During the Anarchy, William Cumin — chancellor of King David of Scotland — seized control of Durham following the death of Bishop Geoffrey Rufus and attempted to make himself bishop. For two years he terrorised Durham and its surroundings, extorting money and suppressing opposition. The cathedral chapter resisted heroically. Eventually the combined pressure of English baronage, papal intervention, and King Stephen's forces expelled Cumin. The episode illustrates how the Anarchy affected the far north as much as the south.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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