Jones, Vjilliam Henry. "Early /jinals of the -episcopate in fvilts and Dorset. London. 1371. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY From the COLLECTION OF OXFORD BOOKS made by FALCONER MADAN Bodley's Librarian EARLY ANNALS OF THE EPISCOPATE WILTS AND DOESET. BY THE BEV. ¦ WILLIAM HENRY JONES, M.A., F.S.A;, Vicar of Br adf or d-on- Avon, and Rural Dean in the Diocese of Sarum. AUTHOR OF "DOMESDAY FOB WILTS, TRANSLATED AND EDITED WITH ILLUSTEATIVB NOTES." 2^onlron anlr ©xforli: JAMES PAEKEE AND 00 1871. EARLY ANNALS OF THE EPISCOPATE WILTS AND DOESET. BT THE UEV. WILLIAM HENRY JONES, M.A., F.S.A., i>' Vicar of Bradford-on-Avon, and Rural Dean in the Diocese of Sarum. AUTHOE OP " DOMESDAY FOE WILTS,. TEANSLATED AND EDITED WITH ILLUSTEATIVE NOTES." ILonlJon m'a ©xforlrt JAMES PAEKEE AND CO 1871. Alabaster and Passmoee, Printers, 31, Little Britain, London, e.g. TO The Eight Eeverend GEOEGE, LOED BISHOP OF SALISBUEY, THESE EARLY ANNALS OF THE Episcopate in Wilts and Dorset ARE dedicated with feelings OF affectionate respect. abbreviations made use of in this work. Acta S. S. Angl. Sac. Ath. Ox. . Chron. Sax. Cod. Dipl. D. . Dipl. Angl. Flor. Wig. Mon. H. B. Prof. K. Cant. Res.Sim. Dur. Subs. Acta Sanctorum. Anglia Sacra (Wharton). Athenas Oxonienses. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Codex Diplomaticus (Kemble). Died.Diplomatorium Anglicum (Thorpe). Florence of Worcester. Monumenta Historica Britanica. Profession Roll of Canterbury. Resigned. Simeon of Durham. Subscriptions fo Charters. PEEFACE. This Essay owes its origin to a request made to the writer, now some years ago, to farnish a correct list, for the Sarum Almanack, of the various Bishops who from earliest times had exercised jurisdiction over what is now comprised in the Diocese of Salisbury. It was found that were there so many inaccuracies ia the lists given by the ordinary authorities, one after another having simply copied the statements of his predecessor, that an independent investigation was very desirable. The publica tions of the Eecord Commissioners, the many Anglo-Saxon charters with the subscriptions of the Bishops for the time being, published by Kemble and Thorpe, and the most useful work by Professor Stubbs, on the Episcopal Succession in England, entitled " Eegistrum Sacrum Anglicanum," furnished ample materials for such an enquiry, and the result is embodied in the following pages. Every endeavour has been taken to secure accuracy ; and where statements are made at variance with what have been hitherto accepted traditions, references have been giyen to the authorities for the same, that the reader may, if he will, test the results for himself. CONTENTS. PAGE I. — Progress of the Episcopate ns Wilts and Dorset, FROM EARLIEST TIMES TILL THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE See at New Sarhm, or Salisbury . . . 7—29 II. — Table, showing the gradual foematioh of the Dioceses in Wessex 30 III.— Bishops op Wessex — ^a.d. 634 — 705 . . . .31 V. — Bishops of Winchester (east op Selwood), and Bishops of Sherborn (west of Selwood) — a.d. 705—909 32—37 v.— Bishops of Eamsburt (Wilts and Berks), and Bishops of Sherborn (Dorset) a.d. 909—1075 . 38— i5 VI.— Bishops having their see at Old Sarum, a.d. 1075— 1218 46-47 EARLY ANNALS OF THE EPISCOPATE IN WILTS AND DORSET. § I. The See op Wessex, a.d. 634—705. FLOEENCE of Worcester, who lived in the time of Henry I., gives in these few words a general description of the Episcopate which it is the object of these pages to trace — "The Kings of the West Saxons had rule in Wiltshire, Berkshire, and Dorsetshu-e; these shires are under one Bishop, whose see is now at Salisbury (Old Sarum); formerly it was either at Eams- bury or Sherborn."* The founder of this Episcopate was BlRiNUS,t who, urged to the step by Honorius, the reigning Pope, came into England in the year 634, "having," as Baeda says, "promised in his pre sence that he would sow the seed of the holy faith in the inner parts beyond the Angles, where no other teacher had been before him."t By command of the same Pope he received episcopal consecration from Asterius, the Archbishop of Milan, at Genoa. On his arrival in Britain hfe first entered the nation of the Ge-wissae (or West Saxons), and finding all there most confirmed pagans — the expression used by Beeda is pagan- issimos — he thought it " better to preach the Word of God there, than to proceed further ui search of others to whom he might preach it." The first visit of this missionary Bishop — truly called the Apostle of Wessex — to our shores, is thus briefly recorded in *" Quibus est unus episcopus, cujus est modo sedes Salesburlae, quondam erat vel Kamesburiae vel ScireburnEe." Mon. H. B. 643. t In the Saxon chronicle the Bishop's name is given as BiEiNB,and by Geoffery Gaimar in " L'Estoire des Engles," he is called Beein. SeeMon.H. B.pp. 312, 780. X Baida, Hist. Eccl. HI. 7. " Jussu ejusdem Pontificis per Asterium Gen- uensem episcopum in episcopatus con- secratus est gradum.'' Ibid. Asterius was Archbishop of Milan, but resided at Genoa, where he died in the year 640. 8 EARLY ANNALS OP THE EPISCOPATE the Anglo Saxon Chromcle-"A° 634: This year Birinus first preached baptism to the West Saxons under King Cynegils. The date is, in several respects, an interesting and important one. Forty years had now passed since the commencement of Augustine's mission in England. During that comparatively long period, neither by Augustine, nor any of his successors iu the see of Canterbury, had the conversion of Wessex been at tempted. It would seem to have been almost a tacit rebuke for tlieir wasting their energies in vain disputes with the Celtic Bishops, whom they found in the country and who refused to acknowledge their superiority, and on such trifling matters as the tonsure and the right day of observing Easter, that, ap parently without any communication wdth Honorius, at the time Archbishop of Canterbury, but nevertheless with the direct sanction of the Pope himself,! Birinus came amongst the West Saxons, At all events, the fact is clear, that we iu Wessex owe nothing to Augustine or his immediate successors. There is reason, moreover, for thinking that, by this time, the Canter bury mission had come to be regarded at Eome, by those who took interest in such matters, as a comparative failure. Though Birinus had prepared himself by diligent study of the Teutonic languages, to perfect himself in which he had been in the habit of conversing freely with Englishmen with whom he came into contact at Genoa (for at that time they were in the habit of going to Eome by sea), the prospect before him Avas by no means a -hopeful one. For some years before his arrival stirring scenes had been going on in Wessex. A war almost of extermination had been waged by th© Enghsh settlers, or rather conquerors, against the British inhabitants of the island. It assumed that most bitter form of conflict— the struggle of heathendom against Christianity. In the mterval between 605 and 613, a great battle took place at Lega-ceaster (Chester), in which not only numberless Welshmen, but two hundred priests, who came to pray for the army of the Welsh, * Pagi, in his annotations on Baro- nius, observes that Birinus was conse crated Bishop without being appointed to any particular see : " Birinum -rndU sedi asoriptii-)n ab apostolica sede mis- sum esse," etc. A.°. 635, § 3. t One MS. of the Saxon Chronicle puts this point strong-ly; "Se-Birinus com juicier be Honorius wordum )jes pnpan, and he iScer wes biscop o> his lyfos end." [Birinus came thither by the command of Honorius the Pope, and he was Bishop there untd his life's end.] See Mun. II. B. 310. IN WILTS AND DORSET. were slain.