It has been already mentioned that in passing through Durham on his way to the south, David left his chancellor, William Comyn, in that city, in the hope that he might be elected to the vacant see, and hold the bishopric in the interest of the empress queen. Nothing will convey a clearer idea of the anarchy of the period, and of the extraordinary measures that were occasionally resorted to by the gravest characters, than a narrative of the proceedings of William Comyn. He had passed his early years in the household of the late bishop Geoffrey, and, upon the death of the latter, his relatives, wishing to favour the views of Comyn, kept the catastrophe a profound secret, the body of the dead bishop being submitted to an elaborate course of preparation, including a process of _salting_, in order that it might be preserved above ground until the arrival of the Scottish chancellor! One important point remained to be gained--the consent of the chapter--and this was resolutely refused. Escaping from Durham, they chose William Dean of York to be their bishop; but their troubles were only commencing, for they had to deal with a most determined character in the chancellor. In vain the Pope deprived him of the Archdeaconry of Worcester which he had hitherto enjoyed, and launched an anathema at his head; in vain the newly-chosen bishop endeavoured to enter his Episcopal city by force of arms. Comyn set at nought the anger of the distant pope, and drove out the monks who attempted to give secret admittance to his rival. Filling their monastery with his own men-at-arms, he converted it into a regular fortress--a not unusual course of proceeding in that turbulent era--and, secretly supported by Prince Henry and the Earl of Richmond, for three years he kept the bishop at bay, until the sudden death of a favourite nephew induced him to make overtures for an arrangement, [Sidenote: A. D. 1144.] and the bishop was at length permitted to enjoy undisputed possession of his dignity. A grant of the honour of Allerton was conferred upon another of the chancellor’s nephews, Richard Comyn, the founder of that name in Scotland, whose union with Hextilda, the heiress of Bethoc, sole daughter of Donald Bane, may have contributed to the greatness of the family; and, by this arrangement, a scandal by no means of uncommon occurrence amongst the churchmen of that age, was at length compromised, and brought to a satisfactory conclusion.[258]