The estate of the Bishop of Durham in Durham city in the fifteenth century

Abstract

The survival of many of the documents of the bishop of Durham's financial administration for the fifteenth century allows a study of the properties and assets owned by the bishop in Durham City in this period which gives additional information on the areas of Durham under the bishop's control to the information given in M. Bonney's recent study of the town and its overlords and at the same time complements her examination of Durham Priory's estates to give a more complete picture of Durham in the fifteenth century. The thesis concentrates in particular on the second half of the fifteenth century which is well documented and examines the bishop's estates in Durham and its financial position at the time. The thesis is organised around the properties owned by the bishop in Durham. The study opens with an examination of the financial documents used and of the structure of the bishop's financial administration for Durham City. Two surveys of Durham, the Bishop Hatfield survey of 1383, and the Bishop Langley survey of 1418 are looked at to give an idea of the topography of the Durham estate, and then attention is turned to the bishop's properties themselves. Firstly, the domestic properties, the two mills, the bakehouse, and the market, the assets which provided the bulk of the bishop's revenues from Durham are examined. Secondly, the Mint, the bishop's meadow, and Franklyn forest, three properties which were part of the Durham estate whose revenues were collected separately from those of the above properties are studied. This section of the thesis is rounded off with a study of the total revenue the bishop received from Durham. The study is concluded with an examination of those dwelling in the bishop's estates in Durham, of those working for the bishop in Durham, and of the bishop's administrators in Durham, the latter concentrating on the life and times of the Raket family in the second half of the fifteenth century.