CAPITAL IN CHAPTER-HOUSE.CAPITAL IN CHAPTER-HOUSE.
This chapel is now approached by a staircase, leading from a doorway in the fourth bay on to the gallery, usually and incorrectly known as the "minstrel gallery," from which again two short flights of steps, right and left, lead into the chapel.
The lower storey was originally the sacristy: it is now used as the consistory court. Against the west wall are some of the old Jacobean stalls, which were put into the choir in Bishop Hacket's time; while in the corner are let into the floor some of the old tiles and slabs of cannel coal with which, and alabaster, the cathedral was at one time paved. The windows are filled with Perpendicular tracery, replacing the old Early English windows. Underneath, and reached by a staircase in the south-east turret, now closed, is a vault, at present used as the burial vault of the Paget family. Probably it was once a dungeon.
THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo.]THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.
Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo.]
In the west wall can be seen the place where a doorway led into a chamber built in between the sacristy and the south transept aisle. This was no doubt the treasury of the cathedral, where all the most precious relics and valuables were kept. It is now entered by a doorway in the choir aisle. At present it appears to be a receptacle for odds and ends, and cupboards are placed along the walls. On the west side are several large aumbries, in which, no doubt, the relics were kept. The floor in this chamber has been raised at some time or other, and it is now much higher than that of the adjoining consistory court, so that there are steps in the south-east corner leading to a door into the consistory court. This is not the old doorway already mentioned, which is blocked up, but probably a much later entrance. Some old cannon balls which have been discovered in and round the cathedral may be seen in the treasury. On the north wall in both the consistory court and the treasury can be seen the remains of an old course or housing which, though in both cases incomplete, appears to have a semi-circular form. No theory seems to have been advanced as to these remains, and in this book it were wiser to follow precedent.
The Chapter-House, which lies to the north of the choir, is approached by a vestibule which has a doorway, already described, into the third bay of the north choir aisle. Both the chapter-house and the vestibule were built at the same time as the north transept—that is, somewhere near the middle of the thirteenth century—and the style is therefore that known as the Early English, but it is a later instance than that part of the choir into which the doorway leads. That the vestibule was not built when the early part of the choir was finished is evident, as "its walls abut against those of the choir with a straight joint, and the arch of entrance in the side aisle is a manifest intrusion into the space once occupied by a window." The north end of the vestibule has also been altered, there having been a doorway where now there is a window; the former existed until nearly the end of the last century, but it had been altered before the plate in Britton's "Cathedrals" was engraved. It can easily be seen from the outside that such a door must have existed, from the different colouring of the stone-work. The window has recently been filled with stained glass by Messrs Burlison & Grylls, representing Nehemiah and Simeon, in memory of the late verger, William Yeend. Down each side of the vestibule there is a very fine arcading, that on the west side being double and much deeper than that on the east, which is single; the niches are large enough to be used as seats, and it has been suggested that here the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor took place on Maundy Thursday; as there were thirteen niches, this is highly probable. Some of the capitals of the pillars of the arcade are very finely carved, and, as was usual at the time, are very deeply under-cut; and the dripstones terminate in very interesting corbels in the form of heads and bunches of foliage. Recently, on the west side, some of the arcading has been opened out to afford access to the new vestry, which has been constructed by roofing in the space between the vestibule and the north transept. On the east side near the cathedral is the entrance to the library, which is the upper storey of the chapter-house building, and is approached by a spiral staircase. At the farther end, on the same side, is the very fine entrance to the chapter-house. This, like the central west doorway and that in the north transept, is double and recessed. The mouldings in the arch are deeply and finely cut, and the capitals of the grouped shafts are veryrichly carved with delicate leaves. The jambs have an enrichment of dog-toothing behind the slender detached shafts, and the two small arches have trefoil archivolts, so that the whole has a very rich effect. In the tympanum of the arch there is a bas-relief figure of Our Lord in a quatrefoil recess.
EASTERN PORTION OF THE ARCADE IN THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.EASTERN PORTION OF THE ARCADE IN THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.
The chapter-house is a very fine room; it is octagonal in shape, but the north and south sides of it are double the length of each of the other six sides, which are equal. There is a central pillar, the clustered shafts of which are banded in the centre; the capitals of these shafts have a particularly rich and elaborate carving of foliage; and above, the vaulting ribs spread to the roof like the branches of a tree, producing a very fine effect. The bosses where the ribs intersect are also worthy of attention, and the ribs rise from very richly-carved and deeply-moulded corbels. The windows are Early English, and of two lights each. Below is a very beautiful arcading, similar, indeed, to that in the vestibule, which entirely surrounds the building. The arcade is composed of deep, moulded, trefoil arches,resting on single columns, with beautifully-carved capitals, in some of which will be found figures of birds and animals. The canopies of the arches are dog-toothed, and end in curiously-carved heads, which afford interesting illustrations of the head-dresses of the time.
The chapter-house was decorated with frescoes and stained glass by Dean Heywood in the fifteenth century, as we know from the MSS. entitledCantaria Sancti Blasiiin the library. The frescoes have disappeared except over the doorway, where still remain faint signs of the representation of the Assumption, which may have formed part of Dean Heywood's decoration, but more likely is earlier: it has been suggested that it was placed there by Bishop Burghill from the fact that a Dominican Friar, to which order he belonged, is represented in the group in adoration. The glass contained figures of the apostles, with other pictures above; these being all pre-Cromwellian, have, of course, disappeared. More recently the glazing of the chapter-house displayed armorial bearings, more or less correct, in imitation of glass known to have ornamented the cathedral in the past. This armorial glass is gradually giving way to glass representing scenes in the history of the cathedral. At present, five of the windows have been so glazed, and the rest will be changed gradually, as opportunity offers.
The first window on the left-hand side on entering is in memory of Prebendary Edwards. There are figures of St. Chad and King Wulphere, with scenes showing the Consecration of St. Chad, and the Baptism by St. Chad of the two sons of King Wulphere.
The second window is in memory of Archdeacon Allen and Prebendary de Bunsen. The figures are St. Oswald and St. Aidan. The scenes represent St. Aidan preaching to the Northumbrians, with King Oswald interpreting; and St. Aidan at Lindisfarne, teaching in his school, where St. Chad is one of the scholars.
