The monastery lived on the income of this land, which was created from the produce, or the money which the produce made in market.
The monastery also had power over numerous churches and had the right to gain their tithes.
Durham cathedral’s daughter houses also provided a source of income.
The Prince Bishop had so much power he could mint his own coins.
Durham Cathedral was the largest importer of goods in the north east and the extent o f what they imported ranged from coal from Durham to wines from the Mediterranean.
Judging from the amount of food eaten at Durham cathedral, in one week, they must have fed about 300 people.
Durham Cathedral had the right to grant sanctuary.
A criminal would bang loudly on the sanctuary knocker on the north door to alert the watchers who resided in two small chambers overlooking the door. The watcher would let him into the cathedral, there he would have to change his clothes for a black robe with a yellow cross of St Cuthbert imprinted on the left shoulder. He would then confess the details of his crime before a coroner and was allowed to stay within the cathedral for 37 days, and provided with food and water paid for by the church. On or before the last day he was expected to leave the country by an assigned port or face execution. Durham’s usual assigned port was Hartlepool. The criminals were escorted to the sea port by the constables of each parish they passed through. If the criminal strayed once from the king’s highway during the journey the punishment was death.
The authority to save a man’s life is a tremendous display of how powerful Durham Cathedral actually was.
The cathedral was also very important for education. They ran three schools; A Grammar school where they taught poor children; a song school where the children learn to sing; and a novice school.
The monks were well educated and rewrote out books, they were stored in the libraries in the Monastery. Books were very rare and precious as so few were able to read; and the time and effort that the monks put into making the books shows how much the written word was treasured.
But most of all Durham Cathedral was a very important place of pilgrimage. It housed the body of St Cuthbert, and many came to its side to pray to God or to ask Cuthbert to heal them or friends and family. These pilgrims came with offerings of immense value and the church profited greatly from this. Mostly it showed in St Cuthbert’s shrine, which according to the “Rites of Durham” was “exhaulted with…marble…limned and guilted with gold.”