THE SEES OF THE EAST ANGLIAN BISHOPS
Herbert, surnamed de Losinga, transferred the see from Thetford to
Norwich in 1094, and it is from this period that the history of the
cathedral may be said to commence; but, to understand rightly the
history of the diocese, we must go back some four centuries and a half
to that earlier period when Redwald, king of the East Angles, was first
converted to Christianity while paying a visit to the court of Ethelbert
in Kent. He, however, proved but a weak disciple, and on being urged by
his wife to be true to the old gods, he tried to effect a compromise and
worship Jehovah and Baal.
He was succeeded by his son Eorpwald, who was converted by missionaries
sent by Edwin king of Northumbria. His reign, however, was short, and at
his death the people again relapsed into heathenism.
Christianity was finally established among the East Angles by Sigeberht,
Eorpwald's brother, and it was due to him and through his influence that
Felix, a missionary from Burgundy, was enabled to fix his see at
Dunwich, A.D. 630.
#Felix# (630-47) must needs have been a man strong in his Faith; he
christianised the whole of that district which now includes Norfolk,
Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire. He died on the 8th of March, and was
canonized after death. Felixstowe, where he is said to have founded
schools, keeps his memory green in the East Country; but Dunwich, where
he fixed his see, has long since been covered by the encroaching waves.
Sigeberht resigned the crown to his kinsman Egric, and had entered a
monastery to finish his days in peace. But the kingdom was invaded by
the Mercians under Penda, and the peaceful old king was compelled to
appear in the field to give heart and courage to the East Angles. He,
however, declined to employ carnal weapons, and went out against his
enemies armed with nothing more formidable than a wand. He was killed
in the ensuing engagement, and his successor, Egric, shared the same
fate.
The administration of the two successors to Felix lasted twenty-two
years, from A.D. 647-69. The East Anglian see was then divided by
Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, into two separate administrations,
#Acci#, the fourth successor to Felix, taking Dunwich, while #Beadwin#
was consecrated to the see of Elham.
From this date there were two lines of East Anglian Bishops; ten
diocesans followed after Acci at Dunwich, and nine after Beadwin at
Elmham.
#St. Humbert# (828-78) was the last of the Bishops of Elmham; he crowned
St. Edmund king of the East Angles, and both were murdered by the Danes
under Hinguar in 870.
After Humbert's death the two sees were again united under #Wildred#,
who at this time was Bishop of Dunwich; he, however, preferred Humbert's
see at Elham, and removed there, and so the bishopric of Dunwich became
extinct.
During the next two hundred years (870-1070), there were thirteen
bishops of Elmham, and then Elmham shared a similar fate to Dunwich, and
the see was moved to Thetford by #Herfast#, a chaplain of William the
Conqueror. William of Malmesbury records that Herfast had decided to go
down to posterity as a man _who had done something_, and fixed on this
removal as an easy solution of the difficulty.
#William Galsagus# (1086-91) or de Beaufeu succeeded Herfast, and he in
turn was succeeded by Herbert de Losinga, who became first Bishop of
Norwich.
The history of #Herbert's# episcopate (1091-1119) is the history of the
causes which effected the building of Norwich Cathedral, and, although
given previously in the history of the fabric, must needs be briefly
recapitulated here. Herbert, if not of Norman birth, had received his
education in Normandy and was Prior of Fécamp--where he had first taken
his vows--when offered by William Rufus the appointment of Abbot of
Ramsey. The see of Thetford fell vacant, and Herbert procured his own
appointment from the Red King in consideration of a sum of £1900 which
he paid into the royal treasury. The remorse which followed on this sin
of simony compelled him to go to Rome and seek the consolation and
forgiveness of Pope Urban. This was in 1094. He returned, and as
expiation for his sin founded the Priory of Norwich, the first stone of
which was laid in 1096, the see being removed from Thetford in
accordance with the decree of Lanfranc's Synod, held in 1075, that all
bishops should fix their sees in the principal town in their dioceses.
In cathedral monasteries the bishop, who was elected by the monks,
appears to have represented the abbot and took precedence of the prior.
Before Herbert's time, the chapter was composed of secular canons and
not monks.
