It was only after the Conquest that the "Doomsday Book" came into
existence. After the Conquest the sheriff became simply a royal officer.
He was the financial representative of the Crown within his district.
Now his financial duties no longer exist, and his judicial are almost
_nil_. Our general knowledge of him is that he is supposed to be in at
the death of a murderer, and that he is somehow or other associated with
the bailiff--sheriff's officer, as he is styled.
Mr. Collins presents us with three interesting graphic descriptions.
This city owes its name to the numerous springs, and more particularly
to that of St. Andrew's Well, whose water, rising in the vicinity of
the episcopal palace, flows through the south-western part of the city.
Ina, King of the West Saxons, named it thus. He, in 704, founded a
collegiate church and dedicated it to St. Andrew the Apostle.
This foundation was handsomely endowed by Cynewulf in 766, and
flourished till 905. Wells was then erected into a see. This change was
consequent on an edict of Edward the Elder for the revival of religion,
which had been brought down to a low ebb by the frequent and terrible
incursions of the Danes. To combat this state of things, Pligrund,
Archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated several new bishops, of whom
Aldhelm, formerly Abbot of Glastonbury, became first bishop of Wells.
Edward the Confessor made his chaplain, Giso, the thirteenth bishop to
the See, and at the same time enriched it by the confiscated property of
Godwin, Earl of Kent, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, his son, whom he had
driven into exile. Harold, in spite of his exile, made an incursion into
Somersetshire, levied mail on his former tenantry, and eased the church
of its treasures.
In the meantime Giso was being consecrated at Rome. On his return he was
fortunate enough to gain some compensation from the queen, who was
sister to Harold. But, unfortunately for Giso, Harold was again received
into favour. He promptly procured the banishment of Giso, and on his
succession later to the throne straightway resumed all his estates,
which Edward the Confessor had granted to the Church, and thus
impoverished the See.
Bishop Giso's opportunity came with the Conquest, when he was
reinstated. William, in his second year of reign, restored to the
Bishopric, with some small deduction, all Harold's estates. Giso
augmented the number of canons, and built a cloister, hall, and
dormitory, and enlarged and beautified the choir of the Cathedral. John
de Villula, his successor, swept away these buildings, and on their site
built a palace.
Villula's name in ecclesiastical history is closely associated with a
memorable event which caused considerable commotion and rivalry between
the inhabitants of Wells and Bath. He removed the See of the diocese to
Bath, and assumed the title of Bishop of Bath. Feeling ran high, and the
Archbishop of Canterbury was appealed to. His ingenuity proposed that
the prelates should be styled "Bishop of Bath and Wells," that an equal
number of delegates from both cities should elect him, and that their
installation should take place in both churches. Yet, later, the
determination of the diocese's headquarters became again a vexed
question, under Bishop Savaricus, who was closely allied to the Emperor
of Austria.
Richard I.'s liberty was granted him by the Emperor of Austria on one
condition besides the ransom, that the then vacant Abbey of Glastonbury
should be annexed to the See of Bath and Wells. Savaricus afterwards
changed the seat of his diocese to Glastonbury, and styled himself
Bishop of Glastonbury. The seat was finally settled in 1205, after his
death, by the monks under his successor, Joscelyne de Wells. Glastonbury
petitioned Rome, favourably, to be reinstated as an abbey, on condition
of relinquishing a handsome portion of its revenue to the See.
Joscelyne assumed the bishopric title of Bath and Wells, which has
remained to this day. The death of this prelate was the signal for
further dispute in another direction. The monks of Bath endeavoured to
exercise, in opposition to the Canon of Wells, the right of electing the
successor to the See. All dispute was settled by the Pope, who managed
to draw closer the union of the churches. At the Reformation the
monastery of Bath was suppressed, and though the name of the See was
retained, all ecclesiastical authority and the right of electing the
Bishop were vested in the Dean and Chapter of Wells, which then became
the sole chapter of the Diocese.
[Illustration: WELLS