archbishopric of York in 1476, the first of the bishops of Durham who
was raised to that dignity.
#William Dudley# (1476-1483), Dean of Windsor, succeeded him.
#John Sherwood# (1483-1494), who was appointed next, was a learned
man, and made a large collection of Greek manuscripts. He died in Rome
in 1494.
#Richard Fox# (1494-1501) was translated from Bath and Wells after
the see had remained vacant for eleven months. Nothing of particular
moment occurred during his episcopate. He was an early patron and helper
of Wolsey, and lived to regret having assisted him. He made alterations
in the castle at Durham. He was translated to the see of Winchester in
1501, and died in 1528.
#William Sinews# or #Sever# (1502-1505), translated from Carlisle.
He is said to have been the son of a sieve-maker at Shincliffe, near
Durham.
#Christopher Bainbridge# (1507-1508), Dean of York, was next elected,
and after an episcopate of one year was translated to York. In 1511 he
was sent to Rome as ambassador by Henry VIII., and while there was
created cardinal. He died in Rome, poisoned by a servant whom he had
struck in anger.
#Thomas Ruthall# (1509-1522), Dean of Salisbury, was the next bishop.
He was immensely wealthy, and his love of money brought him into
disgrace. King Henry commanded him to draw up an account of the lands
and revenues of the Crown. The bishop, in error, sent to the king the
wrong book, in which was set forth an account of his own possessions.
The king, though tampered with by Wolsey, made no use of the knowledge
thus obtained. But the affair rankled in the mind of the bishop, and is
said to have hastened his death.
#Thomas Wolsey# (1522-1528) was appointed to succeed him. The famous
cardinal held the see for six years, as well as that of York. During the
whole of his episcopate he never visited Durham, and in 1528 he resigned
it for the see of Winchester.
#Cuthbert Tunstall# (1530-1559) was translated from London by a Papal
Bull, the last used for this purpose. Tunstall was a remarkable man, and
he occupied the see during an important period of Church history, the
Reformation, all the stages of which he saw. During his episcopacy, the
great privileges of the bishops of Durham as Princes Palatine were very
much curtailed. In 1526, while Tunstall was Bishop of London, the
English translation of the New Testament by Tyndall appeared, causing
great alarm among the clergy. The part played by Tunstall in rela
|