Herbert, in 1101, placed sixty monks at Norwich, and it may be of
interest to quote from Taylor's "_Index Monasticus_" the establishment
of the monastery from Herbert's time up to the dissolution in 1538--
The Bishop representing the Chaplains.
Abbot. Precentor or chanter.
The Lord Prior. Sub-chanter.
The Sub-Prior. Infirmarer.
60 Monks. Choristers.
Sacrist. Keeper of the Shrines.
Sub-sacrist. Lay Officers.
Cellarer or bursar. Butlers.
Camerarius or chamberlain. Granarii.
Almoner. Hostilarii.
Refectorer. Carcerarius or gaoler.
Pittancier.
Archbishop Anselm had refused to acknowledge that the king had the right
to exercise a suzerainty over the Church, and declined to consent to lay
investitures. An embassy was sent to Rome, and Herbert, who went there a
second time about 1116, represented the king. It, however, was in no way
satisfactory; the Pope did not want to offend the king, and he wished to
retain to himself the right of investiture, so, while congratulating the
Archbishop's representatives, he sympathised also with those of the
king. The exertion told on Herbert, and at Placentia, on the return
journey, he fell sick, and stopped there until he became sufficiently
convalescent to journey by short and easy stages to his own cathedral
city. He lived to complete much important business, but his days of
administration were drawing to a close. He had been Prior of Fécamp,
Abbot of Ramsey, Sewer to William Rufus, had governed the East Anglian
bishopric first from the episcopal see at Thetford, had transferred it
to Norwich, and founded the Cathedral Priory, and if this were not
sufficient, he founded and endowed many other churches and monasteries
in the East Country. His repentance had been sincere, and in one of his
letters he refers to "my past life, which, alas! is darkened by many
foul sins." Dean Goulburn credits him with a third journey to Rome, and
says that it was at Placentia, on the outward journey, that he
contracted so grievous a sickness that he "lay ten successive days
without taking food and without uttering a word"; in fact, never
reaching Rome, but waiting for and rejoining his brother ambassadors on
their return. This journey was undertaken with the view of adjusting the
differences that had arisen between the new Primates, Ralph and
Thurston. The embassy was not successful, the Pope declining to commit
himself to any but the most general statements.
One of the last public acts of Herbert's life was to attend the funeral
of Queen Matilda on May-day, 1118. He died on the 22nd of July 1119 in
the twenty-seventh year of his episcopate, and was buried before the
high altar of his cathedral church.
#Eborard# (1121-1145), who succeeded Herbert, a son by second marriage
of Roger de Montgomery, first Earl of Arundel, was consecrated in 1121.
During his episcopate Eborard had parted with the towns of Blickling and
Cressingham, which pertained to his see, to two of the more powerful
barons, in the hope of securing the rest of the episcopal property, and
possibly with the idea of regaining possession of the same when the
troubled times should have passed.
He was deposed in 1145, and it may possibly be that he had favoured the
cause of Maude in the civil wars of the period, and that it was Stephen
who compelled him to relinquish his see and spend the rest of his life
in exile. He had in 1139 laid the foundation of an abbey at Fontenay, in
the south of France, and thither he repaired. He died in 1149.
His successor, #William de Turbe# (1146-1174), was elected to the see,
and in the year 1146 was consecrated at Canterbury by Archbishop
Theobald.
In 1168, Becket had written to De Turbe from Vezelay, a town on the
borders of Burgundy and Nivernois, and ordered him, by the Pope's
authority, to publicly excommunicate Hugh Bigot, Earl of Norfolk. He had
robbed the Priory of Pentnay, in Norfolk, of some of its possessions. De
Turbe obeyed, notwithstanding the fact that the king had sent officers
to prohibit him from so doing. An absolution was obtained from the Pope,
but the king was so far incensed that De Turbe considered it advisable
to rest in sanctuary at Norwich until the following year, 1169, when he
received the royal pardon.
[Illustration: Norwich Castle.]
Bishop William de Turbe died 17th January 1174, and was buried in the
cathedral choir, on the left side of the founder.
