The reign of James I saw the recovery of Catholicism in Durham with the re-organisation of the clerical mission, influenced by the religious orders of the Counter-Reformation, and an increase in recusancy. Despite the initial disappointment of Catholic hopes of some measure of toleration from James, the application of the penal laws was eventually relaxed. The resulting safety allowed the establishment of a formal missionary organisation under the impulse of the revived religious orders, and permitted recusants to increase in numbers. Durham recusancy remained, however, limited to a minority of the gentry and their dependants consisting largely of a circle of families linked to the house of Neville.