* Shortly afterwards. King Cynegils, and Cuichelm his son, fought at " Beandune," and again more than two thousand Welshmen were slaughtered.! For more than a century before the evacuation of our island by the Eomans, the religion of the empu-e was Christian ; and though no very trustworthy re cords remain, and the details given to tis concerning individual Bishops are often apocryphal, there was, nevertheless, a British Church, with a native Episcopate, flourishing here long before either Augustine or Buinus landed on our shores. But the haughty Englishman, not only trampled upon, but refused to hear the despised and persecuted Briton — a fact that may in part excuse the Celtic Bishops from the censure passed on them by Baeda, that they never attempted the conversion of their heathen conquerors. In truth, it is to be feared that, within some two hundred years the heathenism of the latter had well- nigh obliterated all traces ofthe true faith, and that the inhabi tants ' of Wessex, in the middle of the seventh century, were practically strangers to Christianity. And yet, as the event proved, when the attempt to bring the English in Wessex to a knowledge of the faith was made, the difficulties were found to be more apparent than real. There is in our religion an element of vitality, so that, though it may seem well-nigh extinguished by the hand of the per secutor, the flames soon burst forth again from its smouldering embers, when, in God's providence, the tyrant's hand is loosened, or his heart is softened. The seed, though trampled under foot, has all along lived and germinated in secret, ready again to * In one MS. of the Saxon Chronicle it is placed under the year 605, and in another under 607. According to the Cambrian Annals, and Tigemach, it oc curred in 613. (Mon. H. B. 832.) The account in the Saxon Chronicle is as follows : — "And her JESelfriS Isedde his ferde to Lega ceastre, and {jser of-sloh unrim Walena, and swa wear)? ge-fild Augustinus witegunge ]>e he cweS, Gif Weallas nella); sibbe wiS us hy sculon set Seaxena handa forwurjian. jJBerman sloh 200 preosta Jja comon Sider )3set heo scoldan ge-biddan for Walena here. Scromail waes ge-haten hyra ealdor. se aetbserst Sanon fiftiga sum." [And this year ^thelfrith led his army to Legaceastre [Chester], and there slew numberless Welshmen ; and so was fulfilled the prophecy of Augustine, wherein he saith, " If the Welsh will not be at peace with us, they shall perish at the hands of the Saxons.'' There were also slain some 200 priests who came to pray for the army of the Welsh: their "ealdor" was called Scro mail, who with about fifty escaped thence.] tA°. 614, Her Kynegils and Cwic- helm gefuhton on Beandune and ofslo- gon ii fiusend Walena and Ixv. — Anglo Saxon Chronicle. See also Ethelwerd's Chronicle, ii. 6. 10 EARLY ANNALS OF THE EPISCOPATE give forth blossoms, when providential circumstances favour their development. Hence, within a year of the commencement of his mission, Birinus was successful in converting Cynegils, the King of Wessex, to the Christian faith. Under the year 635, we have this entry in the Saxon Chronicle—" This year King Cynegils was baptised by Birinus, the Bishop of Dorchester ; and Oswald, King of the Northhumbrians, was his godfather."* And B^da narrates the same event in these words — "Now, as Birinus preached in the aforesaid province (Wessex), it happened that the King himself, having been catechised (catechizatus), was washed in the font of baptism with his people, and Oswald, the most holy and victorious King of the Northumbrians, being present, received him as he came forth from the laver {de lavacro exeunteni), and by an alliance most pleasing and acceptable to God, being about to take his daughter as a wife, first of all took him, thus dedicated to God by a second birth (secunda generatione Deo dicatuni), as a son." In a life of Oswald, written by Drogo, and contained in the Acta Sanctorum,t it is distinctly stated that the conversion of the West-Saxons was procured through the agency of Oswald. This is to us a most interesting fact, because it shows not only the indirect infiuence of the Celtic Church in bringing to pass so important a result, but also explains why that antagonism, which existed between Augustine and his successors and the Celtic Bishops, was not found in the Church of Wessex. For Oswald, when he determined to establish Christianity in his own kingdom Northumbria, sent to Scotland, where he had himself when an exile been baptised into the faith, and obtained his missionaries from the Celtic Bishops. It is no forced sup position surely to hold, that his influence was exerted favourably * The expression used is — " Oswold Nor8hymbra cyning his onfeng," which is equivalent to the one employed in narrating the baptism of Cathred in 639, "onfeng hine him to suna;" i.e,, was his sponsor, and received him from the font, as undertaking to guide and instruct him further in the ways of Christianity: filitim de laptis-mo sus cipere. Bingham Ch. Antiq. xi. 8, § 7. See Earle's Sax. Chron. p. 24. Steven son, in his notes on Bseda iii. 7, ob serves that, " Oswald did not hold the opinion that the spiritual alBnity thus contracted with Cynegils, by having stood as his sponsor in baptism, placed any obstacle in the way of his marriage with the daughter of that prince, as it would have done at a later period. t " Gens occidentalium Saxonum . . fidem Christi suscepit, hortante ad eam ipsam Oswaldo sauctissimo Rege, ao prffidicante illis Byrino episcopo."— Acta SS. Aug. (ii, 98). IN WILTS AND DORSET. 11 in-behalf of the ancient Church of Britain with Cynegils, and this may have kept the Church in Wessex independent of Canterbury.* Certain it is, that the two immediate successors of Birinus were consecrated in France, and not at Canterbury. Moreover, Ceadda (or Chad), afterwards Bishop of Lichfield, was first consecrated in 664 to the see of York, by Wina, Bishop of Wessex, and t-wo British Bishops, so that at that time the Church of Wessex was in communion with both the British and Saxon Bishops. In 636, the year followiag that in which Cynegils and many of his subjects professed themselves Christians, Cynegils, the King's son, made a like profession. And in 639, Cuthred, the King's grandson, was baptised by Birinus, the good Bishop then taking on himself the office of sponsor.f It will, of course, havebeen understood that, in speaking of Birinus as the " Apostle of Wessex," we by no means ignore the existence of the ancient British Church. It is our belief that the infiuence of the Celtic Church has been undervalued by the historian, and that both Augustine in Kent, and Birinus in Wessex, are to be regarded as the restorers, rather than the planters, of the faitt in this country. The Celtic Church in Ireland, as we well know, was so renowned for the excellence of its institutions and the piety of its clergy, that the island received the appellation of " Insula Sanctorum." It was to the zeal of Irish missionaries — among w^hom stands pre-eminently the name of S. Columba — that Scotland was indebted for its conversion ; and, as we have narrated, when Oswald deter mined, as King of Northumbria, to introduce Christianity into his dominions, he sent to Scotland and thence obtained S. Aidan, and a band of missionaries, as preachers of the faith. To a much later period than this of which we are writing, the * Acta SS. (Aug. II. 96,) "Misit ad majores natu Scotorum, inter quos ex- ulans ipse baptismatis sacramenta, cum his, qui secum erant, militibus conse- cutus erat, petens, ut sibi mitteretur antistes, cujus doctrina ac ministerios gens, quam regebat Anglorum, Domi- nicse fidei dona disceret, et susciperet sacramenta." f It is interesting to read the account of Cuthred's baptism. Thus the Sax. Chron. (A. 639) says : " Her Birinus fulwade CuSred on Dorceceastre and onfeng hine him to suna." [This year Birinus baptised Cuthred at Dorchester and received him as his (god) son]. Ethelwerd (Chron. ii. 6) says, "Birinus et Cuthred baptizat, quem et haptisti- cwm, filiu-m, sumpsit." Elorence of Worcester (A! 639) says: "Birinus Episcopus Cuthredum, Cuichelmi Eegis filium, in civitate Dorcic baptizavit, et eum de fonte regenerationis suscepit." 