Bishop Hugh du Puiset

Hugh du Puiset was a member of a noble family with great influence in England. He was related to the royal family and the nephew of King Stephen of England (r. 1135-1154). Through his family he became earl of Northumberland, bishop of Durham, and one of the richest men in England.

By 1139 Hugh du Puiset had become archdeacon of Winchester, the right-hand man of his uncle Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to 1171. On 22 January 1153 Hugh du Puiset became the bishop of Durham, although he was still not twenty-eight years of age, and as such under the canonical age for becoming a bishop. The diocese of Durham comprised what became in the twelfth century the counties of Northumberland and Durham, and within certain parts of this extensive area the bishop enjoyed a wholly exceptional position of quasi-royal authority and military power. He lived in great style, maintaining a large household, taking with him wherever he went a private chapel richly furnished with liturgical ornaments and vessels of gold and silver.

Du Puiset further enriched himself in 1189. He purchased from Richard I (r. 1189-1199) the earldom of Northumberland and he also became joint justiciar of England, though this was reduced to a justiciarship of the north in 1190.

His estate was worth £5,000, about 0.5% of net national income of £1m. In 2010 that would be worth £5.5bn.