The bishops of Durham, while not sovereign, held extensive rights usually reserved to the English, and later British, monarch within the county palatine of Durham. In 1075 Walcher, the bishop of Durham, was allowed to purchase the earldom of Northumbria; this marked the beginning of the bishops' temporal powers, which expanded during the Middle Ages before being gradually curbed from the sixteenth century onwards. Except for a brief period of suppression during the English Civil War, the bishopric retained some temporal powers until it was abolished by the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836, when its powers returned to the Crown."Durham". Encyclopædia Britannica. 11th Ed. Vol 8. The last institution of the palatinate, its court of chancery, was abolished in 1974.
The bishops of Durham, while not sovereign, held extensive rights usuall?y reserved to the English, and later British, monarch within the county palatine of Durham. In 1075 Walcher, the bishop of Durham, was allowed to purchase the earldom of Northumbria; this marked the beginning of the bishops' temporal powers, which expanded during the Middle Ages? before being gradually curbed from the sixteenth century onwards. Except for a brief period of suppression during the English Civil War, the bishopric retained some temporal powers until it was abolished by the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836, when its powers retu!rned to the Crown."Durham". Encyclopædia Brit?annica. 11th Ed. Vol 8. The last institution of the palatinate, its court of chancery, was abolished in 1974.