Richard Poore - Bishop of Durham

Bishop of Durham

Poore was translated to the see of Durham on 14 May 1228. With his move to Durham, he withdrew from royal service, although he was briefly back in service when Peter des Roches returned to power in late 1232 and early 1233. At Durham, he inherited a quarrel between the bishop and the cathedral chapter that mainly involved the election of the prior and the right of the bishop to undertake visitations of the priory. The quarrel had begun under Richard Marsh, and had led to appeals to the papal curia from the monks. Soon after coming to Durham, Richard issued a set of detailed constitutions that governed many of the relations between the bishop, the prior, and the cathedral chapter that was the basis of church government in Durham until the Dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII of England.