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Bishop of Ely

{{Short description|Diocesan bishop in the Church of England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}{{Use British English|date=December 2024}}

{{Infobox diocese

| bishopric = Ely

| border = anglican

| coat = Diocese of Ely arms.svg

| coat_size = 200

| coat_caption = Arms of the Bishop of Ely: Gules, three ducal coronets orDebrett's Peerage, 1968, p. 420.

| incumbent = vacant (acting: the Bishop of Huntingdon)

| province = Canterbury

| residence = {{nowrap|Bishop's House,}} Ely {{nowrap|(since 1941)}}
{{nowrap|Bishop's Palace,}} Ely {{nowrap|{{nowrap|(15th century}}{{snd}}1941)}}

| established = 1109

| cathedral = Ely Cathedral

| first_incumbent = Hervey le Breton

| diocese = Ely

}}

The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its episcopal see in the City of Ely, Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity. The diocesan bishops resided at the Bishop's Palace, Ely until 1941;[http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/cambridgeshire/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8660000/8660386.stm BBC News — Behind the scenes at Cambridgeshire's only palace] (Accessed 2 October 2017). they now reside in Bishop's House, the former cathedral deanery.

The roots of the Diocese of Ely are ancient and the area of Ely was part of the patrimony of Saint Etheldreda. Prior to the elevation of Ely Cathedral as the seat of the diocese, it existed as first as a convent of religious sisters and later as a monastery. It was led by first by an abbess and later by an abbot. The convent was founded in the city in 673. After St Etheldreda's death in 679 she was buried outside the church. Her remains were later translated inside, the foundress being commemorated as a great Anglican saint. The monastery, and much of the city of Ely, were destroyed in the Danish invasions that began in 869 or 870. A new Benedictine monastery was built and endowed on the site by Saint Athelwold, Bishop of Winchester, in 970, in a wave of monastic refoundations which also included Peterborough and Ramsey.[http://content.cdlib.org:8088/xtf/view?docId=ft8199p22b&doc.view=content&chunk.id=d0e203&toc.depth=1&anchor.id=0&brand=ucpress] Consumption and Pastoral Resources on the Early Medieval Estate, accessed July 12, 2007. In the Domesday Book in 1086, the Abbot of Ely is referenced as a landholder of Foxehola. The abbey became a cathedral in 1109, after a new Diocese of Ely was created out of land taken from the Diocese of Lincoln. From that time the line of bishops begins.

History

The earliest historical notice of Ely is given by the Venerable Bede who writes ({{Lang|la|Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum}}, IV, xix):

{{blockquote|Ely is in the province of the East Angles, a country of about six hundred families, in the nature of an island, enclosed either with marshes or waters, and therefore it has its name from the great abundance of eels which are taken in those marshes.}}

This district was assigned in 649 to saint Æthelthryth, daughter of Anna, king of the East Angles, as a dowry in her marriage with Tonbert of the South Girvii. After her second marriage to Ecgfrith of Northumbria, she became a nun, and in 673 returned to Ely and founded a monastery on the site of the present cathedral. As endowment she gave it her entire principality of the isle, from which subsequent Bishops of Ely derived their temporal power. Æthelthryth died in 679 and her shrine became a place of pilgrimage. In 870 the monastery was destroyed by the Danes, having already given to the Church four sainted abbesses, Æthelthryth and her sister Seaxburgh, the latter's daughter Ermenilda, and Ermenilda's daughter Werburgh. Probably under their rule there was a community of monks as well as a convent of nuns, but when in 970 the monastery was restored by King Edgar and Ethelwold it was a foundation for monks only.

For more than a century the monastery flourished, and about the year 1105 Abbot Richard suggested the creation of the See of Ely, to relieve the enormous Diocese of Lincoln. The pope's brief erecting the new bishopric was issued 21 November 1108, and on 17 October 1109 King Henry I granted his charter, the first bishop being Hervé le Breton, or Harvey (1109–1131), former Bishop of Bangor. The monastery church thus became one of the "conventual" cathedrals. Of this building the transepts and two bays of the nave already existed, and in 1170 the nave as it stands to-day (a complete and perfect specimen of late Norman work) was finished. As the bishops succeeded to the principality of St Etheldreda they enjoyed palatine power and great resources.