12 EARLY ANNALS OF THE EPISCOPATE Britons retained (1) Cumbria, or the modern counties of Lanca- shh-e, Westmoreland, and Cumberland; (2) Wales; (3) Corn waU and Devon, described as Weala-cynn (Welsh kind). And of much of what are now called the Midland, or Eastern Coun ties, we know that they are indebted for then- conversion to no Itahan or Galilean missionaries, but to the Celtic mission aries* who passed through Bernicia and Deu-a, into East AngKa and Mercia. With regard to Wessex, we have already spoken of the uidu-ect iufluence, exercised through the Celtic Church, in induciug Cynegils and his people to embrace Christi anity ; to say nothing of those belonging to the old Church of the country, that still dwelt on the borders of that Idngdom. Nevertheless, admitting all this, from the absence of trust worthy records, the task of tracing the episcopal succession in Wessex higher than Birinus is impossible. The Anglo Saxons, Avhen in predominance, either destroyed all records that might have come into their possession, or through carelessness suf fered them to perish. At the same time, as Dean Hook remarks, it is satisfactory for us to know, that the various branches of the Celtic Church gradually merged into the Anglo Saxon, and that, whether through Augustinef or Birinus, we deduce that succession of the Christian ministry which connects the present Church of Englahd with the primitive and apostolic Church through the Galilean, it is the main stream that we trace to its source; the rills which have swollen its mass of waters, though by no means to be despised, become only of secondary * ' ' The British peasantry, whose cir cumstances were too low to keep up the face of aChurch, yetmany of them were constant to their religion, and endea voured the conversion of the Saxons. Thus Offa, of the royal Saxon blood, is said to have turned Christian at the instructions of some pious Britons." — CoUier u. § 63. f As regards Augustine's mission, its scope was really confined to the little kingdom of Kent. Before he settled at Canterbury, the way had been paved for him by a venerable French Bishop, named Luidhard, or Lethard, Bishop of Senlis, who accompanied Bertha, daughter of Charibert, the King ofthe Franks, when she married Ethelbert, King of Kent, and who had officiated for some years in an old Church dedi cated to S. Martin, and induced many heathens about the court to become Christians. From Augustine's death, to the arrival of Theodore, a period of more than sixty years, two missionaries only went out from Canterbury, Pau linus and his deacon James. Even for the South Saxons, though immediately on their own borders, no effort was made. It was not till 661, more than fifty years after Augustine's death, that Ethelwald, King of Sussex, embraced the faith, and this at the persuasion not of any of Augustine's successors, but of Wulfhere, King of Mercia, The monk Augustine had little claim, there fore, to be called the apostle of England. IN WILTS AND DORSET. 13 importance except to the local geographer. The English people are formed by the fusion of the Celtic and Teutonic races ; they are indistinguishably united, although the Anglo Saxon element predominates : and so also in the Church of England, we do not ignore the Celtic Church, but, as an historical fact, we regard it as absorbed into the patriarchate of Canterbury. The place in which Cynegils had publicly professed the true faith was appropriately fixed upon as the site for the Bishop's see. This was Dorchester, or, as Bseda terms it, Dorcic, i.e., Dtor-givic, or the " town on the river," on the western borders of what is now called Oxfordshire. There, as Basda tells us, the good Bishop, " after having built and consecrated many churches, and by his pious labour called many to the Lord, departed this life, and was buried in the same city." After many years, whilst Headda held the Bishopric of Wessex, his body was translated to the city of Winchester, and deposited in the Church of the blessed apostles S. Peter and S. Paul. Birinus was afterwards admitted into the calendar of saints, the third day of December being devoted to the commemo ration of his holy example. We are now writing of a period before the limits of the two kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia were defined. During the first half of the seventh century, the border-line of the two kingdoms was continually shifting. In truth, many of the contests which took place at this time seem partly to have been caused by disputes on the subject of boundaries. Thus we learn, from the Saxon Chronicle, that, in 577, Cuthwdne and CeawUn took the three cities of Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath from the Britons, and added them, as is implied, to the kingdom of Wessex. The two former cities, we know, were afterwards in Mercia, and the battle between Penda and Cynegils at Cirencester in 628, was, we may fairly conjecture, caused by a dispute about the southern frontier of the two kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex. And with regard to Bath, the foundation of the Abbey there by Offa, King of Mercia, in 757, seems almost to imply that the city at that time belonged to his dominion. So, too, with Dorchester, the first see of the Bishops of Wessex ; at the time when it was given for this purpose to Birinus, it was in Wessex ; it was afterwards passed over to Mercia, and became the seat of the Bishopric, which 14 EARLY ANNAT.S OP THE EnSCOPATE wasever finally settled at Lincoln. In truth, the border-lme was .• shifting : a point that must be borne m mmd, especially when we come to speak, in due course, of the fii-st subdivision of the Diocese of Wessex. For some years previously to his decease, the position of Bishop Bu-mus must have been one of difficulty and trial. To say nothing of the enormous extent of his nominal charge, which at the least comprised the districts afterwards repre sented by the counties of Hants, Wilts, Berks, Dorset, and Somerset, the death of Cynegils in 643, and the accession of Cenwalch to the throne of Wessex, brought him grievous trouble. Cenwalch at once abjm-ed C!hi-istianity : he refused, as Bseda says, to " embrace tlie mysteries of the fiiith and of the heavenly kingdom." He followed this step by another, on which punishment quickly ensued. He repudiated his wife, who was sister to the King of Jlercia. To revenge the insult, her brother Penda attacked Cenwalch, in 645, with an army, and expelled him fi-om his kingdom. The exile wdthdi'ew to the territory of " Anna, King of the East Saxons, where he hved three years in banishment, and found and received the true faith, and was baptised : for the King with whom he lived was a good man, and happy in a good and pious offspring."* Cenwalch regained his kingdom but a few months before the death of Bishop Bu-inus. He found dissensions prevailing on every side, and a battle, fought at Bradford-on-Avon in 652, described by Ethelwerd as against his own subjects — a civil war, in foct.f was necessary to establish his authority. In the midst of these harassing cares, the King had little leism-e to attend to the spuitual interests of his people. In the provi dence of Almighty God, another missionary Bishop, by name ^GELBTTiHT, was brought to Wessex. By birth a Frenchman, and consecrated in his native land to the high oifice of a Bishop, " without any title or peculiar jm-isdiction :" t he had been for some years in Ireland, for the pm-pose of studying the Holy * Bfeda, Hist. Eccl. iii. 7. t Ethelwerd's words are ; 'Ipse beUum gessit civile." — Mon. H. B., 506. t " E nobili familia natus et consecra- tus in Gallia absque titulo et ecclesia peculiari circa annum 640 in Hiberniam profectus est, ubi legendarum scriptur- arum aliquanto demoratus tempore in Saxonum Orientahum [ ? Occidenta- himi] regionem migravit anno 650." Gallia Christiana vii. 27. "Fuerat Augilbertus consecratus in Gallia abs que titulo et ecclesia peculiari, ut indicat Beda, quod hoc tempore non raro con tingebat."— Pagi in Baronium 664, § 7. IN WILTS AND DORSET. 