The courts of the prior and bishop of Durham in the later Middle Ages

The operation of the common law in late medieval county Durham was characte rized by several unique features. Among these were the independence of epis copal officials from interference from royal agents in the execution of the law, and the great variety of temporal courts found there. Within the land s of the palatinate, jurisdiction over suspects accused of felony was share d by both the bishop and the prior of Durham. The origins of this unusual d ivision of judicial authority was an agreement dated c. 1229, known as Le C onvenit. It defined the relationship between the bishop, the temporal lord of the palatinate, and the prior of the Benedictine monastery in Durham who , as a landholder second only to the bishop, held a separate court for the suit of his free tenants. That relationship was often fraught with tension, for both lords were jealous of the prestige-and the revenues-incumbent on the exercise of judicial authority in their lands. This article examines th e origins of Le Convenit, and the consequences of the agreement on criminal legal procedure in late medieval Durham. Successive priors of the monaster y struggled tirelessly against the bishops to preserve the privileges they won in 1229, and Le Convenit remained throughout this period a potent weapo n in their determination to give expression to lordly power and authority.