Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells Part 13

It is quite probable that the above tradition grew around Ina's name owing to his having really established a church with a body of priests attached to it; since we find in a charter of Cynewulf, dated 766, a mention of "the minister near the great spring at Wells for the better service of G.o.d in the church of St. Andrew." This charter is probably spurious, but it may for all that enshrine an historical fact, especially as it does not pretend to the existence of a bishopric. If this be the case, then Edward, who wanted a fairly central church for a diocese which had no important town, must have found Wells very convenient for his purpose. For while Glas...o...b..ry, besides being in those days an island, had an abbot of its own, this little body of secular priests would be ready to receive the bishop as their chief, and to become his chapter. At all events, the year 909 saw Wells with a bishop of its own.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Specimens Of Capitals.]

AETHELHELM or ATHELM, _Bishop of Somerset, or Wells_ (909-914), a monk of Glas...o...b..ry according to tradition, was the first Somersetshire bishop; he is said to have been an uncle of St. Dunstan: he was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 914.

It will be convenient to weave the history of the foundation of Wells with that of the bishops. So here, at the outset, the reader must bear in mind that from the beginning the cathedral church was served by "secular" clergy, by priests, that is, who were bound by no vows other than those of their ordination, who did not live a community life, but had each his own house, and generally at this time his own wife and family. Wells Cathedral was not "built by the monks," and its chapter was never composed of monks; though some of the bishops belonged to religious orders, it kept up a pretty constant rivalry with the "regular" clergy of Glas...o...b..ry and Bath. It belongs in fact, to the cathedrals of the old foundation, whose const.i.tutions were not changed at the Reformation; and its chapter has continued in unbroken succession, from the days when Aethelhelm first presided over his little body of clergy in the church of St. Andrew, down to our own time. But at first that chapter was informal enough, nor was it finally incorporated and officered till the time of Bishop Robert in the twelfth century. The number of canons does not seem to have been fixed, though in the next century we hear of there being only four or five.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Specimens Of Capitals.]

The next five bishops are all little more than names to us. WULFHELM succeeded Aethelhelm in 914: also translated to Canterbury; AELFHEAH (923), WULFHELM (938), BRITHHELM (956-973), and CYNEWARD (973-975).

SIGEGAR (975-977), a pupil of St. Dunstan, and abbot of Glas...o...b..ry, was succeeded, or perhaps supplanted, by AELFWINE, in 997-999.

AETHELSTAN, or LYFING; translated to Canterbury 1013.

AETHELWINE and BRIHTWINE shared the episcopate, either as rivals or coadjutors. Brihtwine was last in possession. MEREWIT, also called Brihtwine, succeeded in 1026.

DUDUC (1033-1060), a German Saxon. c.n.u.t had given him the estates of Congresbury and Banwell, which he left to the church of Wells; but Harold took possession of them.

GISA (1060-1088), a Belgian from Lorraine, found his see in a sad condition: the church was mean, its revenues small, and its four or five canons were forced, he says, to beg their bread. He at once set to work to increase the revenues; and from Edward the Confessor, from his queen, Edith, then from Harold, and afterwards from William the Conqueror, he obtained various estates for the support of his canons.

He also changed the way of living of the canons, and built a cloister, dormitory, and refectory, thereby forcing them to live a common life, much as if they were monks--an unpopular innovation which was supported by the appointment in the foreign fashion of a provost to be chief officer, the canons choosing for this post one Isaac of Wells.

JOHN DE VILLULA, _Bishop of Bath_ (1088-1122), a rich physician of Tours. He put an end to the semi-monastic discipline of Gisa by pulling down his community buildings and erecting a private house of his own on the site. And he removed the see of Somersetshire from Wells to the Abbey of Bath.

G.o.dFREY (1123-1135).