15 Scriptures. Thence he now came, fresh from the teaching and example of the Celtic Bishops in Ireland— another instance of the indirect way in which the British Church was instrumental in christianising Wessex— of his own accord, as Bseda says, to serve the King, and to preach to him the Word of Life. Cen walch observing his erudition and industry, desfred him to accept the episcopal see of Wessex. iEgelbyrht compHed with the King's request, and presided over these people many years.* The Saxon Chronicle (A° 650) seems to draw a distinction between ^gelbyrht and his predecessor : — " In this year, .^gel- byrht of Gaul (of Galwealum), succeeded to the bishopric of the West Saxons, after Birinus the Eoman Bishop (J? am Eomaniscan bisceop)." In another manuscript he is described as the French man (seFrencisca), and is said to have been consecrated (gehddod) in France. King Cenwalch, however, after a short time, got tired of his Bishop, and sought to supply the needs of his people in a way that soon led to ^gelbyrht's resignation of his see. " The King," says Baeda, " who understood none but the language of the Saxons, grew weary of the Bishop's barbarous tongue, and introduced (the word used is subintrodu,xit) into the province another Bishop of his own tongue, whose name was WiNA, who had been himself also ordained in France; and dividing his kingdom into two sees, fixed one of them in the city of Winchester, where he had caused to be built a Cathedi-al Church." Bishop ^gelbyrht, deeply offended that the King, without any communication with him, should take such steps, at once resigned his bishopric. This was in the year 660. He shortly afterwards retired to France, where he obtained the bishopric of Paris. Baeda tells us, that when Theodore was on his way fi-om Eome to assume the archbishopric of Canterbury, he stayed awhile at Paris, and was kindly received by Bishop ^gelbyrht. Perhaps it is not too much to attribute the subsequent acknow ledgment of the supremacy of the church of Augustine at Canterbmy, on the part of the Church in Wessex, which hitherto had been independent of it, to this visit. We afterwards hear of Bishop ^gelbyrht as assisting, with eleven other Bishops, in ¦* Flor.Wigor. A?. 650— ^gelberthus, Episcopus, natione Gallus, in provincia West-Saxonioa, rege Cenwalchio, de functo jam Birino, accepit episcopa- tum ; et eidem genti pontificali jure annis prefnit multis. — Mon. H. B., 530. 16 EARLY ANNALS OF THE EPISCOPATE consecrating Wilfred, who had been ordained a priest by him in the monastery at Eipon, to the see of York, at Compi^gne (Compendium). Bishop WiNA fared little better than his predecessor. The resignation of ^gelbyrht had frustrated the King's designs, and thougl^ there were nominally two sees, they were still virtually one, under the charge of Bishop Wina (amhas parochias jure pontificali rexit).* Florence of Worcester places him at the head of the Bishops of Winchester, but this is not strictly correct, as the see was not yet permanently removed from Dorchester. In the year 666, "^^'ina was expelled by King Cenwalch. Two years before an important step had been taken by this Bishop, for bemg then, as Baeda expresses it, the only canonically ordained Bishop in Britain, he had, together with two British Bishops, consecrated Ceadda to the see of York, f in itself a full recognition on the part of the Church of Wessex of the ancient British Church, whose claims were so imperiously set aside by Augustine. Wina took refuge -with Wulfhere, the King of Mercia, and became afterwards Bishop of London, a see which he obtained, according to B^da, by purchase, and of which he remained in possession till his death, in the year 675. For four years there was no Bishop in Wessex. Cenwalch, however, " sustaining great losses in his kingdom fi-om his enemies, at length bethought himself that, as he had been ex pelled from the throne for his unfaithfulness, and had beeu restored when he had received the faith of Christ, his kingdom being destitute of a Bishop, was justly deprived of the divine protection."! Hence, he sent an embassy into France, for the purpose of entreating ^gelbyrht to return to the bishopric of his nation, who, however, excused himself on the groimd of his being bound rather to the episcopate of his own city. But he recommended for their choice his nephew, Hlothere (or in its Latinised form, Leuthericjs), as one worthy to hold the high office. The King and the people received him honourably, and at their request he was consecrated at Canterbury, by Arch bishop Theodore, and for some years held the whole bishopric of the West Saxons, by " synodical authority." § • » Mon. H. B., 619. t Baeda. Hist. Eccl. iii. 28. t Ibid. iii. 7. § "Ex synodica sanctione."— Mon. H. B., 180. IN WILTS AND DORSET. 17 They were stormy times in which the lot of Bishop Hlothere was cast. On the death of Cenwalch (c. 672), certain under- rulers (sub-reguli) took upon them the government of the nation, and dividing it among themselves, held it about ten years. During this period Hlothere died, and was succeeded by Headda, who was consecrated by Archbishop Theodore in the city of London. During his episcopate, Caedwalla, having subdued and removed these under-rulers, took upon himself the govern ment, and no long time afterwards gave up his kingdom, and, departing for Eome, ended his days there. Headda was one of five bishops who hadbeen connected with the celebrated monastery of Streaneshalch (Whitby), in York shire. He is designated as "monachus et abbas in Streaneshalce."* In the tenth year of his episcopate, he removed the see of Wessex from Dorchester to Winchester, at the same time taking with him the remains of Bishop Birinus, and reverently re- interring them in the latter place. He had the repute of great sanctity, and was afterwards admitted into the calendar of saints, the seventh day of July being appointed as the day for his commemoration. » Angl. Saer. i., 192. 18 early annals of the episcopate § II. First Sub-Division of the See of Wessex. A.D. 705—909. OX the death of Bishop Headda, in 705, a division was made of the large diocese of Wessex. Ina was the king at the time, and, according to some of the chroniclers, he constituted two sees, one of which was fixed at Winchester and the other at Sherborn. From another account we are told, that the division was made by synodal authority (synodaK concilio).* The bishops appointed were Daniel and Aldhelm, both of them remarkable men, each brought up at Malmesbury, their principal instructor being Maildulf, a Scottish, or perhaps Irish hermit, who settled there in the earher part of the seventh century, and who has some claim to be considered as the first founder of the monastery established there. It is not easy to define accurately the precise limits of the two dioceses thus formed out of the large diocese of Wessex. Matthew of Westminster ^ A. 704) says : — " There now remained to the Bishop of Winton two pro-nnces only, Hampshire and Surrey ; to the Bishop of Sherborn, however, belonged Wilts, Dorset, Berkshire, Somerset, Devon, and ComwaIl.'"t This is but a rough statement, and in part, at all events, imphes more than was the real truth. For Cornwall and Devon were stiU -drtuaUy in the hands of the British, and were called West Wales ; to say nothing of the very many Britons that were in the western parts of Wessex, that is, in Somerset and Dorset. The episcopal charge therefore of these portions must have been but nominal; and in other parts the Bishop's work must have been that of a missionary, traveUing about from place to place, seeking to bring the heathen, or at least semi-Christianized, mhabitants, to a profession of the faith. Neither is it correct to speak ofthe whole of what is now Wilt shire as being in the diocese of Sherborn, as then constituted ; for it is beUeved that, for two centuries after this time, a large portion of it belonged to the diocese of Wmchester. • Angl. Saer. u. 20. f See Mon. H. B., 268, note c. in wilts and DORSET. 