The Bishops of Ely frequently held high office in the State and the roll includes many names of famous statesmen, including eight Lord Chancellors and six Lord Treasurers. The Bishops of Ely spent much of their wealth on their cathedral, with the result that Ely can show examples of Gothic architecture of many periods. Another of the Bishop’s Palaces was in Wisbech on the site of the former Wisbech Castle. Thurloe's mansion which replaced it was allowed to fall into disrepair and sold to Joseph Medworth.

They also had a London residence called Ely Place.

Among the bishops Geoffry Riddell (1174–1189) built the nave and began the west tower, Eustace (1198–1215) the West Porch, while Hugh de Northwold (1229–1254) rebuilt the Norman choir and John Hotham (1316–1337) rebuilt the collapsed central tower – the famous Octagon. Hugh (or Hugo) de Balsham (1258–1286) founded Peterhouse, the first college at the University of Cambridge, while John Alcock (1486–1500) was the founder of Jesus College and completed the building of the bishop's palace at Wisbech, commenced in 1478 by his predecessor John Morton later Archbishop of Canterbury.

Goodrich was a reformer and during his episcopate the monastery was dissolved. The last bishop in communion with the see of Rome was Thomas Thirlby. Since the Reformation, notable bishops have included Lancelot Andrewes, Matthew Wren, Peter Gunning and Simon Patrick who, in 1695 gave the Shambles estate in Wisbech, to provide clothing for the poor.{{cite book|title= The History of Wisbech and the Fens|author= Craddock and Walker |publisher= Richard Walker |year= 1849|page= 407}}

List of abbesses and abbots

=Convent of sisters (673–870)=

= Benedictine monastery (970–1109) =

  • Brythnoth (970–996/999)
  • Ælfsige (996/999–1016)
  • Leofwine (1019–1022, 1022–1023)
  • Leofric (1022, 1023–1029)
  • Leofsige (1029–1044)
  • Wulfric (1044 or 1045–1066)
  • Thurstan (–1072) – the last Saxon abbot
  • Theodwin (secular governor)
  • Godfrey (secular governor)
  • Simeon (1082–1094) – began building the cathedral
  • Ranulf Flambard (as custodian 1093–1100)
  • Richard FitzRichard de Clare (1100–1107) – the last abbot
  • Hervey, Bishop of Bangor (as custodian 1107–1109)

List of bishops (1109–)

From then on, Ely was under the Bishop of Ely.

=Pre-Reformation bishops=

class="wikitable" style="width:95%;" border="1" cellpadding="2"

! colspan="4" style="background-color: #7F1734; color: white;"|Pre-Reformation Bishops of Ely

valign=center

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|From

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|Until

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="30%"|Incumbent

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="45%"|Notes

valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1109

align="center"| 1131Hervey le BretonTranslated from Bangor.
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1133

align="center"| 1169Nigel
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1174

align="center"| 1189Geoffrey Ridel
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1189

align="center"| 1197William Longchamp
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1198

align="center"| 1215Eustace
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1215

align="center"| 1219Robert of YorkElection quashed 1219.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1220

align="center"| 1225John of Fountains
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1225

align="center"| 1228Geoffrey de Burgh
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1229

align="center"| 1254Hugh of Northwold
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1255

align="center"| 1256William of Kilkenny
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1258

align="center"| 128672x72px Hugh de Balsham
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1286

align="center"| 1290John Kirkby
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1290

align="center"| 1298William of Louth
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1298

align="center"| 1299John SalmonMonks' candidate; opposed Langton; election quashed.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1298

align="center"| 1299John LangtonKing's candidate; opposed Salmon; election quashed.
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1299

align="center"| 1302Ralph WalpoleTranslated from Norwich.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1302

align="center"| 1310Robert Orford
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1310

align="center"| 1316John Ketton
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1316

align="center"| 1337John Hotham
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1337

align="center"| 1345Simon MontacuteTranslated from Worcester.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1345

align="center"| 1361Thomas de Lisle
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1362

align="center"| 1366Simon LanghamTranslated to Canterbury.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1367

align="center"| 1373John Barnet
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1374

align="center"| 138872x72px Thomas ArundelTranslated to York.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1388

align="center"| 1425John FordhamTranslated from Durham.
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1426

align="center"| 1438Philip MorganTranslated from Worcester.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1438

align="center"| 1443Lewis of LuxembourgArchbishop of Rouen. Held Ely in commendam.
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1444