The third window is in memory of Dean Bickersteth. The figures are Archbishop Theodore and St. Ovin, and the scenes St. Chad teaching his clergy, and St. Ovin listening to the angels who were calling St. Chad at his death.
The fourth window is in memory of Prebendary Gresley. The figures are Oswy, King of Northumbria, and Diuma, the first bishop of Mercia. The scenes are Bishop Jarumanpromising to build a church at Lichfield, and the institution by King Æthelwald of prebendaries.
The fifth window is in memory of Prebendary Finch Smith. The figures represent Archbishop Higbert of Lichfield, and Thomas Cantelupe, Bishop of Hereford, formerly prebendary of this cathedral. The scenes are Bishop Aldulf at the Council of Cloveshoo, renouncing the metropolitan powers in favour of Canterbury, and Bishop Roger de Clinton building a new cathedral in honour of St. Mary and St. Chad.
The Libraryis immediately above the chapter-house, and is of the same octagonal shape. The arrangements also are similar, but the room is less lofty, the carvings less elaborate, and there is no reading. Otherwise, we find the same central pillar, from which similar vaulting ribs spring, with corbels in the walls to receive them. It is not known for what purpose this room was originally intended, but certainly, until recent years, it was not used as a library. The old library, of which there are pictures by Hollar and King, stood to the north of the north transept in the close, or, as it is recorded in the Capitular Acts, vol. 3, "ex parte boreali in cimeterio." Dean Heywood gave £40 to build the library, and though it was not begun in his time, it was completed in the time of his successor, Dean Yotton, who also subscribed to its erection. This was at about the commencement of the sixteenth century, and the building remained until the middle of the eighteenth, when it was demolished.
The extent of the library has been increased by opening a doorway into the room above the vestibule. This room, it has recently been decided, was the old chapel of St. Peter. Though an upstairs chapel was not usual, yet it is not by any means unknown, and chapels were even sometimes to be found in the rood lofts of cathedrals. No trace can be found of the fresco, mentioned by Stukeley, of "St. Peter crucified with his head downwards, and two other apostles, etc." He tells us that the chapel was in his time used as a place for storing scaffolding and ladders, and that here was placed the mutilated remains of St. Chad's tomb.
The place still shows signs of its ill-usage, little having been done to repair the ravages of the Civil War. The vaulting is much broken, and the walls cracked: these facts strengthen the belief in the tradition that it was on this building, togetherwith the choir, that the great central tower fell during the siege by the soldiers of the Parliament.
The library has had many generous donations of books at various times. Under the will of Frances, Duchess of Somerset, the cathedral received the library of her late husband, the Duke, who succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Hertford, and was restored to the family dukedom at the Restoration. The duchess was the daughter of the Earl of Essex who was the favourite of Queen Elizabeth, and whom she afterwards had beheaded. These books numbered about one thousand, and included many rare old Black-Letter chronicles and histories printed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Many others have contributed to the library, amongst whom are Archdeacon Davies, 1763; William Smallbroke, 1771; Canon Lamb, 1770; Richard Hurd, 1777; Bishop Cornwallis, 1783; Rev. Henry White, 1786; Dr Pegge, the well-known antiquary, who, amongst other things, wrote an account of the life of Bishop Weseham, and who left the library, by his will, one hundred books out of his own library; Andrew Newton, who left his books to the cathedral, and built the college in the close for the widows and orphans of the clergy, besides spending large sums on educational purposes; and Sir Brooke Boothby, 1815, who gave the "History of the Abbey of Herckenrode," referred to in the account of the glass now in the Lady Chapel. There have been besides many recent benefactions, including a valuable set of drawings, by herself, of most of the churches in the county of Stafford, left by Mrs Moore, the widow of the Archdeacon of Stafford. There is also in the library a fine old picture of the Duchess of Somerset, as well as an engraving from Sir Joshua Reynolds' picture of Dr Johnson.
Among the most valuable manuscripts and books in the library are the "Gospels of St. Chad," of which more immediately; a fine folio manuscript, on vellum, of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," but without the doubtful Ploughman's Tale; the initial letters, especially those at the commencement of each tale, being richly coloured and gilt; the "Valor Ecclesiasticus of Pope Nicholas IV."—this is an account taken of the value of ecclesiastical property in the time of Edward I., from which the tithe granted to the Pope could be ascertained.
Other notable volumes are, "Dives and Pauper," a MS. treatise on the Decalogue—this treatise was one of the earliestbooks printed in England; "Orders generally to be observed of the whole household of the prince his highness," a large folio, marked with the sign-manual of King Charles I. at every ordinance; and a collection of recipes by Sir John Floyer, physician to Charles II. There is also a volume of MSS. already often referred to, superscribed, "Cantaria Sancti Blasii; Ordinatio Majistri Thomoe Heywood decani Eccles. Lich de et super Cantaria Jesu et Sancta Anne in parte boreai eccles. Lich et de pensione Capellani ibidem perpetuo celebaturi et aliis articulis, etc." Besides these, there are many rare Bibles:—Cranmer's Bible, 1540; the "Breeches" Bible; the "Vinegar" Bible, and many others.
THE GOSPELS OF ST. CHAD, IN THE LIBRARY.THE GOSPELS OF ST. CHAD, IN THE LIBRARY.
But to many the most interesting volume in the library will be a copy of South's Sermons, published in 1694. It belonged to Dr Johnson, and was used by him in the compilation of his Dictionary. His method, apparently, was to put a letter in the margin opposite the word whose particular use here he intended to quote; and it is interesting, Sermons in hand, to test his method with the dictionary. On one page a "K" in the margin is opposite the word "Key." In the dictionarywill be found under "Key" the expected quotation from South, "that every man should keep the key of his own breast."