19 The truth would seem to be, that the large forest of Selwood, which stretched through their central portion, was fixed upon as a convenient border-lme between the two dioceses. This is very clear from statements both in the Saxon Chronicle and other au thorities. Thus, in the former, under a.d. 709, we have this entry:— "This year Bishop Aldh elm died: hewas bishop on the west of Selwood (sew-eeshe westanSele-wu da bisceop) ;* and in the early days of Daniel the land of the West Saxons was divided into two bishop-shires, and before it had been one." — Henry of Hunting don, moreover, under the year 705,t says : — " Ina, in the twentieth year of his reign, divided the bishopric of Wessex, which used to be one, into tioo sees ; the portion east ofthe woods Daniel held ; that which was loest of fhe ivoods Aldhelm held."J In Ethel werd's Chronicle, the diocese, the see of which was at Sherborn, is expressly called Selwood-shire. Thus, under the year 709, speaking of the decease of Aldhelm, it says : " Eratque ejus episcopatus provincia quae vulgo Sealuudscire dicitur."§ An interesting question presents itself, as to what were the limits of the forest of Selwood on the east. There is no doubt that, at one time, the forest extended over no inconsiderable portion of the western division of Wiltshire. Earlyinthe fourteenth century a perambulation was made of Selwood forest by the King's authority. At that time there were two bailiwicks : one for the Somerset, and the other for the Wiltshire portion. Claims were made at that time for rights over many places, as -nithin the limits of the forest, which, though they were disallowed, would seem nevertheless to imply, at an earlier date, the large extent of the forest on the Wiltshire side. Thus, amongst other places, Knoyle, Brixton Deverel, Heytesbury, Bishopstrow, Warmuister, Westbury, Bratton, Edingdon, Steeple Ashton, Keevil, Hilperton, Whaddon, Winfield, Westwood, Bradford, were claimed as being within the forest. It is quite true that much ofthe baiUwick of Selwood, in the county of Wilts, was appropriated to the forests in the time of Henry II. ; still, even in the beginning of the fourteenth century it was decided that it extended eastward as far as Westbury and Warminster.|| * Another MS. reads :, " be westan wuda biscop," i.e. Bishop on the West of the Wood (sc. Sel- wood). H. B., 325. t See Mon. H. B., 724. See Mon, J Partem orientalem a silvis tenuit Daniel, occidentalem Aldehnus. Mou, H, B., 724. § Mon. H. B., 507. II See Wilts Archjeol. Mag. iv, 207, 20 early annals of THE EPISCOPATE Hence it would appear probable that a good slice, at all events, of the western part of Wilts was in the diocese ruled over by Aldhelm, and that it included, among other places, Bradford, where he founded a monastery, and Bishopstrow — (a few miles from Frome,the site of another ofhis religious foundations) — a parish which in its name may well be considered a memorial of the good Bishop, and the Church of which is still dedicated to S. Aldhelm. According to this theory, a great part of Wiltshire still remained, after the division of the see of Wessex in 705, in the diocese of Winchester, whilst a portion on the western side was included in that of SHERBORN. It -will also, if accepted, remove the difficulty that has been felt by every -writer respecting Ethelred, who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 870, and who is said in the Saxon Chronicle, A. 870, to have been previously a " Bishop of Wiltshire " (Wiltun-scire bisceop). But on this point, the reader is referred to the remarks made in a subsequent page (p. 36), with the list of cotemporary Bishops at that period. A few words must here be added respecting AsSER, whose name occurs last on the list of the Bishops of Sherborn, when that diocese comprised all " west of Selwood," because there are statements connected with his history which, at first sight, militate against the general conclusions to which we have come. Asser was by birth, we are told, a Briton, and, according to Ingulph, held at one time the office of Abbot of Bangor.* Sent for from Wales by Alfred the Great, he was afterwards the friend and adviser of that King, and well recompensed by various benefactions. Amongst other offices bestowed on him was " the charge of Exeter -with the whole diocese that belonged to it in Saxony (Wessex) and Cornwall."t Now, in the preface to his translation of Pope Gregory's " Pastoral Care," a copy of which was sent to Wulfsige, Bishop of Sherborn, King Alfred speaks of Asser as " my Bishop." This must have been subse- * According to other accounts, it would seem to be implied that he had presided over the monastery, if not over the see, of St. David's. The latter point is ably discussed in Jones and Freeman's History of St. David's (p. 263), and shown to rest on no solid foundation. See introduction to Mon. Hist. Brit, p. 77. t Asser's own words are : " ex im provise dedit Rex mihi Exanceastre, cum omni parochia quae ad se pertinebat in Saxonia et in Cornubia." — Mon. H. B., p 489. in WILTS AND DORSET. 21 quently to 890, as Archbishop Plegmund (who in that year suc ceeded to Canterbury) is also mentioned — and before 898, because in that year Heahstan, Bishop of London, to whom another copy was sent, died. Wulfsige and xlsser thus appear as cotem porary occupants of the same see. The solution of this apparent difficulty, suggested by Dr. Liagard, is probably the ti-ue one. He says : " My o-wn impression is, that when, as he tells us, Exeter and all its parish (parochia) in Saxony and Cornwall, was given to Asser, he became Bishop of the Western portion of the diocese of Sherborn, which at that time reached to the Land's End — a partition which was probably made because the natives of Cornwall would more readily obey the authority of a Briton than a Saxon. If we suppose that, on the death of Wulfsige, Asser succeeded to the other portions ofthe diocese, we shall then explain why, in the ancient catalogues quoted by Mr. Wright (Biogr. Liter, i. 405), he is said to have succeeded Wulfeige, and in the Saxon Chronicle, A° 909, to have died Bishop of Sherborn."* We are not -without e-vidence that seems to point to a similar result, -with reference to some pre-vious Bishops of this same see, for, as is hereafter noticed (p. 33), we have Forthere and Herewald, both Bishops of Sherboi-n, jointly signing a charter of the date of 737. The opinion that in very early times Coadjutor Bishops were appointed, when circumstances re quired it, who in due time succeeded to the principal see, would seem to be well founded. Certainly it -will remove many of those chronological difficulties which all enquirers into the subject have encountered, in assigning dates to the various Bishops, and reconciling the apparently conflicting statements that are often met -with in the writings of the chroniclers respect ing them. * Ajiglo-Saxon Church, ii 43.3. See also preface to Mon. Hist. Brit., p. 77. Asser, "Archbishop of the Isle of Britain," died in 906. See Brut y Tywysogion, in Mon. H. B., p. 847. 22 EARLY ANNALS OF THE EPISCOPATE ^ ill. Second Sub-Division of the Dioceses in Wessex. A.D. 909—1058. WE now come to Avhat, though related cfrcumstantially enough, has always been a crux in chronology. Wilham of Malmesbury, quoting from an old manuscript, gives us the following statement :* — " In the year of our Lord's nativity 904, Pope Formosus sent letters into England, by which he de nounced excommunication and malediction to King Edward and all his subjects, because for seven whole years the entire district of the West Saxons had been destitute of Bishops. On hear ing this. King Edward assembled a council of the senators ofthe English, over which Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, pre sided, interpreting carefully the words of the apostolic message. Then the King and the Bishops chose for themselves and their fol lowers a salutary council, and, according to our Saviour's words, ' the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few,' they elected and appointed one Bishop to every pro-vince of the West Saxons, and divided that district which formerly possessed two, into five Bishoprics. The council being dissolved. Arch bishop Plegmund went to Eome -with many presents, and, appeasing the Pope with much humility, related the King's ordinance, which gave the Pontiff" great satisfaction. Eeturning home, he, in one day, consecrated seven Bishops to seven Churches, namely, Frithestan to the church of Winchester; .