Editing Durham, England (section)

===Bishops of Durham===
{{See also|Bishop of Durham|County Palatine of Durham}}
Owing to the [[divine providence]] evidenced in the city's legendary founding, the [[Bishop of Durham]] has always enjoyed the formal title "Bishop by Divine Providence",<ref>The Forms of Precedence of the Catholic Church as contained in the Catholic Encyclopaedia (1919)</ref> similar to the archbishops of Canterbury and York, as opposed to the style of "Bishop by Divine Permission" used by most bishops.<ref name="Surtees" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.lutterworth.com/wp-content/uploads/extracts/herbert-hensley-henson-preface.pdf|title=Herbert Hensley Henson: A Biography|publisher=Lutterworth Press|author= John S. Peart-Binns|year=2013|page=9|quote=The Bishop of Durham is marked off from his episcopal colleagues by some honorific distinctions. He takes rank next to the Bishop of London: he is one of the three bishops who sit in the House of Lords by title of their Sees, not in order of consecration; in his official documents he uses a style commonly distinctive of the archbishops of Canterbury and York, writing himself bishop ‘by Divine providence’, not, as is usual, ‘by Divine permission’; the mitre which surmounts the arms of the See is bound with a ducal coronet and he has the privilege of supporting the Sovereign on the right at a coronation.}}</ref> However, as the north-east of England lay so far from [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]], the bishops of Durham enjoyed extraordinary powers such as the ability to hold their own parliament,<ref name="Surtees" /> raise their own armies,<ref name="Liddy" /> appoint their own [[sheriffs]] and [[Justices]], administer their own laws, levy taxes and customs duties, create fairs and markets, issue [[charters]],<ref name="Symeon" /> salvage shipwrecks, collect revenue from mines, administer the forests and mint their own coins.<ref name="Surtees" /> So far-reaching were the bishop's powers that the [[Steward (office)|steward]] of Bishop [[Antony Bek (bishop of Durham)|Antony Bek]] commented in 1299 AD: "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".<ref>As stated in Liddy, Christian D. (2008) The Bishopric of Durham in the Late Middle Ages: Lordship, Community and the Cult of St. Cuthbert. The attribution of the quote is questionable (see [[County Palatine]]); however, the editor of this article is almost certain it is attributable to [[Antony Bek (bishop of Durham)|Antony Bek]]'s steward.</ref> All this activity was administered from the castle and buildings surrounding the Palace Green.<ref name="Liddy" /> Many of the original buildings associated with these functions of the [[county palatine]] survive on the peninsula that constitutes the ancient city.<ref name="Richardson" />

[[File:Durham Castle, April 2017 (2) (33802921566).jpg|thumb|The entrance to [[Durham Castle]], the bishops' palace until 1832 when it moved to [[Auckland Castle]]]]

From 1071 to 1836 the bishops of Durham ruled the [[County Palatine of Durham|county palatine of Durham]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Durham (county) |volume = 8 |last= |first= |author-link= |pages=706-708 |short=1}}</ref> Although the term "prince bishop" has been used as a helpful tool in the understanding the functions of the bishops of Durham in this era, it is not a title they would have recognised.<ref name="Liddy" /> The last bishop to rule the palatinate, Bishop [[William Van Mildert]],<ref name="Liddy" /> is credited with the foundation of Durham University in 1832. [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] curtailed some of the bishop's powers and, in 1538, ordered the destruction of the shrine of Saint Cuthbert.<ref name="Liddy" />

A UNESCO site describes the role of the bishops in the "buffer state between England and Scotland":<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/history/prince-bishops |title=The Prince Bishops of Durham |date=11 July 2011 |publisher=Durham World Heritage Site |access-date=5 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028135837/https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/history/prince-bishops |archive-date=28 October 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref><blockquote>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.</blockquote>