The most valuable book in the library is theTextus S. Ceddæ, generally known as "St. Chad's Gospels." This is written on vellum, and contains the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, and a small portion of the Gospel of St. Luke. It is undoubtedly an Irish MS., probably about the end of the seventh century. There is a page in the book which, with its tesselated work enclosing a cross, recalls to antiquarians similar work in the famous Irish Book of Kells, and in the Gospels of St. Columba which are preserved at Dublin. The connection of an Irish MS. with St. Chad is not difficult of explanation, since, after being taught by St. Aidan at Lindisfarne, he is supposed to have gone, as so many other earnest priests did at the time, to Ireland, to one of the noted monasteries there. The MS. is in Latin, and, with many remarkable variations, follows closely theCodex Amiatinusof St Jerome. But its marginal notes are not the least interesting part of the book; from these, which are sometimes in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon, and sometimes in Latin, we learn something of its history, which is remarkable. The cathedral of Llandaff seems to have acquired it indirectly in exchange for a horse, and there is a note in Celtic, "underneath the record of this transaction, which is witnessed by Aidan; whether or no this is the Northumbrian bishop is not known." Another entry, on the page devoted to a picture of St. Luke, shows that the MS. was still at Llandaff at the end of the ninth century; but on the first page of all is a faint but legible signature which reads "Kynsy" or "Wynsy Praesul", both names of bishops of Lichfield at the end of the tenth century, so that it had probably arrived at its present home not so far short of a thousand years ago. There are other notes connecting it with Lichfield. All these have been printed many times in the pages of learned publications. It owes its escape at the time of the Civil War to the vigilance of William Higgins, Archdeacon of Derby, who was precentor of the cathedral. He abstracted it and kept it until the troubles were over. It now lies in a glass case in the library, side by side with the beautiful "Canterbury Tales." So marvellous are some of the decorations, that it is no wonder that, in an age more faithful than ours, popular belief declared some of them to be "the work of angels."
At the present day the diocese of Lichfield consists of almost the whole of the county of Stafford, part of Shropshire, and a small part of Flintshire and of Warwickshire. Originally, in Anglo-Saxon times, when the first bishop was appointed, the see of Lichfield extended over the whole of Mercia—that is, from the Humber and East Anglia on the north and east, to Wales on the west, and the Thames on the south. Since those days the diocese has been at various times divided, and other dioceses formed; Hereford, Lincoln, Ely, Peterborough, Chester, Worcester, Oxford, St. Albans, Gloucester, Manchester, Liverpool, and Southwell, have all, in whole or in part, been formed out of what was once the diocese of Lichfield.
Of Lichfield in Roman times practically nothing is known. Situated as it is, at a little distance from the crossing of the great Roman roads, Watling Street and Ryknield Street—at which junction the Roman town of Etocetum (the modern Wall) lay, Lichfield was then probably nothing more than open country. The neighbouring towns have yielded a rich harvest of archaeological treasures; but beyond coins of various Roman Emperors, bearing Christian emblems, there is little to show that the Gospel had made its way in this part of England; though, in the cemeteries filled with urns containing the ashes of the dead, there have been found, near Burton-on-Trent and near Derby, skeletons, no doubt of Christians who, according to the rites of their religion, had been buried and not burnt.
To Roman times belongs the legend, which is said to give its name to Lichfield, of the massacre of Christians under Diocletian; in consequence, it is related, the place was called Lyccidfelth, or Licidfield—the field of dead men. This is the derivation most generally accepted at the present day; butsome etymologists think that Lichfield means Lakefield, from the quantity of water in the neighbourhood.
It is almost certain that the people of Mercia remained pagan from the Roman epoch, and through all the long wars which were waged between the gradually defeated Britons and the Saxons. Three Saxon kings, all pagans, ruled Mercia; and Christianity, which had taken such firm hold in Northumbria, still had not penetrated to the dark central region of Mercia. Then came Penda the Strong, himself a pagan. "He was not baptised," it was said of him, "and never believed in God." He slew many kings, amongst them being the saintly Oswald, king of Northumbria. One of King Penda's daughters had married Alchfrid, a nephew of Oswald and son to the then King Oswy of Northumbria; and in 652 Penda's son, Peada, became suitor for the hand of one of Oswy's daughters. Peada was then ruling under his father the Middle Angles, and he journeyed to the Northumbrian Court, where he was most hospitably received, in spite of the fact that constant war was being waged between Mercia and Northumbria; but the princess whom he sought was promised him only on condition that he and his people in Mid-Anglia should become Christians. Alchfrid became his teacher; and the beauty of this new faith so seized on him that he declared his willingness to become a Christian whether he might win his princess or not. That same year he was baptised by Finan, the British bishop and head of the Church in Northumbria, and with him all his followers. He returned to his own country, taking with him four priests of the British Church: Cedda, who was afterwards made Bishop of London, and who was the brother of St. Chad, Adda, Betti, and Diuma. These four taught the Gospel to the Mid-Anglians, and even went north among the other Mercians; and it does not appear that Penda, in spite of his paganism, made any opposition.
Notwithstanding these close links between the two kingdoms, in the year 655 Penda with an enormous force invaded Northumbria; he was defeated and killed by Oswy, who now became king of Mercia, but left Peada in his old rule in Mid-Anglia. This was the death-blow of paganism in Mercia; Christianity, which was beginning to take firm hold in Peada's country, spread rapidly, andDiuma(656-658) was made bishop of Mercia. This may be said to be the commencement of thesee which afterwards was called by the name of Lichfield; but as yet there was no cathedral, nor was any place particularly settled upon as the headquarters of the work which was so enthusiastically carried on. Diuma was a travelling or missionary bishop, and when he died, after a brief rule of two years, the Church in Mercia was an accomplished fact.
Diuma was succeeded byCreollach(658-659), who, unlike his predecessor an Irishman, was a Briton; he was appointed by Oswy; but in this same year the Mercians rebelled, Oswy fled, and Creollach fled with him, and finally retired to Iona.
The next bishop was a Saxon abbot namedTrumhere(659-662), and he was succeeded on his death byJaruman(662-667). Both were appointed by King Wulphere, son of Penda, who had been raised to the Mercian throne by his people; and both were Saxons who had been consecrated in the Northumbrian Church. Jaruman was a most energetic bishop, and he appears to have been sent into Essex to reconvert the people there who had fallen into paganism again; his mission was a success, and Jaruman returned to his own people in Mercia.
