HISTORY OF THE SEE
Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria, drove the Britons away from what is now
the northern part of Lancashire, and the Lake district, 670-675. Some
years later he granted Carlisle with a circuit of fifteen miles to St.
Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne (685-687), and his successors. In 883
Chester-le-street was chosen as the seat of the bishopric on account of
the Northmen's raids on Lindisfarne, and in 995 the see was finally
removed to Durham. Carlisle thus formed part of the bishopric of Durham
until the death of Flambard in 1128. This bishop had greatly displeased
Henry I., and in order to curb the power of the bishops of Durham he
reduced the size of the diocese. Carlisle, owing to its distance from
Durham, and because of the laxity of ecclesiastical supervision in the
surrounding district, was chosen as the seat of a new bishopric, and,
with about half of the present counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland,
made independent of Durham. A further reason for the choice of Carlisle
may have been the presence of the priory church begun by Walter, and
finished by Henry I. William Rufus in his lifetime had definitely made
the district of Carlisle part of the kingdom of England, and "Henry gave
the special care of this last won possession of the English Crown to a
prelate, whose name of Æthelwulf is sure proof of his English birth."
Æthelwulf, the king's own confessor and prior of Carlisle, was
accordingly consecrated bishop in 1133.
More than 400 years later, at the Reformation, the priory was dissolved
(1547) and the cathedral re-dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity.
In 1856, on the death of Bishop Percy, a large part of Westmoreland was
transferred to Carlisle, and the diocese now embraces all Cumberland
(except the parish of Alston), Westmoreland, and Lancashire north of the
Sands.
#Aldulf# (or #Æthelwulf#) (1133-1155), Prior of St. Oswald's (Nostell);
Prior of Carlisle; Confessor to Henry I. He was one of those who
elected Henry Murdac, Abbot of Fountains Abbey, to the archbishopric of
York, although the election displeased Stephen; and received him as his
metropolitan when he came to Carlisle on a visit to David, king of
Scotland, in 1148. He died in 1155.
#Bernard# (1203), Archbishop of Ragusa. For more than thirty years there
was no appointment made to the see, perhaps because "the bishop's
revenues were so small that no able and loyal person would accept
thereof." It is not known how long Bernard held the bishopric.
#Hugh of Beaulieu# (1218-1223), Abbot of Beaulieu, Hampshire, was
constituted Bishop of Carlisle by Gualo the Pope's legate. Henry III.
had complained to Honorius III. that the canons had elected a bishop
against his will and in opposition to the legate, and had sworn fealty
to the king of Scotland, at that time the enemy alike of Henry and
Honorius. So the canons were banished, and Hugh made bishop. He died at
La Ferté, Burgundy, while returning from Rome.
#Walter Mauclerk# (1223-1246). This bishop was a favourite of King John,
and was employed by him on many missions; for instance, in 1215 he was
sent to Rome to support the king against the barons; and in 1228 he went
on an embassy to Germany to treat for the king's marriage with Leopold
of Austria's daughter. He was made treasurer of England by charter in
1232. The following year he was deprived of the office by the
machinations of the Bishop of Winchester, and fined £ 100. Mauclerk set
out to appeal to the Pope, but was stopped at Dover by command of the
king. The Bishop of London, happening to witness this ill-treatment,
excommunicated all those who were hindering Mauclerk, and, proceeding to
the king at Hereford, renewed the sentence, in which he was supported by
all the bishops there present. This had the effect of gaining permission
for the release of Mauclerk, and leave to go to Flanders. In 1234 the
bishop was restored to favour. He resigned the bishopric in 1246, and
became a Dominican friar at Oxford. When this order of friars first came
into England he had stood their friend, presenting them with land and
mills. He died in 1248.
#Sylvester de Everdon# (1247-1255), Archdeacon of Chester; Lord High
Chancellor. Sylvester was among the bishops who supported the Archbishop
of Canterbury in his opposition to the king's encroachments upon the
liberties of the Church, particularly in the matter of electing bishops.