align="center"| 145472x72px Thomas BourchierTranslated to Canterbury.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1454

align="center"| 1478William Grey
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1479

align="center"| 148672x72px John MortonTranslated to Canterbury.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1486

align="center"| 150072x72px John AlcockTranslated from Worcester.
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1501

align="center"| 1505Richard RedmanTranslated from Exeter.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1506

align="center"| 1515James Stanley
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1515

align="center"| 1533Nicholas West
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align=center colspan="4"| Source(s):{{cite web |url=http://www.crockford.org.uk/listing.asp?id=697 |title=Historical successions: Ely |work=Crockford's Clerical Directory |access-date=18 July 2012}}{{Harvnb|Fryde|Greenway|Porter|Roy|1986}}, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 244–245.{{Harvnb|Greenway|1971}}, Bishops of Ely, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300, volume 2, pp. 45–47.{{Harvnb|Jones|1962}}, Bishops of Ely, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541, volume 4, pp. 13–16.{{Harvnb|Horn|1996}}, Bishops of Ely, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857, volume 7, pp. 7–10.

=Bishops during the Reformation=

class="wikitable" style="width:95%;" border="1" cellpadding="2"

! colspan="4" style="background-color: #7F1734; color: white;"|Bishops of Ely during the Reformation

valign=center

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|From

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|Until

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="30%"|Incumbent

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="45%"|Notes

valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align="center"| 1534

align="center"| 155475x75px Thomas GoodrichAlso recorded as Thomas Goodricke.
valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align="center"| 1554

align="center"| 1559Thomas ThirlbyTranslated from Norwich; deprived on 5 July 1559.
valign=top bgcolor="white"

|align=center colspan="4"| Source(s):{{Harvnb|Fryde|Greenway|Porter|Roy|1986}}, Handbook of British Chronology, p. 245.

=Post-Reformation bishops=

class="wikitable" style="width:95%;" border="1" cellpadding="2"

! colspan="4" style="background-color: #7F1734; color: white;"|Post-Reformation Bishops of Ely

valign=center

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|From

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|Until

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="30%"|Incumbent

! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="45%"|Notes

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1559

| align="center"| 1581

| 60px Richard Cox

|

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1581

| align="center"| 1600

| colspan="2"| See vacant

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1600

| align="center"| 1609

| 60px Martin Heton

|

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1609

| align="center"| 1619

| 60px Lancelot Andrewes

| Translated from Chichester; translated to Winchester.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1619

| align="center"| 1628

| 60px Nicholas Felton

| Translated from Bristol.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1628

| align="center"| 1631

| 60px John Buckeridge

| Translated from Rochester.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1631

| align="center"| 1638

| 60px Francis White

| Translated from Norwich.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1638

| align="center"| 1646

| 60px Matthew Wren

| Translated from Norwich; deprived of the see when the English episcopacy was abolished by Parliament on 9 October 1646.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align=center | 1646

| align=center | 1660

| colspan=2| The see was abolished during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate.{{cite web |last=Plant |first=David |year=2002 |url=http://bcw-project.org/church-and-state/sects-and-factions/episcopalians |title=Episcopalians |website=BCW Project |access-date=25 April 2021 }}{{cite journal |last=King |first=Peter |date=July 1968 |title=The Episcopate during the Civil Wars, 1642-1649 |journal=The English Historical Review |volume= 83 |issue= 328 |pages=523–537 |publisher=Oxford University Press |jstor=564164 |doi=10.1093/ehr/lxxxiii.cccxxviii.523}}

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1660

| align="center"| 1667

| 60px Matthew Wren

| Restored; died in office.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1667

| align="center"| 1675

| 60px Benjamin Lany

| Translated from Lincoln.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1675

| align="center"| 1684

| 60px Peter Gunning

| Translated from Chichester.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1684

| align="center"| 1691

| 60px Francis Turner

| Translated from Rochester.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1691

| align="center"| 1707

| 60px Simon Patrick

| Translated from Chichester.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1707

| align="center"| 1714

| 60px John Moore

| Translated from Norwich.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1714

| align="center"| 1723

| 60px William Fleetwood

| Translated from St Asaph.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1723

| align="center"| 1738

| 60px Thomas Green

| Translated from Norwich.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1738

| align="center"| 1748

| 60px Robert Butts

| Translated from Norwich.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1748