#John of Oxford# (1175-1200) was consecrated at Lambeth by Richard,
Archbishop of Canterbury, December 14, 1175; he was clerk or royal
chaplain to the king. He had presided over the council of Clarendon, the
constitutions of which defined the king's prerogatives in regard to the
Church, and chiefly with regard to the question of trying clerks charged
with crimes in the civil courts. He was despatched to Rome on an embassy
to the Pope, Alexander III., and on its failure was sent by Henry to
the Diet at Wurzburg; the king, not having been supported by Alexander,
determined to uphold his opponent, and as well he, in direct opposition
to the Pope, made John of Oxford Dean of Salisbury, with the result that
the future Bishop of Norwich incurred the penalty of excommunication by
Becket from Vezelay, "for having fallen into a damnable heresy in taking
a sacrilegious oath to the emperor, for having communicated with the
schismatic of Cologne, and for having usurped to himself the deanery of
the church of Salisbury."
The dispute was referred to the Pope at Sens, where John of Oxford, with
his fellow-ambassador, Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of London, repaired; John
of Oxford was rebuked by the Pontiff for his misconduct, but
diplomatically managed to effect his end and retain his deanery. Henry
had met Becket at Chaumont, through the mediation of the Archbishop of
Sens, and, the quarrel being patched up, John of Oxford was sent to
escort him to England. He landed, December 1, at Sandwich, in the year
1170, and within the month was murdered at Canterbury.
In 1175, the incursion of William of Scotland was checked, and the king
himself taken prisoner by Ranulph de Glanville. John of Oxford and
others were commissioned to settle terms of peace; and they executed the
treaty of Falaice, afterwards ratified by King Henry at York, by which
the Scottish king and his barons were under the necessity of doing
homage for their possessions. John of Oxford, who had rendered good
service to his sovereign, was rewarded by promotion to the vacant see of
Norwich; and during his episcopate sent by the king on an embassy to
William, King of Sicily, to convey his majesty's consent to the marriage
of his daughter Joan with that monarch.
An important step in the administration of justice was taken during this
reign--the king divided the country into six circuits, to which certain
prelates and nobles were to be sent at certain times to hear suits and
save litigants the trouble of attending the king's court at Westminster.
John of Oxford was one of a company of five to whom was given
jurisdiction over a portion of the country, from Norwich down to Sussex,
and from Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire eastward to the coast.
On the 9th of July 1189, King Henry died, and was succeeded by his third
son, Richard: John of Oxford assisting at the coronation. Richard had
no sooner been crowned than he led the crusade to the Holy Land, which
had been preparing in Henry's time, and John of Oxford was forced to
proceed to the Pope to ask for his absolution of the oath he had taken
to follow the Cross, on account of his old age and infirmity. This
request being granted, for which he had to pay 10,000 marks, he returned
to England.
The last public act of John of Oxford--who was one of the most
remarkable men who have held the see of Norwich--was most probably his
attendance at the coronation of King John. He died June 2, 1200.
#John de Grey# (1200-1214) was elected by the monks, and his election
being confirmed by King John, he was consecrated by Hubert, Archbishop
of Canterbury. It was during his episcopate, and through the quarrel
between King John and the Pope, that the power of the latter was at
length firmly established--a supremacy that was unquestioned until the
sixteenth century.
The metropolitan see of Canterbury fell vacant in 1205; the sub-prior,
who was surreptitiously elected by the monks, and unknown to the king,
travelled to Rome for the Pope's sanction of his appointment. When the
king became aware of this he was enraged, and despatched an embassy
upholding his nominee, John de Grey. The Pope pleased neither party, and
named Stephen Langton as Hubert's successor. The Pope, Innocent, sent
two legates, of whom Pandulph was one, in 1211 to England, and on John
declining to recognise the Papal claims, he was deposed, and his crown
offered to the French king Philip.
The country had been placed under an interdict, and most of the bishops
had left the country. John de Grey remained faithful to the king, and
actually invaded France with a small force to attack the invading
Philip, but soon was forced to retreat. In the end, John submitted,
resigned his crown, which was restored to him, and was compelled to pay
to the Church as damages 40,000 marks. John de Grey, who had been sent
to Rome to arrange this, died on the return journey at S. Jean d'Angelo,
near Poictiers, 18th October 1214.