He was killed in 1255 by falling from his horse.
#Thomas Vipont# (1255-1256). This bishop enjoyed the bishopric for less
than a year. He died in October 1256.
Two years elapsed before the next appointment.
#Robert de Chause# (1258-1278), Archdeacon of Bath; Chaplain to Queen
Eleanor.
[Illustration: THE ABBEY GATEWAY. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
Again there was an interval of two years before the appointment of
#Ralph Ireton# (1280-1292), Prior of Gisburne. He was elected by the
prior and canons of Carlisle, in 1278, without royal licence; so the
king (Edward I.) fined the chapter 500 marks, and refused his assent.
Eventually Pope Nicholas III. quashed the appointment on the grounds
that it had been technically wrong, and then nominated Ireton to the
vacant see. Edward agreed to this, pardoned the prior on payment of
£ 100, and restored the temporalities in 1280. Ireton was avaricious, and
extorted money from the clergy. This he used for building a new roof to
the cathedral. He died in 1292, and was buried in the cathedral; where,
shortly after, his tomb and a great deal of his work was destroyed by
the great fire which occurred in May that same year.
#John of Halton# (1292-1324), Canon and Prior of Carlisle; Custos of
Carlisle Castle. He defended the city against Wallace. The diocese
suffered so often from the ravages of the Scots that more than once he
had to obtain remission of the Papal taxation levied on the clergy. He
was employed many times in various negotiations with Scotland, his last
embassy being in 1320. He died four years later, and was buried in the
cathedral.
#John de Ros# (or #Rosse#) (1325-1332), Canon of Hereford. He was
appointed by the Pope to Carlisle in 1325. During his episcopate he was
frequently non-resident. He died in 1332.
#John de Kirkby# (1332-1352), Prior of Carlisle, was bishop during very
troubled times, and took part in many raids made on the Scots. He helped
to raise the siege of Edinburgh in 1337. Five years later he took part
in an expedition to raise the siege of Lochmaben Castle. In 1345 the
Scots made a raid into Cumberland, and were defeated. The bishop, while
fighting valorously against them, was unhorsed and nearly taken
prisoner. The following year he was one of the English leaders at the
battle of Neville's Cross. He died in 1352.
#Gilbert Welton# (1353-1362). The chapter of Carlisle had, with the
king's leave, elected John de Horncastle, but the Pope annulled the
election, and made Gilbert Welton bishop. He was a very busy official of
the king; amongst other matters he was one of the commissioners who
treated for the ransom of David of Scotland, and was also a warden of
the western marches.
#Thomas Appleby# (1363-1395), Canon of Carlisle. More than once during
his episcopate he was a warden of the western marches. In 1372 he was
required by the king, in conjunction with the Bishop of Durham, and
others, to be ready to repel any invasion by the Scots. He was also one
of the commissioners, in 1384, to treat with the king of Scotland for a
renewal of the truce, and, in 1392, to execute that part of a treaty
with France which concerned Scottish affairs. He died in 1395.
#Robert Reade# (1396-1397), a Dominican friar. In 1394 he was appointed
by the Pope to the bishopric of Waterford and Lismore, and, in spite of
the election of William Strickland by the canons, translated to
Carlisle, whose temporalities he received in March 1396. In October,
however, he was translated (by Papal bull) to Chichester, receiving the
temporalities of that see May 1397.
#Thomas Merke# (or #Merkes#) (1397-1400). Educated at Oxford. The Pope,
at the king's request, compelled the chapter of Carlisle to elect him in
1397. He is said to have been a boon companion of Richard II., and
remained faithful to that king. He was one of the eight whose safety
Richard demanded when surrendering to Bolingbroke. He is said to have
made a strong protest in Henry IV.'s first parliament (October 1399)
against the treatment which Richard had received. The following January
he was tried for high treason, and, after being deprived of his
bishopric, was committed to the Abbey of Westminster (23d June 1400).