^thelstan to Eamsbury ; Werstan to Sherborn ; ^thelhehn to Wells ; Eadulf to Crediton ; also to other pro-nnces he appointed two Bishops — to the South Saxons (Selsey) Beornege, a very fit man ; to the Mercians, Ceolwulf, whose see was at Dorchester, in Oxfordshire." Much the same story is given in the " Liber de Hyda," -with the important omission, however, of all the Bishops so appointed having been consecrated at Canterbury by Archbishop Plegmund in one day.^ Literally true the tale cannot be, for Pope Formosus died some five years before Edward came to the throne. Moreover * Malmesb. Chron. ii., cp. v. The same story is told in the appendix to Florence of Worcester. See Mon. H. B., 620. Liber de Hyda, p. ill. IN WILTS AND DORSET. 23 A.sger, Bishop of Sherborn, did not die tiU 910, his immediate successor being, not Werstan, but Jl^thelweard, whose name appears in various charters of that date.* That a number of new dioceses were formed about this time the charters abun dantly testify. But as far as their e-ndence goes, it seems to prove that, in the first instance, the diocese of Winchester was divided into two bishoprics, one see remaining as before at Winchester, and the other fixed at Eamsbury, and that this change was made at the request of Frithestan,t then Bishop of Winton ; and that afterwards the diocese of Sherborn, as it existed pre-nously to 909, was divided into three bishoprics, one see remaining at Sherborn for the county of Dorset, a second established at Wells for Somerset, and a third at Crediton for Devon. This too agrees with the statement of an ancient manuscript of the tenth century, containing a list of early Bishops, preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, which is to this effect : " The diocese of ^Vinton was divided into two in the time of Frithestan : one Frithestan held ; the other Athelstan, and afterwards Odo. Subsequently a divi sion was made (i.e., of Sherborn diocese) into three : one for the church at Wells, another for that at Crediton." | Another difficulty presents itself to our receiving the accounts given by William of Malmesbury, and Florence of Worcester, in the fact that ^Ethelweard, and not Werstan, seems to have been Asser's immediate successor, if not previously his coadjutor. The name of Werstan does not, it is believed, occur in any charters, though in the lists given by Florence of Worcester he is included as second in succession to Asser, the name of .^thelweard being the first. § Our concern is of course only with the two dioceses of Eamsbury and Sherborn, as constituted at the time of which we ? See Cod. Dipl., 1093. t Thus in a charter of 909 (Cod. Dipl. 1090) we read, " Ego Eadwardus Rex hanc restaurationem firmavi quan do episcopium Wentanse civitati.^ in duas parochias divisi." Again (Cod. Dipl. 1092) we have, " tempore quo diocesim Wentanse secclesise in duas divisi parochias obnixe rogatus a Frith- estano, quem tunc prsedictse secclesiae episcopum constitueram." J This extract is given, among the notes to Florence of Worcester, in the Monum. Hist. Brit., p. 620, followed by the natural remark, that the tale of seven Bishops consecrated by Arch bishop Plegmund in one day, which had given so much trouble to many learned men, was " not yet concocted " (nondum confictam) in the tenth cen tury. § Mon. H. B., p. 620. 24 EARLY ANNALS OF THE EPISCOPATE are writing — the commencement of the tenth century. Within 150 years of that time they formed one united diocese under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Sarum. The Bishops of Eamsbury are usually styled " Episcopi Corvi- nensis Ecclesiae." The town chosen as their see is in the north east of Wilts, and was originally called " Hraefenes byrig," that is, Ravens-hm:-j : an estate close by being still called " Croio-wood." The Latin name is a simple translation of.the Anglo-Saxon. No little confusion has arisen from -writers not being aware of the real meaning of the name, and so, mistaking it for a cor ruption of Cornuhiensis, speaking of the Bishops of Eamsbury as though they were Bishops in Cornwall and not in Wiltshire, In the catalogue given by Florence of Worcester, these early Bishops are styled " Episcopi Sunnungenses";* they had a resi dence and an estate at Sunning, in Berks, as had also their successors the Bishops of Sarum to a comparatively recent period, and hence the designation given to them. It is by no means easy to define the limits of the ancient diocese of Eamsbury. In the time of the Confessor it would seem to have comprised the two counties of Wilts and Berks, for at that date we not only have Herman signing as "Wiltu- niensis Episcopus, "f but in a charter relating to Abingdon, he is addressed in a way that e-ndently implies that he was Bishop in Berkshire (bisceop on Bearrucscyre). % Nevertheless some 150 years before his death (about the year 925), we have a Bishop by name Cynsige (or Winsy), who is expressly called Bishop of Berkshfre,§ and who must have been a cotemporary of Athelstan and Odo, both of them Bishops of Eamsbury. A conjecture may be hazarded that Cynsige may have been an Assistant (or Suffragan) Bishop, with jurisdiction over the Berkshire portion of the diocese. The more probable explanation, however, would be, that in Eamsbury diocese was included, in the first instance at all events, only those portions of the present counties of * See Mon. H. B., p. 620. t See Cod. Dipl., 1035. X Ibid. 840. In a similar charter (No. 841), relating to Abbotsbury, in Dorset, Herman seems to be alluded to as " bisceop on Doismian.'' § Cod. Dipl., 1129. See also Cod. Dipl., 1110, in a charter relating to Enford, of the date 934, where we have two Bishops signing, — the one as WvNsiGE, and the other as Ctnesige. The latter, I conjecture, to have been the Bishop alluded to above. Both the above charters are marked as genuine bv Kemble. IN WILTS AND DORSET. 25 Wilts and Berks which were in the territory of the West Saxons. Even after Wessex and Mercia were ruled by the same King, we find that for several purposes they were regarded as distinct, and had their own laws and customs. Thus a common expression found in Anglo-Saxon documents is either " West Seaxna lagu, or "Myrcna lagu," denoting the territory or district in which either the West Saxon, or the Mercian law prevailed. As late, moreover, as 910, we read of King Edward the Elder sending a force both from "the West Saxons and the Mercians" against the Danes.* Indeed, considerably later, under the year 1006, a distinction is dra"wn between them.f And even here we are met -with a difficulty, for, as has been already intimated, the boundary hne of these two important nationalities was con tinually shifting. Dorchester (in Oxfordshfre), for example, when chosen in 634 as the see for the bishopric of the West Saxons by King Cenwalch, was no doubt at that time -within the limits ofhis kingdom ; but when in the middle ofthe ninth century it became, in succession to Leicester, the see of the Bishops of Mercia (afterwards removed to Lincoln), it would seem natural to conclude that Mercia had in the course of years extended its boundary in a southern direction, and compre hended some portions of Oxfordshire, Berks, and possibly Wilts, which had previously been in Wessex. This idea is borne out by a charterl of the date 990-993, which contains notice of a Shire-gemot held at C-wicelmes-hlaewe (Cuckhamslow, Berks), to which were summoned ^thelsige and jEscwig, the Bishops respectively of Sherborn and Dorchester, from which it would seem probable that, as a county,§ Berkshire was not as yet definitely and finally included in any of the existing dioceses. When the see of Eamsbury in the eleventh century was united vdth that of Sherborn, it would seem to have included the whole of Berks and Wilts, for the Bishops of Sarum from that time till the Eeformation had jurisdiction throughout Berks, Wilts, and Dorset. Two of the Bishops of Eamsbury, as will be seen from the * Chron. Sax., A° 910. t Ibid. A? 1006. X Cod. Dipl., 693. § Thus we have Heethun, Bishop of Leicester, then the see of the Mer cians, obtaining from Cenwulf King of Mercia, in the year 821, certain privileges for the monastery at Abing don, in Berks (sibimet seu familite quEe habitat in monasterio quod situm est in Abbendonia). Cod. Dipl., 214. 