Introduction

Summary

Here we have the richest Treasury of antient Evidences that are now extant: perhaps no Church of England can shew the like.

The proud comment of an early eighteenth-century antiquary on the ‘Multitudes of Records’ preserved by the Dean and Chapter of Durham can still afford to stand. Indeed the very wealth of the medieval muniments extant within the precincts of the monastic cathedral presents the student of Durham Priory with both his greatest opportunities and his greatest problems. Such richness is genuinely embarrassing. Although a comprehensive narrative history of the priory of Durham during the 456 years between its foundation in 1083 and its dissolution on the last day of the year 1539 remains an ultimate objective, it is clear enough that for many years to come this must be an unattainable ideal. The volume of original evidence for the convent's conduct of its internal and external affairs is so large that only a series of detailed analytical studies of the priory at various stages of its evolution could hope to do full justice to the complexities of its changing role in the fabric of medieval church and society. As all its practitioners are well aware, the study of medieval history is often most meaningful, its sources being what they are, when concerned with the development of medieval institutions.