safety. At Gateshead, he met Eadulf Rus the leader of the kinsmen and was presented with a petition of wrongs committed. Walcher rejected these and the enraged Northumbrians attacked the Norman party. Walcher and his men sought refuge in a nearby church but the Northumbrians set fire to it. Leobwin died in the blaze and when Walcher, Gilbert and the rest of his party were forced out by the flames they were killed on 14 May 1080 at Gateshead. A UNESCO report on Durham Castle provided this additional information about the bishop: Walcher "purchased the earldom [of Northumbria] and thus became the first of the Prince-Bishops of Durham, a title that was to remain until the 19th century, and was to give Durham a unique status in England. It was under Walcher that many of the Castle's first buildings were constructed. As was typical of Norman castles, it consisted of a motte (mound) and an inner and outer bailey (fenced or walled area). Whether the motte and inner bailey were built first is unknown". Character Walcher was a saintly man but an incompetent leader. According to Symeon of Durham, Walcher's household knights were allowed to plunder and occasionally kill natives without punishment. Walcher was considered a well-educated bishop, and had a reputation as a pious man. Symeon of Durham portrayed him as an honest, upright man who diligently performed his episcopal duties. Walcher's successor as Earl of Northumbria was Aubrey de Coucy. William de St-Calais was the next bishop, though not earl. Aftermath of his death Following the killing of Walcher, the rebels attacked Durham Castle and besieged it for four days, before returning to their homes. The result of their rising and the killing of William's appointed bishop, led William to send his half brother Odo of Bayeux with an army to harry the Northumbrian countryside. Many of the native nobility were driven into exile and the power of the Anglo-Saxon nobility in Northumbria was broken. Notes Citations References Further reading External links 1080 deaths 11th-century English nobility Bishops of Durham 11th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Year of birth unknown Earls of Northumbria (Peerage of England) People from Lorraine