Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 47.djvu/21

Puiset great ecclesiastical princes of Germany than anything that has ever existed in England. Even as it was, he left a mark upon the north which is not yet effaced. At first he won golden opinions as bishop by his affable and prudent bearing, but as his position became more secure his attitude changed. He governed his bishopric and palatinate with a strong hand, and with a not too scrupulous regard for their ancient customs; but though he would brook no interference from his subjects, he was firm in the maintenance of their joint privileges against king and archbishop. If his government was vigorous, it was on the whole beneficent; and if his subjects groaned under his exactions, they nevertheless took pride in his magnificence. He was a great builder of castles and churches, had a royal love for the chase, and lived in almost kingly state. Northallerton Castle, the keep at Norham, the galilee at Durham Cathedral, the church and bishop's mansion at Darlington, all owed their existence to him; while at Durham he also repaired the castle, built the Elvet bridge, and completed the city wall. When he was preparing to go on the crusade he had equipped a number of fine ships, one of which was sailed by Robert de Stockton to London for the king's service (, History of the Exchequer, i. 493). In the forest of Weardale he had his ‘great chace’ (Boldon Buke, p. liv). Hugh's benefactions were not less splendid; at Sherburn, near Durham, he founded a hospital for lepers, which still exists as an almshouse (, Hist. Durham, i. 127–37, 283). At Durham he provided a shrine for the relics of Bede, and gave a cross and chalice of gold to the cathedral (for his buildings and benefactions see i. 168, Rolls Ser.;, pp. 11, 12; De Cuthberti Virtutibus, p. 215; , i. xxvi; the hospital of St. James at Northallerton, sometimes set to Puiset's credit, was founded by his successor,  [q. v.]; Archbishop Gray's Reg. Surtees Soc. lvi. 180). If Hugh was not learned, he was a patron of learning in others. Reginald of Durham dedicated his life of St. Godric to him (Vita Godrici, p. 1), and Alan de Insulis addressed his ‘Historia Bruti’ to him in a preface in which he compared him to Mæcenas (, Poemata, pp. 88–89, Surtees Soc.) At his death Hugh left books to Durham Cathedral, among them a bible in four volumes, which is still preserved there, and also a collection of the letters of Peter of Blois, who had benefited by Hugh's protection after the death of Henry II (Wills and Inventories, i. 4, Surtees Soc.;, Epist. 127). Roger of Hoveden may have lived under Hugh's protection at Howden, and derived some of his information from this connection. The bishop had a chaplain, William of Howden, who was perhaps a brother of the historian (Stubbs's Pref. to vol. i. pp. xiv, lxviii). A letter from Hugh to Archbishop Richard, describing a miracle worked by Thomas Becket, is printed in the ‘Materials for the History of T. Becket,’ i. 419. There are letters to Hugh from Gilbert Foliot and from Roger of York among the ‘Epistles’ of Foliot (, Patrologia, vol. cxc. cols. 911, 1106), and from John of Salisbury, Ep. 25 (ib. vol. cxcix.) Charters of Bishop Hugh's are to be found in the ‘Feodarium Prioratus Dunelmensis,’ ‘Finchale Priory,’ and ‘Historiæ Dunelmensis Scriptores tres’ (all published by the Surtees Society). There is an engraving of his seal in Surtees's ‘History of Durham,’ vol. i. plate 5.

At the feast of St. Cuthbert in 1183 Bishop Hugh ordered a survey to be made of all settled rents and customs due to him from the bishopric. This survey may be described as the ‘Domesday Book’ of the Durham Palatinate, and is popularly known as ‘Boldon Buke.’ The original manuscript has not been preserved, although four transcripts have survived, the earliest of which dates from about 1300. ‘Boldon Buke’ was printed in the appendix to Domesday, and was again edited for the Surtees Society by the Rev. W. Greenwell in 1852.

William of Newburgh (ii. 440–1) states that Hugh de Puiset, before he became bishop, had three bastards by different mothers. Henry, the eldest, whom we know to have been the son of Adelaide de Percy (cf. a charter of Henry de Puiset, ap. vol. iii. Pref. p. xxxiv), was brought up to a military career, and received considerable grants of land from his father (cf. Priory of Finchale, Surtees Soc.). He was in disgrace in 1198 (, Hist. Exchequer, i. 366). In May 1201 he was sent by John on a mission to the king of Scots ( iv. 163). That same year he went on the crusade (Cal. Rot. Pat. i. 3), but survived to come home, and died in 1212. He was a great benefactor of Finchale Priory and of Sallay Abbey ( iv. 39, 43;, Monasticon Anglicanum, v. 310). He married Dionysia, daughter of Odo de Thilli (, Hist. i. 513), but, as his estates escheated to the crown (Cal. Rot. Claus. i. 124), presumably left no issue. It does not therefore appear that the later family of Pudsey, in Craven, can have traced their descent from Bishop Hugh, as is sometimes supposed (cf., Hist. of Craven, 3rd edit. p. 126). According to William