It was during Jaruman's episcopate that difficulties arose between the Church in Britain and the Church in Rome. Rome had sent messengers to Britain, and they had been the means of converting a large portion of the south coast and of East Anglia; but there were differences in the two Churches, and one particularly caused much trouble. The Roman Church had always kept Easter Day on a Sunday, but the British Church held this feast on March 14, whatever day of the week it might be. A synod was called at Whitby, and it was decided, mainly through the instrumentality of Wilfrid, the future bishop of York, in favour of the Roman Sunday. In this way, it may be said, began the rule of Rome in the English Church. Shortly after, in 667, Jaruman died, and no successor was appointed for two years. During this time, Theodorus of Tarsus became Archbishop of Canterbury, and to him belongs the credit of making the English Church: before, each kingdom had had its own Church, but Theodore welded them together into one whole, and completed their dependence on the bishop of Rome. Wilfrid was made bishop of York, and St. Chad, who had been consecrated to that see, retired to the abbey at Lastingham, only in the next year, 669, tobe reconsecrated as bishop of Mercia by the new Archbishop of Canterbury.
St. ChadorCeadda(669-672) made his seat at Lichfield, and in so doing founded the diocese of Lichfield.
St. Chad, as has been stated before, was the patron saint of Lichfield. What is known of him is principally derived from Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation." From this we learn that when not on his missionary travels over the diocese he spent most of his time in prayer, and in meditation on death and supernatural things. His method was to proceed from place to place in his diocese on foot; and there is a story of Theodore taking St. Chad in his arms and lifting him on to a horse which he presented to him. He founded the abbey of Barrow-on-Humber, which King Wulphere endowed with fifty hides of land. His headquarters, as we have said, were at Lichfield, and he built, or finished building, a small church near what is still known as St. Chad's Well, at the eastern end of Stowe Pool.
Like his predecessors' his time was short; only for two years was he allowed to labour at Lichfield. There is a beautiful legend of his death which has been well told by Dean Bickersteth. "A week before his death a sound of angelic melody was heard coming from the south-east, until it reached and filled the little oratory where he was praying. This the good bishop interpreted to be his summons to heaven. The voices, he privately told Ovin, were those of angels. The messenger of death, that 'lovable guest,' was with them. They would come again in seven days and take him with them. About the same time, Egbert, a Northumbrian who had been a fellow-student with St. Chad in an Irish monastery, dreamt that he saw the soul of Cedda, Chad's brother, descending from heaven with a company of angels to take the soul of Chad with him into the heavenly kingdom." As he had foretold, so he died; but he was not forgotten, and many were the miracles said to have been performed at his shrine. His bones were removed from their first resting-place near Stowe Church into a beautiful shrine in the cathedral, where they remained until the Reformation, when they were taken away, and are now said to be in the Roman Catholic cathedral at Birmingham.
There is another legend concerning St. Chad which has become more closely attached to Peterborough than toLichfield, but it must be briefly stated here, as the story appears in some of the decorations of the cathedral. Bede does not mention it, and it has been given in varying forms by different writers. Briefly, the essence of the legend is that Wulphere, the king of Mercia, had killed two of his sons, Wulfade and Rufin, on account of their having been baptised by St. Chad. Each of these young princes had been hunting in the forest when he came across a hart with a rope round its neck. The prince gave chase, and the hart led him to St. Chad, who, having prayed with him, baptised him. This happened to both Wulfade and Rufin separately. Then Wulphere in his anger slew them. Afterwards he repented, and setting out to St. Chad, was led there by the same hart, and found the saint at prayer, with his cloak hanging on a sunbeam. Wulphere was absolved on condition that he should expiate his crime by founding churches and monasteries all over his kingdom. Lichfield is said to have been one of these churches, and Peterborough one of these monasteries. Many churches have been dedicated to St. Chad, especially in the Midlands, and in the east of London there was a well known as St. Chad's Well, where miracles were performed; and it was noted for its medicinal waters up to quite recent times. A large district in east London is still called after St. Chad's Well in the corrupted form of Shadwell.
The next bishop wasWinfrid(672-675), the abbot of St. Chad's Abbey at Barrow-on-Humber; but in the year that he was appointed a church council was held by Theodore, at which it was decided to split up some of the dioceses. Lichfield being one of the largest, would have been divided at once, but Winfrid, whether for his own sake or at the instigation of King Wulphere, resisted, and the diocese remained unchanged until Wulphere died, when in 675, Winfrid, still remaining opposed to the scheme, was deprived. He subsequently was murdered on his way to Rome.
The new bishop wasSaxwulf(675-691), abbot of Peterborough, and the work of cutting up the diocese was begun. The sees of Hereford and Worcester were made. Lincolnshire was taken from the diocese, and the Middle Angles became the see of Leicester. However, Lichfield still remained an enormous diocese, and when Saxwulf died he was bishop of both Lichfield and Leicester. He wassucceeded byHedda(691-721), who is said to have determined the site of the present cathedral by building a church there. However, nothing remains of this cathedral, but it is always supposed that Hedda brought St. Chad's bones from Stowe Church and deposited them here. The cathedral was dedicated to St. Peter.
Hedda and his successor,Aldwin(721-737), were bishops of both Lichfield and Leicester. They were followed at Lichfield byWitta(737-752), and the connection with Leicester ceased. In 756 Offa, the greatest of the Mercian kings, ascended the throne. Offa added a part of Shropshire to the diocese, which from this time remained the same in extent down to the Reformation. Here followed three bishops—Hemele(752-764),Cuthred(765-768), andBerthum(768-779)—of whom little is known; and then cameHigbertorHygeberht(785-801), who holds a remarkable position in the history of the diocese. Offa had by this time advanced himself into the leading position in England; and so great was his power that Charlemagne called him emperor of the west, keeping for himself the title of emperor of the east. But Offa was first of all king of Mercia, and it did not please him to think that his bishops were subordinate to an archbishop who lived in one of his subject states; and so he determined "to humble Canterbury and exalt Lichfield." He began by confiscating all the property of Canterbury situated in Mercia, and then he appealed to the Pope that the bishop of Lichfield should be made an archbishop. The Pope assented, a council held at Chelsea in 785 also agreed, and Higbert, the new bishop, became archbishop, with the bishoprics of Worcester, Leicester, Lincoln, and Hereford, parts of the old diocese of Mercia, as well as Elmham and Dunwich, to make up his province. Offa died in 796, and immediately a stir was made to restore Canterbury to its old dignity. The negotiations were long, but in 802 Pope Leo decided in favour of Canterbury, and the council of Cloveshoe in 803 formally annulled the metropolitan dignity of Lichfield.Aldulf(801-812), who had succeeded Higbert as archbishop, became bishop, but took precedency after Canterbury overall the other bishoprics, andHerewin(812-818) on his appointment submitted to Canterbury.