#Pandulph Masca# (1222-1226) was consecrated Bishop of Norwich by
Honorius, 29th May 1222. He is supposed to have been a member of a noble
Pisan family, and in 1211 had been sent by Pope Innocent to humble King
John, which he successfully did. He was again employed as Papal Legate
during the young King Henry II.'s minority, and died in Italy, 16th
September 1226, having played a prominent part as politician and
mediator.
#Thomas de Blunville# (1226-1236), the nephew of Hubert de Burgh, Lord
Chief-Justice of England, was consecrated in St. Catherine's Chapel at
Westminster by Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury. He died in 1236, and
was succeeded by #Ralph de Norwich#, of whom but little is known; and is
even supposed to have died before his consecration.
#William de Ralegh# was consecrated on the 25th September 1239 at St.
Paul's by Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury. He had been a chaplain
of King Henry, and having received the education of a lawyer, from
1224-35 he visited various parts of the kingdom as a justiciary. On the
death of Peter de Rupibus he was elected to the see at Winchester by the
monks, in direct defiance of the king. The Pope's intervention in the
end secured him his see. He died at Tours in 1250.
#Walter de Suffield# (1245-57) was elected bishop by the monks after
Ralegh's translation. He chiefly busied himself in building and
beautifying the cathedral, and there is no record that he took any
prominent part in politics. He superintended a general inquisition
(known as the Norwich taxation) into the value of the Church revenues
throughout the whole of England. He died May 18, 1257, during a visit to
Colchester.
#Simon de Walton# (1258-66) was consecrated by Boniface, Archbishop of
Canterbury, on March 10, 1258. He held (in 1246) the office of
justice-itinerant. Of his administration little is known. He was past
seventy when he assumed the charge of the diocese. The barons under De
Montfort had beaten the king's army at Lewes, in 1264, and in 1266, from
their encampment in the Isle of Ely, attacked and sacked the city. Simon
de Walton died January 2, 1266.
#Roger de Skerming# (1266-78) was elected by the monks, and was
consecrated by Geoffrey Rages in St. Paul's Cathedral in April 1266. It
was during his episcopate that the disturbance occurred between the
monks and citizens over the annual fair held on Trinity Sunday, in
Tombland. He died January 2, 1278.
[Illustration: The Guildhall.]
#William de Middleton# (1278-88) was consecrated at Lambeth by the
Archbishop of Canterbury on May 29, 1278, and was enthroned, and the
Cathedral re-dedicated after the sacrilege and fire, on Advent Sunday,
1278, when Edward I. and his queen were present. He was appointed a
guardian of the realm, 1279, during the king's absence in France;
Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1276; and also steward of Bordeaux. He died
September 1, 1288, at Terling, in Essex, and his remains were carried in
state to Norwich, and there buried in the Lady Chapel.
#Ralph de Walpole# (1289-99) was of Norfolk extraction, and an
archdeacon of Ely. He was consecrated to the see on Mid-lent Sunday,
1289, at Canterbury, by John Peckham archbishop. His election, however,
was displeasing to the diocese. He was translated to Ely in 1299.
#John Salmon# (1299-1325), prior of Ely, had been elected bishop by the
monks, but was appointed to the see at Norwich at the same time that
Walpole was translated to Ely. He was consecrated by Archbishop
Winchelsey October 3, at Canterbury, and was one of the envoys sent to
the Court of Philip the Fair King of France, to arrange the marriage of
the young king Edward II. (1307). He was appointed chancellor of the
realm in 1320. He also went to France again in 1325; and it was on his
return that he died July 6, 1325.
#William de Ayerminne# (1325-36) was elected to the see by papal bull in
1325, and this overruled the election by the monks of Robert de Baldock.
Ayerminne was consecrated to the see September 15, 1325. He had held a
prebendal stall at St. Paul's in 1313 and in the next year at Lincoln.
In 1324 he was sent as ambassador to Robert Bruce to treat for peace. He
died at Charing, March 27, 1336; and was buried in the cathedral before
the high altar. He appears to have been cunning and crafty, and not
above changing his political views when occasion demanded.
