William de St-Calais - Diocesan Affairs

Diocesan Affairs

Durham's location in the north left it insecure, as Malcolm Canmore, King of Scots, raided and invaded the north of England on a number of occasions. Malcolm claimed Northumbria, in which Durham was located, as part of his kingdom. St-Calais managed to befriend Malcolm, and secured his support for the patron saint of Durham, Saint Cuthbert. Malcolm and his wife helped lay the foundation stone of the new cathedral dedicated to Cuthbert. Respect for the saint did not mean that Malcolm refrained entirely from raiding the north; he was killed in 1093 while once more raiding Northumbria. Both the English king and St-Calais did all in their power to support Malcolm's sons, who had been educated in England, in their attempts to secure the Scottish throne.

Later, in 1095, an English noble, Robert de Mowbray, who was Earl of Northumbria, challenged the bishop's authority in the north. When Mowbray rebelled again in 1095, St-Calais helped the king put down the rebellion, and Mowbray was captured. The death of Malcolm and the capture of Mowbray did much to make the north more secure.

In St-Calais' time as bishop, a long-running dispute began between the monks of the cathedral chapter and successive bishops. This arose because St-Calais did not make a formal division of the diocesan revenues between the bishop's household and the monks of the chapter. Nor had he allowed free elections of the prior. He may have promised these things to the monks before his death, but nothing was in writing. Thus, when a non-monk was selected to replace St-Calais, the monks began a long struggle to secure what they felt had been promised to them, including the forging of charters ascribed to St-Calais that supported their case. These forged charters date from the second half of the 12th century.

St-Calais also ordered the destruction of the old cathedral that had been built by Aldhun, to make way for the construction of a new, larger cathedral, the current Romanesque-style Durham Cathedral. The construction of the new cathedral began on 29 July 1093, when St-Calais led his cathedral chapter in dedicating the site. The first stones were laid shortly afterwards, on 11 August 1093. However, St-Calais' exile after his trial as well as his employment in the royal service meant that he was often absent from his bishopric, and this probably is the cause of the medieval chronicler Symeon of Durham's comparatively neutral treatment of St-Calais in his works. There is no evidence of St-Calais performing any of the normal episcopal functions, including consecrating priests or churches.

Probably dating from St-Calais' time is the confraternity relationship between the monks of Durham and the monks of the monastery of Saint Calais in Maine. The cult of Saint Calais appears to have been confined to the region around the monastery which the saint had founded. St-Calais appears to have been a devotee of the cult, and the most likely date for the creation of the confraternity link between the two houses is during St-Calais' time as bishop.