 1569 kindled new hope and interest. Every notice of Durham during the closing months of that critical year indicates suppressed excitement and strong antipathy towards the government. The moment the control of the government was relaxed the inhabitants very largely joined in with the insurrection and were willing participators in the events which centred round the cathedral. When the premature movement had collapsed in the gloomy winter days Durham bore a foremost part in the vengeance that followed. The unfortunate Earl of Westmorland lost the houses which he held within the city. In this way the New Place near St. Nicholas' Church was confiscated, and somewhat later became the property of the corporation. Other tenements were also transferred to the queen.
Just before this ebullition of Durham's latent sympathy a civic event of great significance took place in the issue of the first charter of incorporation. Until 1565 the old mediaeval order continued, bailiffs and their underlings being appointed by the bishop. There is no particular clue as to the motives of the grant. The reason may have been that the bishop might ingratiate himself with the inhabitants, at a time when Pilkington's letters show that he was sorely in need of friends. More probably the real circumstances have to be sought in the altered conditions of life in the city. A new Durham rose which knew nothing of the old pilgrim bands, of the trade which they brought, of the great Cuthbertine fairs and festivals, of the sanctuary privileges. It may be supposed that the mediaeval trade was largely in connection with monastery, pilgrims and fairs. The city itself was not populous, (fn. 14) and the wants of its inhabitants were readily supplied by the members of the trades gilds whose origin we have marked. Durham no longer attracted great crowds all the year round, and its fairs have left no clear record in their perhaps attenuated survival. Probably the only direct compensation for the great blow the changes had dealt to the city's trade was the commencement of the proverbial hospitality shown by dean and prebendaries during residence. A chapter act indicates that certain lands were annexed to the individual prebends in augmentation of hospitality, and the enactment goes to prove that one of the distinctive ordinances of the Marian statutes (fn. 15) was to be no dead letter. It directs that the prebendaries 'keep residence and hospitality.' One of the earliest references to the custom belongs to the reign of Charles I, when the'Three Norwich Soldiers,' whose charming diary still exists, visited Durham, and were entertained in strict accordance with the statute. It is probable that such hospitality was not unequal in volume to the entertainment of strangers by the monastery, but what of the almoner's doles, the corrodies, and the old customary subventions of earlier dates? Apparently there are no Elizabethan notices extant of such benefaction on any large scale by dean and canons. It might on reflection seem likely that no little bitterness would exist among the keepers of lodging-houses and taverns, who had been wont to receive pilgrims into their houses, and amongst the sellers of objects of piety who had to deplore the passing of their trade, and yet had the mortification of seeing dean and canons lodged more comfortably and luxuriously than their monastic predecessors. It has been suggested that a traditional jealousy between city and cathedral is due to a condition of affairs which made the chapter bless the new, and the townsmen deplore the old. But, on any showing, the trade of the city was precarious in the later 16th century, and probably more precarious than in later times.
How far Bishop Pilkington was concerned to improve the trade may be questioned, though its need of patronage can scarcely be doubted. The charter is dated 31 January 1565, shortly after the bishop's appearance in the north and before the Rebellion of the Earls, with its attempted swing-back to older conditions. It seems to be modelled upon the ordinary charter of the time, which may be illustrated at Hartlepool and elsewhere. The subservience of the corporation to the bishop is defined at every point. The twelve assistants bore office during good behaviour and for so long a period only as the bishop should think fit. An oath was taken in the bishop's presence or in that of his chancellor, and the burgess undertook to keep his lord's counsel. The rules, decrees and regulations should be subject to the bishop's approval. In fact, the bishop preserved a rigid control over his corporation of Durham. The first alderman was Christopher Surtees, who was probably of the same family as Robert Surtees, the historian of Durham, though not a direct ancestor. (fn. 16) The family furnished other aldermen or mayors in later days. Christopher Surtees and his early successors have left no record of their tenure of office. They raised no voice of protest that has left any echo from the rebellion of 1569. Possibly the magistrates were overawed, but more probably the majority of the citizens desired the old times and the old conditions back again.
Pilkington was concerned not only for the incorporation of the city but for the reformation of manners therein. To this end he erected a Consistory Court in 1573, which undertook to survey the morality of city and diocese, and to press pains and penalties for sins against the public decency. He ordered his own procedure and appointed Robert Swift, one of the Durham prebendaries, as his official. Some of the acts of this court survive, and these, together with various contemporary references to church discipline, bear witness to the rigorous measures which were employed in this connection. Such a régime had been first commenced by the visitors of 1559, acting under Royal Commission. (fn. 17) Pilkington pressed it forward, not as prelate only, but as High Commissioner under Letters Patent of 1561. (fn. 18) Bishop Barnes, his successor, continued the policy, and was particularly zealous in disciplining his diocese. (fn. 19)
About this time we get the commencement of several parish documents which throw some light upon life in and near Durham. Thus we have the Gilesgate Grassmen's Accounts from 1579. It was the duty of the Grassman to take charge of the common lands of the parish. In the parish of St. Giles these lay to the east, on what is known as Gillygate Moor. The two officers elected yearly on the Sunday after Ascension Day presented their accounts on going out of office. The returns are interesting mainly from the narrower parochial point of view as giving some brief notes of local changes and local names. Thus we appear to trace the surrounding of the moor dike with a quickset hedge about 1580. Houses and allotments for the poor of the parish had been apportioned on the moor. (fn. 20) The vestry books of St. Oswald begin in 1580, and are largely of the usual type of churchwardens' accounts, with notes of repairs to parish buildings, while entries here and there reflect passing occurrences. These accounts of St. Oswald's are of some importance owing to the large extent of the parish in those days, far beyond the boundaries of the city.
The latent sympathy of many in the city with the older order is a constant factor in Durham life, so that a cathedral set and a set of irreconcilables were characteristic of the place for many a long day. How readily this latter portion of the populace took the side of the earls in 1569 has already been seen. The disappointed rebels acquiesced from that point with an ill grace, and were probably ready to join in any new enterprise if occasion offered. At the time of the Armada there was considerable fear of some sympathetic movement, and an elaborate muster was made. Reference has already been given to the romantic side of the story in the chequered fortunes of the Jesuit and secular missionaries who began to give trouble from about 1580. (fn. 21) Durham was largely a centre from which they worked.
A great deal of local Roman Catholic history is interwoven with old Elvet, which was their particular resort. (fn. 22) Gibbet Knowle, or Knoll, near the present county hospital, was the scene of several executions. In 1591 four seminary priests were put to death on one day, and a story was long told in Durham which is worthy of some primitive martyrology and evidently made a deep impression. The young bride of Mr. Robert Maire of Hardwick was present with her husband, and the pair were so much moved by the constancy of the dying priests that they both went over to the Roman Church, to which their descendants have belonged ever since. The lady was niece of John Heath, who had settled at Kepier some years previously, founding a family long connected with the city and ultimately the ancestors of the Vane-Tempests. Her father was Mr. Henry Smith, who diverted his estates from his 'graceless Grace,' as he calls her, and made them over in large measure, as we shall see, to the city of Durham.
It may be supposed that there was some stir of trade after the incorporation of the city. At all events, more than one trade gild was established or confirmed in Elizabeth's reign, viz., the mercers, grocers, haberdashers, ironmongers and salters in 1561, the fullers in 1565, and the curriers and chandlers in 1570. The charter of the last-named shows the same subservience to the bishop which is characteristic of the city charter. The title of the fullers' company is 'Clothworkers and Walkers.' (fn. 23) The latter name is still seen in Walkerg