#Anthony de Beck# (1337-43) was nominated by the Pope, the monks having
chosen Thomas de Hemenhale, who however, went to Worcester. Both were
consecrated to their respective dioceses by the Pope at Avignon March
30, 1337. He had been Dean of Lincoln. In 1342 he resisted the
Archbishop Stratford's visitation; this must have been a foretaste to
the monks of his imperious temper. In 1343 he was poisoned by his own
servants.
#William Bateman# (1344-54), of a Norwich family, had been archdeacon of
Norwich, chaplain to the Pope, and dean of Lincoln. He was consecrated
by the Pope at Avignon, 23rd May 1344. During his episcopate in (Edward
III.'s reign) 1349, Norwich was visited by "Black Death"; over 51,000
are supposed to have fallen victims to the dread plague. He founded
Trinity Hall at Cambridge, 1350; was sent to Rome on an embassy there.
He died January 6, 1354. He was buried at the church of St. Mary of
Avignon.
#Thomas Percy# (1355-69), brother of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland,
against the wishes of the monks, was elected to the see. He was
consecrated January 3, 1355, at Waverly, in Surrey, by the Bishops of
Winchester, Sarum, and Chichester. The nobility at this time were
securing church preferments for their families to keep pace with the
formation of the professions and general advance of learning. He died
August 8, 1369, and was buried in the cathedral, before the rood loft.
#Henry le Dispencer# (1370-1406) was consecrated at Rome, 21st April
1370. He was hated by the monks, who had no share in his election. He
was of martial feeling, and took a prominent part in quelling the local
disturbance incident on Wat Tyler's rebellion, 1381. He was employed by
Urban VI. against his rival, Pope Clement VII.; was arrested for treason
in 1399, and pardoned by Henry IV. He died 1406.
#Alexander de Totington# (1407-13), prior of Norwich, was elected by the
monks in September 1406. This election found no favour at the Court, and
he was imprisoned at Windsor for nearly a year. He was then released,
and consecrated at Gloucester by the Archbishop October 23, 1407. He
died April 28, 1413, and was buried in the Lady Chapel.
#Richard Courtenay# (1412-15) was nominated by Henry V., and consecrated
by the Archbishop at Windsor 17th September 1413. He was Chancellor of
the University of Oxford in 1407-11-13. He died at Harfleur in 1415,
while on attendance to the king during the siege of that town. His body
was brought to England, and buried in Westminster Abbey.
#John Wakering# (1416-25), who was elected by the monks, had become
keeper of the privy seal in 1415. He was consecrated at St. Paul's by
the Archbishop May 31, 1416. He persecuted the Lollards strongly, and
during his episcopate many were burned at the stake. Yet his character
apparently was far from being harsh. He died at Thorpe in 1435, and was
buried in the presbytery.
#Alnwick# (1426-36) was confessor to Henry VI., and in 1420 archdeacon
of Salisbury. He was appointed by a papal bull, and consecrated August
18, 1426. He was translated by papal bull in 1436 to Lincoln.
#Thomas Browne's# (1436-45) appointment was contained in the same bull
that translated Alnwick. He had been previously Dean of Salisbury in
1431, and Bishop of Rochester in 1435. During his episcopate the
citizens again laid the priory under siege over a question of dues due
to them, and the liberties of the city were, as a consequence, seized by
the king. Browne died in 1445, and was buried in the nave, in the front
and to the west side of rood.
#Walter Lyhart# (1446-72) was nominated by the Pope, and consecrated
February 1446, at Lambeth, by the Archbishop Stafford. He had been
confessor to Henry VI.'s wife, Margaret of Anjou. He died May 17, 1472.
#James Goldwell# (1472-99) had been ambassador of Edward IV. at Rome. He
was nominated by the Pope, and consecrated at Rome, October 4, 1472. He
died February 15, 1499.
#Thomas Jane# (1499-1500) had been Canon of Windsor and Dean of Chapel
Royal in 1497; was consecrated on October 20, 1499. He died in September
1500.