Pope Boniface IX. intervened in his favour, and, by translating him to a
titular eastern see _(ad ecclesiam Samastone_), prevented his being
degraded and handed over to the secular arm. He died in 1409, having,
after his deposition, held benefices at Sturminster, Marshall, and
Todenham, his eastern see affording him no revenue.
#William Strickland# (1400-1419), whose election (after the death of
Bishop Appleby) had been annulled, was now made bishop. He rebuilt the
tower of the cathedral, and provided the tabernacle work in the choir.
He also furnished Penrith with water from the Petteril. He died in 1419,
and was buried in the cathedral.
#Roger Whelpdale# (1420-1422). Educated at, and Fellow of, Balliol
College, Oxford; Provost of Queen's College. He founded and endowed a
chantry in the cathedral, and made various bequests to his old colleges
at Oxford, dying in London 1422.
#William Barrow# (1423-1429), Chancellor of the University of Oxford;
translated from Bangor. In 1429 he was one of the commissioners for the
truce with Scotland which was concluded at Hawden Stank. He died in
1429, and was buried in the cathedral.
#Marmaduke Lumley# (1430-1450). Educated at Cambridge; Chancellor of the
University of Cambridge and Master of Trinity Hall. In 1447 he became
Lord High Treasurer of England. Queen's College, Cambridge, was
indebted to him for gifts of money towards its building, and books for
its library. He was translated to Lincoln in 1450, and died in December
of that same year.
#Nicholas Close# (1450-1452), Fellow of King's College, Cambridge;
Chancellor of the University; Archdeacon of Colchester. Translated to
the bishopric of Coventry and Lichfield 1452, and died two months after
his translation. He was a great benefactor to King's College.
#William Percy# (1452-1462), Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
Died in 1462.
#John Kingscott# (1462-1463), Archdeacon of Gloucester.
#Richard Scroope# (1464-1468), Chancellor of the University of
Cambridge.
#Edward Story# (1468-77), Fellow of Pembroke Hall; Master of Michael
House, Cambridge, and Chancellor of the University. He was translated to
Chichester 1477.
#Richard Bell# (1478-1495), Prior of Durham. He died in 1495, and was
buried in the choir of the cathedral, where there is a fine brass to his
memory.
#William Senhouse# or #Sever# (1496-1502). Educated at Oxford; Abbot of
York. He was one of the commissioners sent to negotiate the marriage of
Margaret, daughter of Henry VII., with James IV. Translated to Durham
1502.
#Roger Leyburn# (1503-1508), Master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge;
Archdeacon of Durham. Died 1508.
#John Penny# (1509-1520). Educated at Lincoln College, Oxford; Abbot of
St. Mary de Pratis, Leicester, 1496; Bishop of Bangor, 1504. Translated
to Carlisle 1509. Died in 1520, at Leicester, and was buried there.
#John Kite# (1521-1537), "a creature of Wolsey." Educated at Eton, and
King's College, Cambridge. He was appointed Archbishop of Armagh, by
provision of Pope Leo X. 1513, and in 1521 translated to Carlisle. In
1529 he approved the action of Henry VIII. in calling in question his
marriage with Catherine of Aragon, and in 1530 he signed the letter to
the Pope which demanded Henry's divorce. Four years later he renounced
the Pope's supremacy. His epitaph says that during his episcopate he
kept "nobyl Houshold wyth grete Hospitality." He died in London 1537,
and was buried in Stepney Church.
#Robert Aldridge# (1537-1556). He was educated at Eton, and King's
College, Cambridge. Friend of Erasmus; Registrar of the Order of the
Garter; Provost of Eton; and Almoner to Queen Jane Seymour.
Until the close of the year 1550 his opinion was much sought after on
questions affecting the Sacrament and the mass, which at that period
were much in dispute.