| align="center"| 1754

| 60px Thomas Gooch

| Translated from Norwich.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1754

| align="center"| 1771

| 60px Matthias Mawson

| Translated from Chichester.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1771

| align="center"| 1781

| 60px Edmund Keene

| Translated from Chester.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1781

| align="center"| 1808

| 60px James Yorke

| Translated from Gloucester.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1808

| align="center"| 1812

| 60px Thomas Dampier

| Translated from Rochester.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1812

| align="center"| 1836

| 60px Bowyer Sparke

| Translated from Chester.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1836

| align="center"| 1845

| 60px Joseph Allen

| Translated from Bristol.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1845

| align="center"| 1864

| 60px Thomas Turton

|

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1864

| align="center"| 1873

| 60px Harold Browne

| Translated to Winchester.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1873

| align="center"| 1885

| 60px James Woodford

|

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1886

| align="center"| 1905

| 60px Lord Alwyne Compton

|

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1905

| align="center"| 1924

| 60px Frederic Chase

|

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1924

| align="center"| 1933

| 60px Leonard White-Thomson

|

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1934

| align="center"| 1941

| 60px Bernard Heywood

| Translated from Hull.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1941

| align="center"| 1957

| 60px Edward Wynn

|

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1957

| align="center"| 1964

| 60px Noel Hudson

| Translated from Newcastle.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1964

| align="center"| 1977

| 60px Edward Roberts

| Translated from Kensington.

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 1977

| align="center"| 1990

| 60px Peter Walker

| Translated from Dorchester.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 1990

| align="center"| 2000

| 60px Stephen Sykes

| Returned to academia

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 2000

| align="center"| 2010

| 60px Anthony Russell

| Translated from Dorchester.

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

| align="center"| 2010

| align="center"| 2023

| 60px Stephen Conway

| Translated from Ramsbury; translated to Lincoln{{cite web |website=Diocese of Lincoln |title=Announcement — The New Bishop of Lincoln |date=24 May 2023 |url=https://www.lincoln.anglican.org/news/announcement-the-new-bishop-of-lincoln |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524111646/https://www.lincoln.anglican.org/news/announcement-the-new-bishop-of-lincoln |archive-date=24 May 2023 |access-date=2 June 2023 }}

valign=top bgcolor="white"

| align="center"| 2023

| align="center"| acting

| 60px Dagmar Winter, Bishop of Huntingdon

| Acting diocesan bishop during the vacancy in See.{{cite web |website=Diocese of Ely |title=Announcement to the Diocese of Ely of the Bishop's move to Lincoln |url=https://www.elydiocese.org/announcement-to-the-diocese-of-ely-of-the-bishops-move-to-lincoln.php |date=24 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901154301/https://www.elydiocese.org/announcement-to-the-diocese-of-ely-of-the-bishops-move-to-lincoln.php |archive-date=1 September 2023 |access-date=1 September 2023 }}

valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"

|align=center colspan="4"| Source(s):{{Harvnb|Fryde|Greenway|Porter|Roy|1986}}, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 245–246.

Assistant bishops

Among those who have served as assistant bishops of the diocese have been:

See also

Notes

{{Reflist}}

References

  • {{cite book |editor1-last=Fryde |editor1-first=E. B. |editor2-last=Greenway |editor2-first=D. E. |editor3-last=Porter |editor3-first=S. |editor4-last=Roy |editor4-first=I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology |edition=3rd, reprinted 2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1986 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
  • {{Cite book |last1=Greenway |first1=D. E. |year=1971 |chapter-url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33863 |chapter=Bishops of Ely |title=Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300 |volume=2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces) |publisher=Institute of Historical Research }}
  • {{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=B. |year=1962 |chapter-url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=32712 |chapter=Bishops of Ely |title=Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541 |volume=4: Monastic Cathedrals (Southern Province) |publisher=Institute of Historical Research }}
  • {{Cite book |last1=Horn |first1=J. M. |year=1996 |chapter-url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=35230 |chapter=Bishops of Ely |title=Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857 |volume=7: Ely, Norwich, Westminster and Worcester Dioceses |publisher=Institute of Historical Research }}

Further reading

Peter Meadows, ed., Ely: Diocese and Bishops, 1109-2009 (The Boydell Press, 2010).

{{Anglican Bishops & Archbishops - Great Britain}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop of Ely}}

Ely

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Bishops of Ely

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