("Doomsday Book.")
In a geographical account of this city it is given as being locally in
"the hundred of Box and Stockbridge, _rape_ of Chichester, county of
Sussex." The origin of this term "rape," comes from the Icelandic
"hreppr," meaning a village or district. From the Icelandic verb,
"hreppa," to catch, obtain, arose the Anglo-Saxon rendering--"hrepian,
hreppan," to touch. Rape came thus to be one of six divisions of the
county of Sussex, possibly by reason of their nearness to each other. It
formed the intermediate between the shire and the hundred. A sketch of
the shire and the hundred is treated in the description of Wells. After
this slight digression, we will immediately enter upon the history of
Chichester.
Its foundation dates, with certainty, from the time when England formed
a portion of the Roman Empire. About the year 47 A.D., Flavius
Vespasian conquered this part of England. He established a camp on the
site of the present city, close to the road now known as Stane Street,
throwing up an entrenchment three miles long. This is attributed to be
the "Regnum" of the Belgae, mentioned in the "Itinerary" of Antonine.
There is no reason to doubt this, if it be borne in mind that, situated
almost on the south seaboard of England as Chichester is, it might quite
conceivably be expected to be classed accidentally as forming a part of
the territory of the Belgae, though geographically wrong. The advantage
of a site at the foot of a small spur of the South Downs, within easy
distance of the sea, though inland, would offer great attractions to the
Roman invader.
The early history of England shows us that invasions took effect
generally on the south and east coasts of the island. The conquered
tribes travelled westwards, retreating before the fierce invader.
Little seems to have been known about the Roman occupation of Chichester
till the accidental turning up of a Sussex marble slab on the site of
the present council chamber. This discovery took place about the year
1713. From this a little information is gleaned about the Roman
buildings. The slab bears a defaced inscription in Latin, the missing
letters of which having been supplied, give a conjectural reading. It
appears that Chichester was the seat of a British king, Cogidubnus; and
that under the auspices of a certain Pudens, a temple of Neptune and
Minerva was erected out of compliment to Claudius. The evidence of this
stone seems also to have been borne out by Tacitus, who mentions in his
writings the existence of Cogidubnus as a native king possessed of
independent authority. This king, also, is said to be the father of
Claudia, who figures in the Second Epistle to Timothy. The conjectural
reading again leads us to suppose that the city was occupied by a large
number of craftsmen, who, in fact, were responsible for the erection of
the temple mentioned above, besides the walls and other buildings.
During the early Saxon period in the fifth century the city was
destroyed by OElla. He was succeeded by his son Cissa, who rebuilt it
and called it Cissa's Ceaster--Cissa after his own name, and Ceaster in
recognition of the Romans having occupied it. The city afterwards became
the seat of the South Saxon kings, and remained thus till about the
middle of the seventh century. Wulfhere, the Mercian, then invaded it
and made Athelwald, its king, prisoner. Upon his conversion to
Christianity the king was reinstated. He was afterwards killed in battle
by Ceadwalla of Wessex, who conquered the kingdom of the South Saxons.
In 803 Egbert managed to make a union of the several Saxon kingdoms.
This event caused considerable prosperity to Chichester. From ancient
penny-pieces discovered, we learn that King Edgar, in the year 967, had
established a mint here, thus clearly indicating the importance of the
city.
It suffered a terrible decline through the devastations of the Danes; so
much so, that scarcely two hundred houses and only one church existed at
the time of the Norman Conquest. However, from 1070 the fortunes of the
city began to mend rapidly. This wholesome change was caused primarily
by the removal of the See from Selsea, where it had remained for over
three hundred years, to Chichester. As first bishop of Chichester,
Stigand, the chaplain to William the Conqueror, was appointed. In the
reign of Henry I. a cathedral was built and consecrated by Bishop Ralph.
It was soon destroyed by fire. On its site the same prelate erected a
second structure of far greater magnificence, a considerable portion of
which is still extant.
[Illustration: CHICHESTER