Shortly afterwardsÆthelwald(818-828) organised thebishopric upon the basis of its present constitution. Churches were springing up all over the diocese, with their own clergy, and so, although the church at Lichfield remained the headquarters of the diocese, yet the clergy attached to it were no longer to be responsible for the ministrations of the whole diocese, but were to confine themselves to the estates of the bishop and the cathedral, where they were to dwell under canons or rules. It is possible that from this time the cathedral clergy became known as canons.
Then comes the period of the invasion by the Danes, whereby the country was devastated and the rich abbeys were destroyed. Peterborough, Crowland, and Ely, "went up in flames"; the enemy advanced along the Trent, and levelled to the ground the famous monastery of Repton—the Walhalla of Mercia—where countless kings and princes had been buried. What happened at Lichfield is not known, but many bishops succeeded one another, of whose consecration, in some cases, the dates are so doubtful that it is not worth while to give them. Their names are:—Hunbert, 828;Kynebert;Tunfrith;Ella;Algar, 941;Kinsy, 949;Winsy, 964;Elfege, 973;Godwin, 1004;Leofgar, 1020;Brithmar, 1026; andWulsy, 1039; but little is known of them, though these two centuries are far from being unimportant in the history of the diocese.
Probably the destruction of the royal abbeys caused the building of numerous parish churches during this period, and of the collegiate churches which were planted in the principal centres of the population. The former were mostly endowed with lands or tithes to support the parish clergy, or to recompense the canons who should attend the church, in which latter case the tithes were probably "appropriated" to the cathedral.
So the system developed until about the year 1000, when began, in Mercia, a new age of monasteries, not like the old royal abbeys which had mostly been destroyed, but houses that were filled with monks or nuns of the Benedictine order. These competed with the secular clergy in appropriating the endowments of the churches, and a jealousy began between the two systems which blazed continually, with greater or less heat, until the final overthrow of the monasteries by Henry VIII. at the beginning of the sixteenth century.
Early in the eleventh century was founded, at Coventry, theBenedictine abbey which had so great a share in the history of the diocese. Its founder, Earl Leofric, was the husband of the beautiful Godiva whose ride through the town made Coventry free from tolls.
"I, Luriche, for love of thee,Doe make Coventre toll-free,"
"I, Luriche, for love of thee,Doe make Coventre toll-free,"
"I, Luriche, for love of thee,
Doe make Coventre toll-free,"
are the old words. She induced her husband to found and endow the abbey with its twenty-four monks; she herself contributed her gold and silver, and the monastery became so wealthy that "the walls seemed almost too strait to hold it all."
Leofwin, bishop of Lichfield (1054-1066), was made the first abbot of Coventry; he died in the year of the Conquest, and was the last Saxon bishop: henceforth a new order of men was to rule the Church in England.
No doubt Lichfield owed to its insignificance as a city the immunity which it again enjoyed while all the neighbouring country was being pillaged. William appointed his own chaplain,Peter(1072-1084), as bishop, and here, no doubt, he lived until 1075, when, at the synod of London, it was decided that the seats of the bishops should be in the larger towns and not in the villages. So to the town of Chester, where there were about 400 or 500 houses, the bishop's seat was moved.
It is interesting to find in "Domesday Book" mention of the extraordinarily heavy fines payable to the bishop at Chester for such offences as the following:—"If any free man does work on a holy day, the bishop has a forfeit of eight shillings. A slave or maidservant so transgressing pays four shillings. A merchant coming into the city and carrying a stall shall pay to the bishop four shillings if he take it down between the ninth hour of the Sabbath and Monday without licence from the bishop's officer."
Following Peter cameRobert de Lymesey(1087-1117), who, after waiting a short time, obtained papal leave to remove his seat to Coventry, the barony of which he bought from the king; and so he became both bishop and abbot, and for about a century his successors united the two offices. This arrangement was not at all to the taste of the monks, and constant quarrels occurred. Robert de Lymesey is said to have rifled the place; some contend, for the sake of the cathedral at Lichfield, but others, in order to prosecute the suit at Rome in which he was involved with the monks.
The next bishop wasRobert Peche(1121-1126), and then cameRoger de Clinton(1129-1148); he was known as the soldier-bishop, and was certainly a strong man, whatever his reputation may have been in other ways. At Lichfield, he was a reformer who did much good to the place. The five canons he found there were dependent for their support on the bishop, and he seems to have settled property on the cathedral to support them. He also added a number of prebendaries, or non-resident canons, who were to be members of the chapter, and were to enjoy a stall in the choir; and to each stall a small estate or prebend was attached. Many other things he did; but, principally, he is supposed to have built the Norman cathedral, and to have fortified the close.
Bishop Roger seems to have been also a great supporter of the Cistercian monks, who appeared in the neighbourhood about this time, and for whom he built an abbey in the diocese at Buildwas, not very far from Shrewsbury. Then, being a soldier as well as a bishop, he started for the East, and died, after fighting in the Crusades, at Antioch in 1148.
Ever since the Conquest the struggles in the Church had been growing sharper. There is no room for a full discussion of these quarrels, but, briefly, it may be said that they arose largely from a desire on the part of the monks and the collegiate churches to shake off the power of the bishops. In doing this it had been necessary to appeal more and more to the Pope, and in consequence the Pope was gradually increasing his power in England, to the detriment not only of the bishops, but also of the king. On the death of Bishop Clinton, Stephen, instead of appointing a successor himself, as had been the custom of the king on previous occasions, found it necessary to depute his authority to a joint council of the monks of Coventry and the canons of Lichfield and Chester. They met at Leicester, and the monks by themselves appointedWalter Durdent(1149-1159), prior of Canterbury. The canons would not admit this election, although the new nominee had been precentor at Lichfield; they appealed to Rome, and—how the result came about is not clear, but indeed is a matter of dispute—Durdent was consecrated at Canterbury. He was enthroned at Coventry, but was barred out of Lichfield, where he commenced his rule by excommunicating the canons. But Durdent, being now a bishop, soon drew the canons to hisside, and it was with Coventry that the differences continued. He and the prior were summoned to Rome, where it was settled that the bishop should keep the abbey as a monastic cathedral, but that the prior should in the future have the first voice in the election of bishops.