26 KARLY ANNALS OF THE EPISCOPATE table in a subsequent page (p. 42), became in succession Arch bishops of Canterbury. Of Bishop HERilAN, under whom that change was affected which united the two sees of Eamsbury and Sherborn under one Bishop, whose see was then settled at Old Saroi. a few particulars may not inappropriately be added. Herman (or Hereman, as the name is also spelt), was by birth a Fleming. He was one of those foreign ecclesiastics brought into England by Edward the Confessor, who made him his "priest" or chaplain. In due time, he became Bishop of Eams- bm-y. The see was both small in extent and revenue. To increase the latter, Hei-man petitioned the King to give him the revenues of the Abbot of. Malmesbiu-y. a post which had recently become vacant. He pressed the King further to permit the removal of the see to ilalmesbury. Unable to carry his point, mainly through the strenuous opposition of the members of that rehgious community, he speedily deserted his post, and, entrusting its duties meanwhile to Ealdred,*Bishop of Worcester, retired to the monastery of St. Bei-tin, in France, where he remained for three years. At the close of that period, in the year 10.58, Elfwold, the Bishop of Sherborn, ha-dng died, Herman was influential enough to obtain that appointment in addition to his own bishopric of Eamsbury. The two sees were hence forth ruled by one Bishop, and for the next seventeen years the seat of the bishopric would seem to have been fixed at Sherborn.! In the year 1075, the see of the united bishoprics, in con- formitv -with a decree of a Council held at London, which directed the removal of bishoprics from small towns or -dllages. to larger to-wns or cities, was fixed at Old Sarum. Herman thus became the first Bishop of Sartoi, and as such had jm-isdiction over the counties of Wilts, Dorset, and Berks. He died at Old Sarum at an advanced age, after, as is alleged, laying the foundations ol a cathedi-al in that city. See Flor. Wig., in Mon. H. B., p. 609. t Heremannus, prsesulatum Scire- burnensem ab Eadwardo Rege acquisi- tiun, episcopatui suo copulavit, et cathedram pontificalem utrorumque episcopatuum Scireburnae sibi consti tuit. Flor. Wig., in Mon. H. B., p. 620. in WILTS AND DORSET. 27 § IV. The See of Sarum, from a.d. 1058, till the present TIME. IT will not be frrelevant to the matter in hand to complete the history of the bishopric of SARUii, from the time it became the see of the united diocese of Eamsbm-y and Sher born, to the present time. A few sentences only -v\ill be neces sary to explain the various changes that have taken place with regard to it. The first of these took place in the year 1218, when the see was removed fi-om Old Sarum, to New Sarum or Salisbury. There it has remained to this day. In the year 1220, the foundation of the present beautiful cathedral was laid. The jurisdiction exercised by the Bishops extended as before over Wilts, Dorset, and Berks. The next change was effected in 1542. On the appointment ot a Bishop of Bristol, that see ha-ving been created, the county of Dorset -was removed from the diocese of Salisbury, and placed in that of Bristol. A short time pre-viously there had been, in accordance -with the Act 26, Heni-y VIII. c. 14, two Suffragan Bishops appointed, who took their titles fi-om places in the diocese of Sarum, -viz., Thomas Morley, in 1537, of Marlborough, and John Bradley, in 1539, of Shaftesbury. In 1538, moreover, Hem-y Holbeach had been consecrated as Suffragan Bishop of Bristol. Other changes took place in 1836. In accordance with an Act of Parhament (6 and 7 William IV. c. 67), the county of Berks was united to the diocese of Oxford, an arrangement that took effect on the consecration of Bishop Wilberforce in 1845. About the same time the dioceses of Gloucester and Bristol were placed under one Bishop, and the county of Dorset, which for some 300 years had been in the latter diocese, again reverted to that of Sahsbury. As, in some sort, a compensation for the increased charge thus thro-wn on the Bishops of Salisbury, an eccentric arrangement was made, by which about one-thfrd of the county of Wilts (comprising the northern deanries of Crick- lade and Malmesbury) was taken away fi-om them, and added to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The diocese of Salisbury therefore now comprises the whole of Dorset with the greater part of Wiltshire. 28 early annals of the episcopate § V. General Conclusions. FEOM the facts set forth in the foregoing pages, illustrated by the hsts of Bishops that follow, and the notices appended to the same, a few general conclusions may be drawn. (1.) It is abundantly clear that in Wessex we owed little, if anything, to the Monk Augustine, as regards the establish ment of Christianity amongst us in the seventh century. Its first preacher at that time was S. Birinus, who, as we have seen, had a mission quite independent of that which had its headquarters at Canterbury. (2.) It is clear also that between the Church in Wessex and the ancient British Church, which, though crushed, still lingered in this country, there was none of that violent antagonism manifested by Augustine and his fellow missionaries towards it. On a memorable occasion, WiNA (called by Baeda "the only canonically ordained Bishop in Wessex"), assisted by two British Bishops, consecrated Ceadda to the see of York. See above, p. 16. (3.) Some light also is thrown on the custom of appointing from time to time Assistant (or Suffragan) Bishops, who, in some cases, succeeded to the principal see. Thus FoRTHERE and Herewald both appear as Bishops of the church of Sherborn in a charter dated 734-737 (p. 33). — AsSER, again, as we have inti mated in a previous page (p. 21), was most probably consecrated in the first instance as Coadjutor to Bishop Wulfsige about the year 895.* — In like manner, the difficulties about Ethelred, described (c. 870) as a " Bishop in Wiltshire" (p. 36), and Cynsige, called (c. 931) a " Bishop in Berkshire" (p. 38), neither of whose names appear in the regular lists, may be probably cleared up. — And then, once njore, Ethblric and Ethelsie, both Bishops of " the church of Sherborn," appear together in a charter of 1006 (p. 43). * According to the Saxon Chronicle (A? 833), WiGTiiEGN and Hehefertii, both Bishops of Winchester (as appears from the lists given), were slain in a Jlun. H. B., 344. naval conflict with the Danes. We can hardly help the conclusion that the latter was a Coadjutor Bishop. See IN WILTS AND DORSET. 