the second may be dismissed, for it does not 

 appear that by this route Durham ever suffered serious invasion ; the difficulty 

 of supply may possibly be the reason. 



By the first route the Tweed had to be forded in face of the resistance 

 offered by the castles of Wark, Norham, and Berwick, and it is of interest to 

 note that on no occasion do these fortifications appear to have offered an effective 

 opposition to an offensive movement by the Scots. To such skilful foragers the 

 march through the county of Northumberland would offer no difficulties in 

 the matter of supply, whilst the castles of Bamburgh, Alnwick, and Wark- 

 worth were merely passively defensive. The passage of the Northumbrian 

 rivers would not be a difficult matter, but the Tyne was a more serious 

 obstacle, and had to be crossed by the fords above Newcastle. The Carlisle 

 route requires but little comment ; no river of importance had to be crossed, 

 though in the mountain section some difficulties may have been experienced 

 in the matter of supply. 



* Transcrpt of award, Longstaffe MSS. The dispute as to wreck was one of long standing, see Kellate't 

 Reg. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 46, where some of Peter Bruce's men were fined at Sadberge in Bishop le Poor's time. As 

 to the bishop's right to wreck see Lapslcy, op. cit. 3 1 7. 



" H. Hinde, Hist, of Nortkumb. vi, 41 et scq., where the 1*31 agreement is printed from the copy, 

 Hunter MSS. iv, 289, Durham Cathedral Library. 



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