#Owen Oglethorpe# (1557-1559), Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Living in the troublous times of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. he had,
somewhat reluctantly, given his adhesion to the new order and form of
service of the holy communion. He was raised to the bishopric of
Carlisle by Mary in 1557. The following year she died, and the bishop
being called upon to say mass before the new queen, elevated the Host,
although she had expressly forbidden it. "A good-natur'd man, and when
single by himself very plyable to please Queen Elizabeth," he crowned
her queen when the rest of his order refused to perform the ceremony.
But "when in conjunction with other Popish Bishops, such principles of
stubbornness were distilled into him" that he refused to take the oath
of supremacy, and was accordingly deprived of his bishopric the
following May. His death, which occurred 31st December 1559, is said to
have been hastened by his remorse at having crowned Elizabeth--an enemy
of the "true Church"--queen of England.
#John Best# (1560-1570). After the death of Oglethorpe, the bishopric
was offered to "the excellent and pious" Bernard Gilpin, "the apostle of
the north," but he refused it.
John Best was then consecrated. He was educated at
Oxford. At the beginning of Queen Mary's reign he had given up all his
preferments and lived privately and obscurely. Four years after his
consecration he had permission from the queen "to arm himself against
the ill-doings of papists and other disaffected persons in his diocese."
He died in 1570, and was buried in the cathedral.
#Richard Barnes# (1570-1577), Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford;
Suffragan-Bishop of Nottingham 1567; translated to Durham 1577. In a
letter dated 1576 Barnes alludes to Carlisle as "this poore and bare
living."
#John Maye# (1577-1598), Master of Catherine Hall; Vice-Chancellor of
Cambridge. He died in February 1598 while the plague was ravaging
Carlisle, and was buried in the cathedral.
#Henry Robinson# (1598-1616). Educated at Queen's College, Oxford, of
which college he became Provost 1581. He took part in the Hampton Court
Conference 1603, and was a great benefactor to his college. He died of
the plague in 1616, and was buried in the cathedral, where his brother
placed a brass to his memory.
#Robert Snowden# (1616-1621), Prebendary of Southwell. Died 1621.
#Richard Milburn# (1621-1624), Dean of Rochester. Translated from St.
David's. He died 1624.
#Richard Senhouse# (1624-1626). Educated at Trinity College, and St.
John's College, Cambridge. Dean of Gloucester. He preached at the
coronation of Charles I. His death, which was caused by a fall from his
horse, took place in 1626, and he was buried in the cathedral.
#Francis White# (1626-1629), Dean of Carlisle; translated to Norwich
1629. He brought himself into notice by preaching against popery; by a
book written in antagonism to Fisher, the Jesuit; and, further, by
holding a disputation with the same man in the presence of James I.
#Barnaby Potter# (1629-1642). Educated at, and Provost of Queen's
College, Oxford; Chief Almoner of Charles I. Potter was one of the four
bishops who advised Charles upon the attainder of Strafford. He died in
London 1642.
#James Usher# (1642-1656). Educated at Trinity College, Dublin; Bishop
of Meath; Archbishop of Armagh. He visited England in 1640, and was
consulted by the Earl of Strafford in preparing a defence against his
impeachment. Charles I. also consulted him as to whether he should
sanction the death of the Earl. Usher was present at the execution of
Strafford, and ministered to him in his last moments. In 1641 Archbishop
Usher suffered severe losses from a rebellion in Ireland; and this is no
doubt the reason why he never returned to that country. About this time
Charles I. gave him the bishopric of Carlisle _in commendam_, but the
Archbishop does not seem to have obtained much revenue therefrom, as the
district was greatly impoverished through the English and Scottish
troops being alternately quartered there. A few years later Parliament
seized on his lands and voted him an annual pension of £ 400, which,
however, he probably did not receive more than twice. During the
troubles of these times he resided at Oxford and Cardiff. He came to
London in 1646, and the next year, through his friend's endeavours, he
was allowed to preach. He visited Charles at Carisbrooke in 1648. He
died in 1656, and was buried, by order of Cromwell, in Westminster
Abbey. He wrote "On the Original State of the British Churches," "The
Ancient History of the British Churches," and his great work on sacred
chronology, "The Annals of the Old Testament." It is said that Baxter
wrote his famous "Call to the Unconverted" at the Archbishop's
suggestion.
