In 1534 the Earl of Cumberland accused Lord Dacre of high treason, having seized his goods long before the trial. This was merely the last move in a feud of some standing. Dacre was tried, but acquitted[132]. He was the only nobleman acquitted on a charge of high treason during Henry VIII’s reign; but he was heavily fined, which was presumably all that the government wanted. It was, however, rather shortsighted policy, for something between shame and suspicion prevented the King from employing Dacre again. The Earl of Cumberland succeeded him in his office of Warden of the Western Marches, but he was hampered in the execution of his office both by his personal unpopularity and by the embittered feud with the Dacres and their allies among the Cumberland gentlemen. The Cliffords were the most powerful family on the western borders after the disgrace of the Dacres. The Earl’s brother, Sir Thomas Clifford, was deputy captain of Berwick-upon-Tweed[133]; the Earl’s illegitimate son Thomas Clifford held the same office in Carlisle[134]. If the younger Percys were in league with the mosstroopers of North Tynedale, so were the Cliffords with the broken men of Esk and Line[135]. The thieves of the Borders were used for or against the King simply as the noblemen who bought their services pleased. It is necessary to bear this in mind in order to understand the position not only of the King but also of his opponents. Southward from the Borders lay the county of Durham, always spoken of as “the Bishopric.” For centuries it had enjoyed the privileges of a county palatine within which the Bishop reigned supreme. But in 1535 all such extraordinary jurisdictions were abolished, and Durham was reduced in many respects to the rank of an ordinary shire[136]. Bishop Tunstall was not a man who could in any circumstances have opposed such a King as Henry VIII. He was timid, gentle and studious, and wins our affection by the quiet persistence with which he refused to burn heretics. To their shame be it said, his moderation irritated alike the Protestants and the Romanists. He seems to have taken the change in his estate with perfect equanimity, but the abolition of the ancient palatinate was resented by the people of Durham, who had been used to pride themselves on their position as “haliwerfolk,” the people of the holy man, St Cuthbert[137]. The Hiltons and the Lumleys were the principal families in Durham, and their influence extended to the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which, lying on the north bank of the Tyne, was a county in itself. In the south of Durham the chief gentlemen were Conyers of Hornby and Bowes of Streatlam near Barnard Castle on the Tees.