#Richard Nykke# was consecrated in 1501. He was of infamous character,
and no doubt stimulated the zeal of the reformers, who may well have
contended that the Church which had such prelates surely needed
reformation. He persecuted those opposed to him, and burned many at the
stake. He was imprisoned in 1535, for appealing to Rome touching the
king's prerogative. He died January 14, 1536.
#William Rugg# (1536-50) was the last Bishop of Norwich before the
dissolution of the monasteries. Wolsey's downfall had occurred in 1529,
and in 1536 the smaller monasteries were dissolved, and in 1538 the
larger ones shared the same fate, Norwich being among the number, the
last prior, #William Castleton#, becoming dean. William Rugg resigned
the see in 1550.
[Illustration: Monument of Bishop Goldwell.]
On the foundation of the cathedral after the Dissolution the
establishment was as follows:--
One dean. Six poor men or bedesmen.
Six prebendaries. One sacrist.
Six minor canons. Two sub-sacrists.
One deacon reader of the Gospel. One beadle of the poor men.
One deacon reader of the Epistle. One high steward.
Eight lay clerks to be expert in singing. And clerks, porters,
One organist, eight choristers. auditors, and a coroner.
One precentor.
And such constitution, with but few changes, has held down to this day,
the prebendaries have become resident canons, and the precentor is also
a minor canon.
#Thomas Thirley# (1550-54) owed his preferment to Norwich from
Westminster to Edward VI. Queen Mary, in September 1554, promoted him to
Ely. He was the first and only bishop Westminster has had.
#John Hopton# (1554-58) was chaplain to Queen Mary, and aided in the
persecution of the Protestants.
#John Parkhurst# (1560-75) is credited with having "beautified and
repaired" the bishop's palace.
#Edmund Freke# (1575-78) was translated from Rochester, and again to
Worcester in 1578.
#Edmund Scambler# (1585-94) was translated to Norwich from Peterborough.
#William Redman# (1594-1602).
#John Jegon# (1602-1617) was master of Benedict College for twelve
years.
#John Overall# (1618-19) was translated from Lichfield and Coventry; he
enjoyed the reputation of being the "best scholastic divine in the
English nation."
#Samuel Harsnet# (1619-28); translated to York in 1628.
#Francis White# (1628-31); translated to Ely in 1631.
#Richard Corbet# (1632) was translated from Oxford. Of him it was said
"he was a distinguished wit in an age of wits, and a liberal man amongst
a race of intolerant partisans."
#Matthew Wren# (1635-38); translated to Ely in 1638.
#Richard Montague# (1638-41); translated from Chichester.
#Joseph Hall# (1641-56); translated from Exeter. We have quoted in the
notes on nave from his "Hard Measure."
#Edward Reynolds# (1661-76).
#Antony Sparrow# (1676-85); translated from Exeter. He was the author of
a "Rationale upon the Book of Common Prayer," 1657.
#William Lloyd #(1685-91); translated from Llandaff to Peterborough, and
from thence to Norwich. He was deposed in 1690 for refusing to take the
oath of allegiance to William III.
#John Moore# (1691-1707); translated to Ely in 1707.
#Charles Trimmell# (1708-1721); translated to Winchester in 1721.
#Thomas Green# (1721-23); translated to Ely 1723.
#John Lang# (1723-27).
#William Baker# (1727-32); translated from Bangor.
#Robert Butts# (1733-38); translated to Ely 1738.
#Sir Thomas Gooch, Bart.# (1738-48); translated from Bristol.
#Samuel Lisle# (1748-49); translated from St. Asaph.
#Thomas Hayter# (1749-61); translated to London in 1761.
#Philip Yonge# (1761-83); translated from Bristol.
#Lewis Bagot# (1783-90); translated from Bristol.
#George Horne# (1791-92).
#Charles Manners Sutton# (1792-1805); translated to Canterbury in 1805.
#Henry Bathurst# (1805-37).
#Edward Stanley# (1837-49), father of the late Dean of Westminster.
#Samuel Hinds# (1849-57).
#John Thomas Pelham# (1857-93).
#J. Sheepshanks# (1893).
[Illustration: The Pelican Lectern in the Choir.]