[Illustration: REDNESS HALL. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
#Richard Sterne# (1660-1664). Educated at Trinity College; Master of
Jesus College, Cambridge. He sided with the king on the outbreak of
civil war, and was arrested by Cromwell in 1642 for endeavouring to send
the college plate to Charles, and imprisoned in the Tower till the
January following. He was kept prisoner in various places until 1645. He
regained his Mastership at the Restoration, and soon after was made
Bishop of Carlisle. He was translated to the archbishopric of York,
leaving his bishopric in a very impoverished state. Sterne the novelist
was his great-grandson.
#Edward Rainbow# (1664-1684). Educated at Corpus Christi College,
Oxford, and Magdalene College, Cambridge; he became Master of the latter
in 1642-3. Dean of Peterborough 1661. He was very hospitable and
liberal. He did not hesitate in years of scarcity (after he had
exhausted his own stores of provisions) to buy corn which he gave away
to the poor day by day. He died in 1684, and was buried at Dalston.
#Thomas Smith# (1684-1702). Educated at Queen's College; Prebendary of
Durham; Dean of Carlisle. He was a very generous benefactor to Queen's
College, Oxford, the Carlisle Grammar School, the chapter library, and
the cathedral treasury. He died in 1702.
#William Nicolson# (1702-1718). A very learned antiquary. Fellow of
Queen's College, Oxford, and Archdeacon of Carlisle. His most noted work
is the "Historical Library" (1696-1699), which at one time "afforded a
guide to the riches of the chronicle literature of the British empire."
He was translated to the bishopric of Derry in 1718.
#Samuel Bradford# (1718-1723). Educated at St. Paul's School, the
Charterhouse, and Corpus Christi, Cambridge. He was elected Master of
Corpus Christi College in 1716. Dean of Westminster. Translated to
Rochester 1723.
#John Waugh# (1723-1734). Educated at, and Fellow of Queen's College,
Oxford; Dean of Gloucester. Died 1734.
#Sir George Fleming#, Bart. (1735-1747). Educated at St. Edmund Hall,
Oxford; Dean of Carlisle. During his episcopate the Young Pretender
entered Carlisle (1745) and it is said that he installed one Thomas
Coppock, or Cappoch, a Roman Catholic, as bishop. Coppock was captured,
and executed at Carlisle the following year. Sir George Fleming died in
1747, and was buried in the cathedral.
#Richard Osbaldeston# (1747-1762). Educated at St. John's College,
Cambridge; Dean of York. He was chiefly a non-resident bishop, and, on
his translation to London in 1762, his successor complained bitterly of
the state of dilapidation and decay into which Rose Castle, the bishop's
residence, had been allowed to fall.
#Charles Lyttelton# (1762-1768). Educated at Eton, and University
College, Oxford; Dean of Exeter. In 1765 he was president of the Society
of Antiquaries. He wrote numerous articles, some of which are included
in the first three volumes of the "Archæologia." He was very genial and
hospitable, and had a remarkable knowledge of antiquities. He died in
London 1768, and was buried at Hagley.
#Edmund Law# (1769-1787). Educated at St. John's College, Cambridge;
Fellow of Christ's College. He was an earnest student, and zealous for
Christian truth and Christian liberty. He believed that the human race
progresses in religion equally with its progress in all other knowledge.
He is said to have been "a man of great softness of manners, and of the
mildest and most tranquil disposition." He died in 1787, and was buried
in the cathedral.
