Those who wished to go beyond the prescribed religious duties which were compulsory in the late medieval church often joined a confraternity or guild which comprised a group who joined together to perform a particular devotion or task, which could include supporting a chaplain to pray for the souls of deceased members. The usual method of finance was from endowments but there was often a subscription for members. Durham apparently had very few religious guilds which were more than parish-based. The only one which we can be certain was city-wide was the very important Corpus Christi guild, and one which was more than city-wide was the guild of St Cuthbert.

The feast of Corpus Christi was certainly celebrated in Durham from at least 1338, which is twenty years after its first known arrival in England. It was probably celebrated in the city earlier but at that point for the first time the bursar of the priory spent 4s for the players connected with the feast. By 1403, if the record is correct, plays were performed, organised by the craft companies of the city. The oldest known information about this, the butchers and fleshers' ordinance of 1403, specifically mentions their duty to perform their play and to take part in the Corpus Christi procession, referring to this as a long-standing duty. The Corpus Christi guild seems to have been the coordinating body for this celebration, as well as being a chantry for its members.