Durdent died at Rome, and was succeeded byRichard Peche(1161-1182), son of Robert Peche—for the clergy of that day often married—who seems to have secured the suffrages of both sets of electors. He retired just before his end to the priory of St Thomas, near Stafford, which he had founded in 1180 in memory of Thomas à Becket, who had been murdered ten years previously. He was one of those who had consecrated the archbishop a few years before, and he joined in the popular indignation which ended in the canonisation of the victim. About this time the diocese was permanently divided into the archdeaconries of Derby, Stafford, Chester, and Coventry.
The next bishop wasGerard Puella(1183), a celebrated authority on ecclesiastical and canon law. Lichfield refused to admit him, and he died soon after his consecration.
The next bishop wasHugh de Nonantor Nunant (1184-1199); his intense hatred of the monks led to terrible disturbances at Coventry. Soon after his consecration he exasperated the monks so greatly that they beat him, and Nonant, with the wounds upon him, hurried to the king, and obtained his consent—some say by purchase—to the monks being turned out. This was done, and secular canons instituted in their place. During the absence of King Richard at the Crusades, Nonant appears to have identified himself too much with the cause of Prince John. This brought about his ruin; for, being suspected by Richard on his return from captivity of participation in the plots against the crown, he was deprived of his bishopric, which in course of time, however, he was allowed to buy back for 5000 marks. He lived not only to see the monks restored to Coventry by the Pope, but also to repent of his harshness to monastical institutions. He died on his way to Rome, and was buried among the monks of Caen.
The next election revived the bitterness between Coventry and Lichfield, a bitterness accentuated by the political adherence of the two parties, Coventry being on King Richard's side,Lichfield for Prince John. Under these circumstances, the canons had not even been called to the ceremony of election, and Coventry's candidate,Geoffry de Muschamp(1198-1208), was elected. But the greatest difficulty of all arose at the election of the next bishop. John was now king, and Lichfield in favour. The monks chose their prior, but John would not allow his consecration; then came a series of proposals, to none of which could king, monks, and canons all three assent, but finally, at the intercession of Pandulf, the Pope's legate, they all agreed onWilliam de Cornhull(1215-1223). Thomas of Chesterfield tells us that this bishop conferred the right upon the chapter of electing their own dean.
The next bishop,Alexander de Stavenby(1224-1238), was appointed by the Pope, on the appeal to him of both parties, who were still unable to agree. He built the friary in Lichfield, and dedicated it to St. Francis, the founder of the Friar Minors, which order he first introduced into the diocese.
The high position of Stavenby in the councils of the realm make him an important personality among the bishops of the diocese. He died in 1238; and it might have been expected that a successor would have been appointed without difficulty, for during his rule it had been agreed that Coventry and Lichfield should appoint to the vacant bishopric alternatively. Coventry appointed William de Raleigh, but he accepted Norwich in preference, and then the monks claimed to appoint again, but the canons would not allow this, and appointed their dean, William of Manchester, who, however, stood aside when the monks suggested Nicholas de Farnham, and he was too modest to accept the office. ThenHugh de Patteshull(1239-1241) was chosen at the king's desire. He was Treasurer of England and a native of the diocese; he seems to have followed in the steps of his predecessor, and it is said that he made new regulations as to the manner of the cathedral services. He died only eighteen months after his appointment, and a fresh trouble arose over the election of a successor; but the Pope intervened without asking permission of the king, and, under the advice of Grosseteste, the famous bishop of Lincoln, appointedRoger de Weseham(1245-1256), the dean of the cathedral. The king in his anger seized the endowments of the see, and Weseham began his work amid great difficulties, but finally Henry restored the endowments, and allowed Wesehamto prosecute his salutary re-organisation of the clergy. Weseham retired in 1256, and died shortly after. It is doubtful if the monument in the south aisle, generally known as that of Bishop Patteshull, is not in reality that of Bishop Weseham.
There was no contention over the election of the next bishop,Roger de Molendor Meyland (1256-1295). He was a natural son of the Earl of Salisbury, William Longespée, and so nephew to King Henry III. His was not an admirable role, the most remarkable event being his attempt,vi et armis, to obtain admittance to the Royal Free Chapel of St. Mary at Stafford. Both sides refused to plead at the Assizes, but it was finally decided that the bishop should be allowed the use of the free chapels in Derby and Stafford, but should have no disciplinary powers over their clergy. Afterwards he seems to have neglected his diocese, and the scandalous and avaricious conduct of the clergy, which the last two bishops had controlled, now became so intense that in 1282 Archbishop Peckham had to interfere, and Roger was forced to come into residence. Soon after it was found necessary to find him a coadjutor, who was to advise him in all official acts. Incompetent as he was as a bishop, the diocese obtained several remarkable benefits during his rule. The king gave Cannock Chase to the see, and the west front of the cathedral was begun. It may well be that in his travels he had acquired a love of beauty he would not have acquired at home, and that we owe to him the conception of this beautiful feature of the cathedral. The money it must have cost, too, could only have been found by one whose princely rank enabled him to obtain money with some ease. In London also he left his mark, unhappily now entirely obliterated. Where Somerset House now stands he erected his palace, next to the palace of his brother Bishop of Worcester. It was a beautiful mansion, but the site was too valuable to permit of it belonging to any one but the king when Henry VIII. graced the throne.
About this time the archdeaconry of Stafford was occupied by Thomas de Cantilupe, afterwards Bishop of Hereford. The story of his life belongs to the account of that diocese, but such a man must have had great influence on his archdeaconry.
The next bishop wasWalter de Langton(1296-1321), Treasurer of England, and friend to King Edward I.He was chosen unanimously by both parties. At first his political duties claimed him, and brought him into collision with the Prince of Wales, who, as soon as he had ascended the throne as Edward II., threw him into prison. There he does not seem to have remained long, and when Piers Gaveston, the king's favourite, was beheaded in 1312, he was restored to his former treasurership. Langton is principally remembered in connection with the see as having founded the Lady Chapel and built the Bishop's Palace, for so long a splendid monument to his memory in the north-east corner of the close. He rebuilt also Eccleshall and Haywood Manor houses, and walled the close for "the honour of God, the dignity of the cathedral, and the bodies of the saints there reposing, and also for security and quiet of the canons." This last a mistaken work, as we who live after the event are well able to judge. He also bridged the cathedral pool, and made a magnificent shrine for St. Chad's bones. Langton died in 1321 in London, and was carried to Lichfield, where he was buried with much ceremony. His bones were removed into the Lady Chapel when it was finished during the rule of the next bishop, and a sumptuous monument placed over them. The mutilated remains of this monument can be seen in the south choir aisle to this day.