29 Many of the chronological difficulties that are felt would be removed if we held, as seems reasonable enough, that Assistant Bishops were appointed from time to time, and had certain districts of the ancient dioceses assigned to them. (4.) One other matter may be noticed, not from its im portance, but from the fact of some passing interest ha-ving been excited on the subject on the occasion of the recent con secration of two Bishops Suffragan in England. It may be observed that in olden times the Assistant Bishops took no separate titles, but simply described themselves as Bishops of the diocese in which they were commissioned to exercise their functions. The Act of Henry VIIL, on the subject of Suffragan Bishops, would seem to have complicated matters by assigning to such Bishops distinct titles, though no independent juris diction was thereby conferred. If ancient precedent were -to be followed, we should find the two excellent Bishops referred to, signing themselves respectively as " Edward, Bishop Suffragan of Canterbury," and " Henry, Bishop Suffragan of Lincoln." Such a designation would at least be intelligible, and be com phcated by no seeming incongruities. It is no part of our plan to discuss the propriety of the common plan of denoting a Bishop by placing his Christian name before the modern name of his see. Whatever plea may be advanced for its correctness or convenience, it cannot at all events be defended on the ground of ancient usage. A.D. 634 705 Table, showing the gradual formation oj the Dioceses in WESSEX. WESSEX. See at Dorchester, in Oxfordshfre ; diocese comprising Wessex and SusS' Winchester. Comprising all " East of Selwood." 709 Selsey. Winchester. Comprising "Sussex.^' , k\\ " East of Selwood," except Sussex. Sherborn. Comprising all " West of Selwood." 909 1075 Winchester. Eamsbury. Hants and Surrey. Wilts and Berks. I Sherborn. Dorset. I Wells. Somerset. SAEUM. Wilts, Berks, and Dorset. The See removed,, in 1218, to New Sarum or SALISBURY. o Crediton. Devon. 31 TABLE I. (a.d. 634-705.) BISHOPS OF WESSEX. A.D. 634... Cynegils (611-642.) Cenwalch (642-672.) 650. 662... 676... Centwine (676-685.) Caedwalla (685-688.) Ina (688-725.) S. BIRINUS. 672... BISHOPS. .ffiaEIiBTEHT Wina. Hlotheeb. S. Headda. EBMAEKS. Consecrated at Genoa by Asterius, Archbishop of Milan. He was the " Apostle of Wessex." His see flxed at the city of Dorchester, in Oxford shire ; d. 650. See introduction, pp. 7-13. Called also, Agilbert, .fflgUbert, &c., "of Gaul." Consecrated in France. Eesigned 664 : after wards Bishop of Paris. Gallia Christiana. Consecrated by French Bishops. Called also Wine, Wini. Expelled by King Cenwalch in 666 : afterwards Bishop of London ; d. 675. [The see -yacant for four years.] Consecrated at Canterbury by Archbishop Theodore. Called also, Eleutherius, Leutherius : nephew of Bishop .^gelbyrht. Subs. 676 ; in whioh year he died. Consecrated at London by Archbishop Theodore. Called also, Headde, Headdi. The see was now permanently removed to Winchester, whither also were taken by Bishop Headda the remains of S. Birinus. He died 705, and was buried at Winchester. Subs. 676-701. See Wright's Biog. Lit. (Angl. Sax. Period), p. 206. 32 TABLE n. (A.D 705-909.) BISHOPS OF WINCHESTER. The Diocese comprising the Country East of Selwood. A.D. bishops. EEMAEZS. 705... Daotel. Consecrated by Archbishop Brihtwald. Subs. 705-737. The friend of Bede, furnishing him with materials for his history. Beed. Eccl. Hist. : Ina prolog. He went, in 721, to Eome. In 731, he. (688-728.) with three other Bishops, consecrated Tatwine as Ethelheard (728-740.) Archbishop of Canterbury. Chron. Sax. During his time, the see of Selsey (afterwards Chichester) was founded, the South Saxons having previously Cuthred been under his episcopal care. Eesigning in \J \jl\JxX1. \j\X. (740-754.) 744, he retired to the Abbey of Malmesbury ; d. 745. Wright's Biog. Lit., 292. 744... HuNFEETH. CaUed also Hunfrith, Hunfridus (¦=¦ Humfrey). Flor. Wig. 744. Subs. 747-749 ; d. 754. 754... Otnhkaed. Subs. 755-759. His name is also to a doubt Sigebert ful charter of 766, Ood. Dipl. 115. Chron. Sax. (754.) and Flor. Wig. 754. Cenwulf O (755-784.) (c) 768... ELEEIiHAED. Flor. Wig. catalogue. William of Malmesbury, and Eudborne (Hist. Maj.") make bim Abbot of Mahnesbury, and, in 793, Archbishop of Can terbury. But Ethelhard, the Archbishop, is uniformly spoken of as "Abbot" when elected, and in one place as " Abbas Hludensis " (Chron. Sax. 790), perhaps of Louth. See Mon. H. B. 546. (c) 778... ECGBALD. Subs. 778-781. (c) 783... Dudda. Flor. Wig. catalogue. TABLE II. (A.D. 705-909.) BISHOPS OF SHERBORN. 33 The Diocese comprising the Country West of Selwood. A.D. 705. S. Aldhelm. 709... 736... bishops. FOETHEBE. Heeewald. (c) 778... .fflTHELMOD, EBMAEKS. Abbot of Malmesbury. Consecrated by Arch bishop Brihtwald. He was the founder of monasteries at Bradford-on-Avon, and Frome. A memoir of S. Aldhelm is in the Wilts Arch. •. vol. viii. 62-81 ; d. May 25th, 709 Subs. 712-737. A friend of Baeda. In 737 he went to Eome with Frithogetha, Queen of Wessex. B^d. v."18. Chron. Sax., 709-737. Consecrated by Archbishop Nothelm, Sim. Dunelm. 736. Subs. 737-759. His name occurs as Bishop, with that of For there, in a charter placed by Kemble in 737. Cod. Dipl. 82. He con- flrms a charter dated 766, but of doubtful autho rity, purporting to be a grant of certain lands to WeUs by King Cenwulf. Cod. Dipl. 115, Subs. 778-789. Under the date 782, one manuscript of Florence of Worcester has this notice interpolated, supplied from WUliam of Mahnesbury: — "defuncto Herewaldo Scirebur- nensis Ecclesiae praesule, successit Ethelmod." Mon. H. B. 545, note c. 34 TABLE II. (a.d. 705-909.) BISHOPS OF WINCHESTER. The Diocese comprising the Country East of Selwood. a.d. (c) 785... Beortric. 802... Egbert (802-836.) (c) 811... 825. BISHOPS. EEMAEKS. Ctnbbeiht. Ealhmfnd. Wigthegn. Heeefeeth, 833.. Ethelwulf (837-857.) 838 852... Ethelbald(857-860.) Eadmund. Hblmstan. S. Swithun, Called also, Kinebert, Flor. Wig. He went to Eome, in 799, with Archbishop Ethelheard. In the Sax. Chron. he is termed "West Seaxna biscop." Subs. 803-805. Cod. Dipl. 1024. CaUed also, in some MSS. of the Sax. Chron., Wigferth. Subs. 811-826. This Bishop crowned Egbert as King of England. CaUed also, Herefrith. Consecrated by Arch bishop Wulfred. His name occurs in Charters, together with that of Wigthegn, 825-826. Cod. Dipl. 1035-1039. He seems to have been Coad jutor to Bishop Wigthegn. These two Bishops (Chron. Sax. 833) were slain in a naval conflict with the Danes at Carrum (Charmouth ?). See Mon. H. B. 733, where is a similar statement by Henry of Huntingdon. Mon.H. B.619. Subs. 1044. Consecrated by CaUed also, Eadhun. 836-838. Cod. DipL Archbishop Ceolnoth. Consecrated by Archbishop Ceolnoth, E. Cant. Subs. 838-841. Prof. Consecrated by Archbishop Ceolnoth. Prof. E. Cant. He was a Monk of Winchester, and tutor to Ethelwulf, youngest son of King Egbert. By his advice, when Bishop, King Ethelwulf gave the tithes of his kingdom to the Church. Asser's Life of Alfred. Mon. H. B. 470. His name is retained in the reformed calendar of the Church of England, on July 15. Subs. 855-862. See Angl. Sac. I., 202. Wright's Biog. Lit. 377 ; d. July 2nd, 862. TABLE II. (a.d. 705-909.) BISHOPS OP SHERBORN. 35 The Diocese comprising the Country West of Selwood. A.D. 793 . (c) 799... (c) 817.. BISHOPS. Denepeith. WiGBEIHT. Ealhstan. EEMAEKS. Called Cenefrith, in a manuscript of the Textus Eoffensis, and elsewhere. See Mon. H. B. 620. He was consecrated by Archbishop Ethelheard. Prof. E. Cant. CaUed also Wigberht (Cod. Dipl. 1024). Wibert (Flor. Wig.) and Sigbriht (Text. Eoff.) Subs, 801-816. At Eome with Archbishop Wulfred in 812 : caUed in Sax. Chron. " Wigbriht West-Seaxna biscop." CaUed also, Ahlstan, iElfstan, Heahstan. Subs. 824-862. The Chron. of Melrose says, under 817, " Alchstanus suscepit episcopatum Scire- bumensis ecclesiae." An interpolated note in Flor. Wig., under 816, says, " Defuncto Wigberto Scireburnensis ecclesiae preesule, successit Alh- stanus.'' The Sax. Chron. under 867, says that he then died, after having been Bishop fifty years. See the same statement in Asser's Life of Alfred. Mon. H. B. 475. In a charter, how ever, of 824 (Ood. Dipl. 1031) his name appears as " .^Ifstan electus in episcopatum Scireburnen- sen." King Egbert (Chron. Sax., 823) sent for him, as he was a valiant soldier as well as a Bishop, to help him in a conflict with Beornwulf , King of Mercia. In his contests with the Danes and others, Egbert received material aid from " Ealhstan his biscop." * * In the Liber de Hyda, p. 22, the two cotemporary Bishops are thus distinguished. Speaking of Ethelwulf s accession, it says :— " Alstanura Scirborniffi episcopum habuit iKrfi&Ms/o««sccis maxime cooperatorem; in rebus -cero €ccfesias