#John Douglas# (1787-1791). Educated at St. Mary Hall, Oxford, and
Balliol; Dean of Windsor; translated to Salisbury 1791. He wrote many
political pamphlets.
#The Hon. Edward Venables Vernon# (1791-1808), Canon of Christ Church,
Oxford; translated to York 1808. He assumed the name of Harcourt in
1831.
#Samuel Goodenough# (1808-1827). Educated at Westminster, and Christ
Church, Oxford; Canon of Windsor, and Dean of Rochester.
In 1809 a sermon preached before the House of Lords gave rise to the
following epigram:--
'Tis well enough that Goodenough
Before the Lords should preach;
But, sure enough, full bad enough
Are those he has to teach.
He died in 1827, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
#Hugh Percy# (1827-1856). Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge; Bishop
of Rochester, whence he was translated to Carlisle. During his
episcopate he established a Clergy Aid Society (1838), and a Diocesan
Education Society (1855). He died in 1856, and was buried at Dalston.
#Henry Montague Villiers# (1856-1860). Translated to Durham 1860.
#Samuel Waldegrave# (1860-1869). Educated at Oxford; Canon of Salisbury.
Author of "New Testament Millenarianism" (the Bampton Lectures, 1854).
Died 1869.
#Harvey Goodwin# (1869-1891). Second Wrangler, Cambridge; Dean of Ely. A
very politic bishop. In one of his sermons he used words to the effect
that "he was as high as the church was high, as low as the church was
low, and as broad as the church was broad." Died 1891.
#J.W. Bardsley# (1892). Translated from Sodor and Man.
LIST OF PRIORS AND DEANS
PRIORS
Æthelwulf (Aldulf)
Walter
John
Bartholomew
Ralph
Robert Morville
Adam de Felton
Alan
John Halton (Bishop, 1292)
John Kendall
Robert
Adam Warthwic (resigned 1304)
William Hautwyssel
Robert Helperton
Simon Hautwyssel (about 1325)
William de Hastworth. 1325
John Kirby (Bishop, 1332)
Galfrid
John de Horncastle (resigned 1376)
Thomas Hextildsham
Richard de Rydale
John de Penrith (resigned 1381)
William de Dalston
Robert de Edenhall. 1386
Thomas de Hoton
Thomas Elye
Thomas Barnaby. 1433
Thomas de Haythwaite
Thomas Gondibour. 1484-1507
Simon Senhouse. 1507
Christopher Slee
Lancelot Salkeld. 1532. (Last Prior and 1st Dean)
DEANS
Lancelot Salkeld. 1542
Sir Thomas Smyth, LL. D. 1547
Lancelot Salkeld. 1553.
Sir Thomas Smyth, LL.D. 1559
Sir John Wooley, M.A. 1577
Christopher Perkins, LL.D. 1596
Francis White, S.T.P. 1622
William Patterson, S.T.P. 1626
Thomas Comber S.T.P 1630
(Vacant 18 years)
Guy Carleton, D.D. 1660
Thomas Smith, D.D. 1671
Thomas Musgrave, D.D. 1684
William Graham, D.D. 1686
Francis Atterbury, D.D. 1704
George Smallridge, D.D. 1711
Thomas Gibbon, D.D. 1713
Thomas Tullie, LL.D. 1716
George Fleming, LL.D. 1727
Robert Bolton, LL.D. 1734
Charles Tarrent, D.D. 1764
Thomas Wilson, D.D. 1764
Thomas Percy, D.D. 1778
Jeffrey Ekins, D.D. 1782
Isaac Milner, D.D. 1792
Robert Hodgson, D.D. 1820
John Anthony Cramer, D.D. 1844
Samuel Hinds, D.D. 1848
Archibald Campbell Tait, D.D. 1849
Francis Close, D.D. 1856
J. Oakley, D.D. 1881
W.G. Henderson, D.D. 1884