Walcher

Walcher was a priest in Lotharingia from Liège and a secular clerk. He was invited by William I to fill the post of Bishop of Durham, and he was consecrated bishop in 1071 and probably enthroned on 3 April 1071.Greenway [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33859 Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Durham: Bishops] During the first part of his term as bishop, he was on friendly terms with Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, so much so that Waltheof sat with the clergy when Walcher held synods.Barlow English Church p. 152 After Waltheof rebelled and lost his earldom, Walcher was allowed to buy the earldom of Northumbria.Douglas William the Conqueror p. 240 Walcher planned to introduce monks into his cathedral chapter, and was remembered as encouraging monasticism in his diocese.Barlow English Church p. 62 Particularly, he was known as the patron of Aldwine, who attempted to re-establish monasticism at Whitby. Eventually, the group settled at Durham under Walcher's successor William de St-Calais.Douglas William the Conqueror p. 328 The medieval chronicler Symeon of Durham stated that Walcher had begun construction of monastic buildings at Durham as part of his plan to introduce monks into Durham.Snape "Documentary Evidence" Medieval Art and Architecture at Durham Cathedral p. 22

One of Walcher's councillors was Ligulf of Lumley, who was connected by birth to the old Northumbrian line and was married to the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bernicia.Sadler Battle for Northumbria p. 51 Ligulf's presence in the bishop's council provided a link with the local aristocracy. There was a Scottish invasion in 1079, which Walcher was unable or unwilling to deal with effectively.Barlow Feudal Kingdom of England p. 94 The Scots, under Malcolm III, were able to plunder Northumberland for about three weeks unopposed before returning to Scotland with slaves and booty.Kapelle Norman Conquest of the North p. 139 Ligulf was very critical of Walcher's conduct. A feud ensued between Ligulf and two of Walcher's henchmen, his chaplain Leobwin and his kinsman Gilbert. Gilbert attacked Ligulf's hall in the middle of the night and Ligulf and most of his household were killed.

The Northumbrians were enraged at the murder of one of their leaders and there was a real threat of rebellion. In order to calm the situation Walcher agreed to travel from Durham and meet Ligulf's kinsmen at Gateshead. He travelled with at least one hundred retainers for safety. At Gateshead, he met Eadulf Rus the leader of the kinsmen and was presented with a petition of wrongs committed. Walcher rejected these and the enraged Northumbrians attacked the Norman party. Walcher and his men sought refuge in a nearby church but the Northumbrians set fire to it. Leobwin died in the blaze and when Walcher, Gilbert and the rest of his party were forced out by the flames they were killed on 14 May 1080 at Gateshead.Stafford Unification and Conquest p. 123

A UNESCO report on Durham Castle provided this additional information about the bishop:

Walcher "purchased the earldom [of Northumbria] and thus became the first of the Prince-Bishops of Durham, a title that was to remain until the 19th century, and was to give Durham a unique status in England. It was under Walcher that many of the Castle's first buildings were constructed. As was typical of Norman castles, it consisted of a motte (mound) and an inner and outer bailey (fenced or walled area). Whether the motte and inner bailey were built first is unknown".{{cite web|url=https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/architecture/castle|title=Durham Castle|publisher=Durham World Heritage Site|access-date=29 October 2019}}

Walcher was a saintly manDouglas William the Conqueror p. 327 but an incompetent leader. According to Symeon of Durham, Walcher's household knights were allowed to plunder and occasionally kill natives without punishment.Kapelle Norman Conquest of the North p. 138

Walcher was considered a well-educated bishop, and had a reputation as a pious man. Symeon of Durham portrayed him as an honest, upright man who diligently performed his episcopal duties.Kapelle Norman Conquest of the North p. 137 Walcher's successor as Earl of Northumbria was Aubrey de Coucy.Powell and Wallis House of Lords p. 32 William de St-Calais was the next bishop, though not earl.Powell and Wallis House of Lords p. 36

Following the killing of Walcher, the rebels attacked Durham Castle and besieged it for four days, before returning to their homes. The result of their rising and the killing of William's appointed bishop, led William to send his half brother Odo of Bayeux with an army to harry the Northumbrian countryside. Many of the native nobility were driven into exile and the power of the Anglo-Saxon nobility in Northumbria was broken.Kapelle Norman Conquest of the North p. 141

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• {{cite book |author=Barlow, Frank |title=The English Church 1066–1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church |author-link=Frank Barlow (historian)|publisher=Longman |location=New York |year=1979|isbn=0-582-50236-5 }}
• {{cite book |author=Barlow, Frank |title=The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042–1216|author-link=Frank Barlow (historian)|edition=Fourth |publisher=Longman |location=New York |year=1988 |isbn=0-582-49504-0 }}
• {{cite book |author= Douglas, David C. |author-link= David C. Douglas |title= William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England|url= https://archive.org/details/williamconqueror00dougrich |url-access= registration |year=1964 |publisher= University of California Press |location= Berkeley, CA |oclc= 399137 }}
• {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
• {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Durham: Bishops |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300|volume=2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces)|section-url=http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33859 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1971 |access-date= 25 October 2007}}
• {{cite book |author=Kapelle, William E. |author-link= William E. Kapelle |title=The Norman Conquest of the North: The Region and Its Transformation |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill, NC |year=1979 |isbn=0-8078-1371-0}}
• {{cite book |author1= Powell, J. Enoch |author-link1= Enoch Powell |author2= Wallis, Keith|title= The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540 |url= https://archive.org/details/houseoflordsinmi0000powe |url-access= registration |year=1968 |publisher= Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London|oclc= 463626 }}
• {{cite book |author=Sadler, John |title=Battle for Northumbria |publisher=Bridge Studios |location=Morpeth, UK |year=1988 |isbn=0-9512630-3-X}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |author=Snape, M. G. |title=Documentary Evidence for the Building of Durham Cathedral and its Monastic Buildings |encyclopedia=Medieval Art and Architecture at Durham Cathedral |year=1980 |series=British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions for the year 1977 |publisher=British Archaeological Association |location=Leeds, UK |pages=20–36 |oclc= 13464190}}
• {{cite book |author=Stafford, Pauline |author-link=Pauline Stafford |title= Unification and Conquest: A Political and Social History of England in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries |publisher=Edward Arnold |location=London |year=1989 |isbn=0-7131-6532-4 }}
• {{cite book |author=Williams, Ann |author-link=Ann Williams (historian) |title=The English and the Norman Conquest |publisher=Boydell Press |location=Ipswich, UK |year=2000 |isbn=0-85115-708-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/englishnormancon0000will }}

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• {{cite ODNB |author= Leyser, Henrietta |title=Walcher, earl of Northumbria |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/28428}}

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• {{PASE|204644|Walcher 1}}

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{{s-bef|before=Æthelwine}}

{{s-ttl|title=Bishop of Durham|years=1071–1080}}

{{s-aft|after=William de St-Calais}}

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{{s-bef|before=Waltheof}}

{{s-ttl|title=Earl of Northumbria|years=1075–1080}}

{{s-aft|after=Aubrey de Coucy}}

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{{Bishops of Durham}}

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{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}

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{{short description|11th-century Bishop of Durham}}

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Category:1080 deaths

Category:11th-century English nobility

Category:Bishops of Durham

Category:11th-century English Roman Catholic bishops

Category:Year of birth unknown

Category:Earls of Northumbria (Peerage of England)

Category:People from the duchy of Lorraine