Observance of canon law must have made court officials and even litigants aware of the papacy and its rules, and we have seen ordinary parishioners actually appealing to Rome in the fourteenth century. There were, however, many other ways in which the papacy made itself felt in late medieval Durham.

The upper echelons of the local church would have been aware of the pope not only as a law-giver but also as a demander of money. How far this was felt by the parishioners unless they were made aware of it is hard to tell. The church in Durham was of course subject to taxation from the papacy; the accounts of all the monastic obedientiaries show regular payments for the churches in their charge. These include papal taxation as well as payments for papal legates and nuncios. In the fourteenth century, for instance, there were payments for the procurations (maintenance payments) of cardinals coming as legates. For instance in 1344–5 the hostillar's accounts show 8d paid for this, out of €2 owed, and in 1357–8 procurations to cardinals were recorded. In 1374–5 two payments went ‘to the messengers of the cardinals’ and further payment in 1375–6. It does not, of course, follow that any of the ordinary parishioners in Durham knew anything about any of this, though those who worked for the bishop and the priory would know of it.