His successor,Roger de Norburyor Northbury (1322-1359), was appointed by the Pope, as the two chapters had not agreed once more. His was a long rule, nearly forty years, and filled with good for the see. The registers of both Langton and Norbury are both still in existence among the muniments of the cathedral, and from them we know much of the life of a bishop of this time. Every kind of evil seems to have come under the notice of the bishop—whose power of inducing those who had done wrong to repent and do right was the direct outcome of the terrible threat of excommunication which he was able to wield. Lichfield had constantly during the later reigns been the scene of royal festivities, and after the battle of Crecy Edward III. held his Court here, and there were tournaments and banquets at which the flower of English chivalry assisted. It is said by some that here occurred the famous incident of the garter which led to the institution of the order of that name.At any rate, Uttoxeter was appropriated to the chapel of the garter.
About this time, too, the cathedral must have been finished; now, too, was the terrible visitation of the black death, that most deadly of all plagues, which is said to have cut off one half of the whole population of the realm. Whether the fear of it, or the occasion of the completion of the cathedral, caused the chapter to set their house in order, certain it is that we have, in the discovery of the sacrist's roll of 1346, a kind of inventory of the valuables of the cathedral at this time; these are set out in the part devoted to the cathedral. Thomas of Chesterfield, the early historian of the diocese, whose work is printed in Wharton'sAnglia Sacra, and on whom all later writers on the subject have had largely to rely, lived at this time, and brought down his "chronicle" to 1348, one of the years of the black death.
Roger de Stretton(1360-1386), an absolutely uneducated man, succeeded Langton; then cameWalter Skirlaw(1386) andRichard Scrope(1386-1396), but the former, between his consecration and his enthronement, was translated to Bath and Wells, from whence he went to Durham, and the latter, though distinguished in English history, is more noted as Archbishop of York. Next came BishopJohn Burghill(1398-1414), a barefooted Black Friar, who gained a reputation for asceticism, and left his worldly goods to the church. Richard II. was present at the enthronement of these two last bishops. They were followed byJohn Catterick(1415-1419).
In 1419,William Heyworth(1419-1447), the abbot of St. Albans, became bishop. An important question was settled in his time—viz. the bishop's position in the cathedral. At his suggestion, it was arranged that he should give notice to the dean when he intended a visitation: the chapter should be summoned, and they should conduct him to the high altar and there leave him to stand or kneel alone in prayer. Afterwards they were to conduct him to the chapter-house, where he might inquire into the title and conduct of the canons; the other cathedral clergy were to be entirely subject to the dean and chapter. His rule saw also the beginnings of the collegiate church of Manchester, which so long after was to become the cathedral of the new diocese to be carved out of our see.
It is unnecessary to more than mention the names of bishopswho succeeded about this time: they are—William Booth(1447-1450),Nicholas Cloose(1452),Reginald Bolars(1453-1459).John Halse(1459-1492) was called on to give shelter to Queen Margaret after the battle of Bloreheath.
At the end of the fifteenth century there is another political bishop. This wasWilliam Smyth(1492-1496). He, like several of his successors, was President of Wales, and he was also the founder of Brasenose College, Oxford. Next comesJohn Arundel(1496-1503), and then comesGeoffry Blythe, whose rule, commencing in 1503, lasts until 1531, the year when Henry required the clergy to acknowledge him as supreme head of the Church. This period of the dark days before the Reformation must have been one of great difficulty for the bishops, but Blythe seems to have been very popular at Lichfield; he made several attempts to stamp out Lollardism, and has earned for himself an unenviable niche in the house of fame by his inclusion in Fox's "Book of Martyrs" for his holding of the "Court of Heresy." One martyr (a woman) was burned at Coventry, and others were tried and acquitted or condemned to less horrible punishments. On the whole, Blythe seems to have been as gentle as the times would allow him to be. He died in 1531, and escaped the storm which was now to burst. When it had cleared away, many of the old religious landmarks had disappeared; Lichfield Cathedral had lost her sister minster, and had been shorn of much that it valued and was beautiful.
After an interval,Rowland Lee(1534-1543) was appointed. He had been chaplain to the king, and it was he who officiated at the private marriage of Henry and Anne Boleyn; he was rewarded with the bishopric of Lichfield and Coventry, and was made President of Wales, in which latter appointment he was said to have ruled so wisely that we owe to him the kindly feelings which have ever since existed between the two countries. This work must have kept him much away from the diocese, and it was superintended by two suffragans; but we have it on record that he did his best to save something for the diocese from the wreck of the Reformation; how little he was able to do we shall now see. He also issued to the clergy a set of injunctions, in which the new teaching and ideas are set forth, "that the King's Majesty is only Supreme Head under Chryst in Erthe of this his Churche of England"; thatevery parish priest shall provide for his church a "Boke of the hole Byble both in Latin and alsoe in Englishe, and lay the same in the Quiere for every man that will loke and read therein"; and other injunctions on prayers and preaching and behaviour, which are not, like the first two, new and startling, but are reminiscences of the ordinances and manners of the past.
Bishop Lee, who had failed in his efforts to save the cathedral church of Coventry, also exerted himself on behalf of the shrine of St. Chad, and succeeded so well that, though the shrine was rifled of its jewels and precious metals, they were granted to the uses of the cathedral, instead of finding their way into the coffers of the king. The ashes of the saint were stolen by one of the prebendaries. Soon after, the collegiate churches were confiscated, and the diocese, like other dioceses, found itself stripped of all its finest churches. The royal chapels of Stafford, Shrewsbury, Chester, Bridgenorth, Derby, and Penkridge all went; and throughout the country, for want of the endowments which had been confiscated, churches and chapels were falling into ruin.
