Descended from the ancient French family of Blois, Hugh du Puiset lived in the twelfth century. Charming, distinguished, arrogant, unscrupulous but above all ambitious, du Puiset died a disappointed man. It was to his ambition that he owed both his success and his downfall, the vices of his youth and the follies of his old age. G. V. Scammell here tells the story of his life - of the intrigues which preceded his election to the Bishopric of Durham, the swings of fortune which brought him into royal favour and disfavour, his role in the ecclesiastical politics of medieval England, the splendour of his Diocese, and the extent of his authority. Relevant documents and genealogical details are included in an appendix. This 1956 book, which is developed from the Prince Consort Prize Essay of 1952, should interest historians of the Middle Ages and the Church.