Henry seems to have had ideas of using some of the money thus obtained for ecclesiastical purposes, but his own needs did not permit him to do much. The bishopric of Shrewsbury, which he had planned, came to nothing, though a suffragan with that title was appointed; but at Chester the abbey of St. Werburgh became a cathedral church when, in 1541, the see of Chester was founded, and Cheshire and Lancashire were taken from Lichfield to form the new diocese.
Richard Sampson(1543-1553), dean of the cathedral, succeeded Lee as bishop, and died early in Mary's reign. His successor,Ralph Bane(1554-1558), lighted the fires in the diocese, and many perished at his hands. He was a bishop after Mary's heart, and sat with Tonstall and Bonner in the inquisitions which disgraced the reign. He resigned on the advent of Elizabeth. And then another kind of persecution commenced; this time it was the Papists who suffered, and many were done to death in the diocese.
Following Bane cameThomas Bentham(1560-1579), andWilliam Overton(1580-1609); thenGeorge Abbottwas bishop in 1609, and in one year was promoted to Canterbury, where he preceded Laud, whose life-long opponent he was.Then cameRichard Neill(1610-1614), who was dean of Westminster as well, and earned an ignoble reputation by burning a Papist named Wightman, at Lichfield. He was consecrated to Rochester in 1608, and translated successively to Lichfield, 1610; Lincoln, 1614; Durham, 1617; Winchester, 1628; and York, 1632.John Overall(1614-1618) wrote that part of the "Church Catechism" which explains the sacraments; he afterwards went to Norwich.Thomas Morton(1619-1632) came from Chester; he was one of the most learned bishops of the time, and a noted advocate of the Church of England principles.
Robert Wright(1632-1644) was a supporter of Laud; under him the cathedral service became again something like that of the time of Bishop Patteshull. He was one of the twelve bishops who were impeached by the Long Parliament in 1641, and, though an old man, pleaded his cause at the bar of the House of Commons. He was still bishop when the Civil War broke out; and during the famous siege of Lichfield he was shut up in his castle at Eccleshall, where he died while it was being defended against the Parliamentarians. His successor,Accepted Frewen, president of Magdalen College, Oxford, was appointed by the king, and consecrated in the chapel of his college; but, having neither cathedral, revenues, nor power, he retired into Kent, until in 1660 he became Archbishop of York.
John Hacket(1661-1671) was appointed to the see by Charles II., and decided that its title should be altered from "Coventry and Lichfield" to "Lichfield and Coventry"; partly, no doubt, because the cathedral was here, and partly because in the late troubles Lichfield had been loyal to the Crown, and Coventry had not. His great work was the restoration of the cathedral from its ruins, and the re-organisation of the diocese. He had had a distinguished record, and was one of the sub-committee in 1640 appointed to try and settle the vexed questions in the Church, and as such he made an eloquent speech at the bar of the House of Commons. Later he continued the use of the liturgy in his church of St. Andrew, Holborn, after it had been forbidden, and when the officer and soldiers were sent to arrest him and ordered him to desist on pain of instant death, he answered: "Soldier, I am doing my duty, do you do yours," and continued the service. Surely a man pre-eminently fitted for the work of re-organisation he was to do at Lichfield; and the king got the credit from the clergy of having the old"apostolic spirit of discerning," so greatly was he to their minds. He must have been a wit too, for, when the bishopric was offered to him, he remarked that he would rather that in future times people should ask why Dr Hacket was not a bishop, than why he was. He is also said to have entreated the gentleman who had declared that hell was paved with bishops' skulls to tread lightly over his.
Hacket's dean cannot have confirmed the clergy in their opinion of Charles, whose appointment to the post he had purchased; so bad was he that the bishop excommunicated him, and the sentence was even read in the cathedral while he was there, but he heeded it not. The chapter loathed him, but apparently the king's feelings were different, for at Hacket's death he was appointed to succeed him. SoThomas Wood(1671-1692) became bishop, and was the worst the see ever had: he lived much away from the diocese. Lancelot Addison, the father of the famous Joseph Addison, was dean in his time. William III., staying a night at the deanery, was attracted to the genial essayist early; and we may imagine that he must have been greatly influenced by that part of his life spent within the cathedral close.
The next bishop wasWilliam Lloyd(1692-1699): he came from St. Asaph, and went to Worcester. While bishop of St. Asaph he was one of the seven bishops who were sent to the Tower in 1688.John Hough(1699-1717) came next; he also had crossed the path of James II., for he had been elected President of Magdalen over the head of James's nominee, but James had proved the stronger at the time, and he was ejected, only to be reinstated by the frightened king soon after. At the Revolution he was made bishop of Oxford, whence he was translated hither; he afterwards refused the primacy.
The next two bishops—Edward Chandler(1717-1730) andRichard Smallbroke(1730-1749)—were distinguished defenders of Christianity against the infidelity of the time. Their controversial writings are numerous and well known.
The next bishop,Frederick Cornwallis(1749-1768), afterwards became Archbishop of Canterbury. Then cameJohn Egerton(1768-1771), from Bangor, and went to Durham;Brownlow North(1771-1774), who was translated to Worcester, and thence to Winchester;Richard Hurd(1774-1781), who also went to Worcester;JamesCornwallis(1781-1824), andHenry Ryder(1824-1836), who came from Gloucester. He succeeded in founding many new churches and immensely increasing the membership of the Church in the diocese. His successor,Samuel Butler(1836-1843), went on with this work. It was in his time that the archdeaconry of Coventry was taken from the diocese and added to Worcester. The title of the see now becomes Lichfield only; Coventry, which at one time held the premier place in the title, and then the second, now slips out altogether.
Ten years later the deanery of Bridgenorth was allotted to Hereford, and in the same year all peculiar and exempt jurisdiction was abolished, so that the archdeacons had power to visit every church in the diocese; the number of canons of Lichfield was reduced from six to four.
In the meantimeJames Bowstead(1840-1843) andJohn Lonsdale(1843-1867) became bishops. The latter was one of the greatest bishops the diocese has had, and his work, like that of Ryder, lives in the increased power of the Church in the diocese. He was succeeded by another great bishop,George Augustus Selwyn, who, as bishop of New Zealand, had organised the Church in those islands.
The next bishop,William Dalrymple Maclagan(1878-1891), is now Archbishop of York. It was during his rule, in 1884, that the new diocese of Southwell was formed and Derbyshire was taken from Lichfield.
The present bishop is the Hon.Augustus Legge.