ROBERT OF LEWES (1136-1166), the second founder of the cathedral; he made the const.i.tution of the chapter, he rebuilt the old Saxon church, and he started Wells as a borough by the grant of its first charter of freedom. Of a Fleming family, though born in England, he was a monk from the Cluniac house of St. Pancras at Lewes; and to another and more famous Cluniac monk, Bishop Henry of Winchester, King Stephen's brother, he owed his advancement. In the very year of his consecration he began the recovery of Wells from the low estate in which John de Villula and his rapacious relatives had left it. He restored their property to the canons, and, in order to secure it, he divided it off from the property of the see by a charter of incorporation. He a.s.sisted at Henry II.'s coronation in 1154, and at the consecration of Thomas a Becket in 1162.

Bishop Robert arranged the quarrel with Bath by settling that Bath should take precedence of Wells, but that the bishop should have his throne in both churches, and be elected by the two chapters conjointly.

By the charter which incorporated the chapter of Wells, Robert also settled portions of the estate, or prebends, on the twenty-two canons, and founded the offices of dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, sub-dean, provost, and sub-chanter, all of which, except the two last, still exist.

After an interval of eight years, REGINALD DE BOHUN or FITZ-JOCELIN, the Archdeacon of Sarum, was consecrated Bishop of Bath (1174-1191).

Immediately afterwards he induced the monk who was soon to become famous as St. Hugh of Lincoln, to leave the Grande Chartreuse, and to come to England as prior of the first English charter-house. He built the greater part of the present nave transepts and choir; for this end he made large gifts to the fabric fund, and collected gifts from others. He also extended the privileges of the town, and increased both the endowment and the number of the prebends.

SAVARIC, _Bishop of Bath and Glas...o...b..ry_ (1192-1205), a relation of the Emperor Henry VI. In 1191 he started with Richard I. for the Holy Land. At Messina, though not yet in priest's orders, he obtained private letters from the king sanctioning his appointment to any bishopric to which he might be elected. Bishop Reginald was a kinsman of his, and, on his election to Canterbury, he obtained the vote of the convent of Bath for Savaric. The Justiciar gave at once the royal sanction, in spite of the protests of the canons of Wells, who had not been consulted. Savaric had meanwhile wisely established himself at Rome, and was able to obtain the Pope's consent. He was consecrated priest one day and bishop the next, but he still remained abroad.

Savaric, supported by the authority of King John, broke into Glas...o...b..ry with soldiers, starved and beat the monks, and, with great violence, established himself in possession.

His biography was compressed in a clever epigram:--

"_Hospes erat mundo per mundum semper eundo, Sic suprema dies fit sibi prima quies,_"

admirably translated by Canon Bernard:

"Through the world travelling, all the world's guest, His last day of life was his first day of rest."

Yet he was the first to inst.i.tute the daily ma.s.s of Our Lady, as well as that for the faithful departed, in Wells Cathedral.

JOCELIN TROTEMAN DE WELLES, _Bishop of Bath and Glas...o...b..ry,_ and after 1219 _Bishop of Bath_ (1206-1242), is, after Ken, the most famous of Wells worthies. He came from a local stock, and spent all his time and money on the cathedral church, first as canon, then as bishop for thirty-six years. In 1208, when Pope Innocent III. laid England under an interdict, the bishop published it in his own diocese, and then fled the country, leaving his estates to be seized by John. On John's submission to the Pope in 1213, he returned, and two years later stood by Stephen Langton at Runnymede, putting his name as Bishop of Bath and Glas...o...b..ry to _Magna Charta_. When John was dead it was Jocelin who administered the oath to Henry III. at his coronation.

In 1219 Jocelin made terms with Glas...o...b..ry, which Savaric had seized, giving up the abbacy and the t.i.tle in return for four manors. He founded a hospital, re-endowed the Lady ma.s.s which Savaric had inst.i.tuted, increased the number of prebends (the estates, that is, which each maintained a canon) from thirty-five to fifty, provided houses for the canons, and a regular endowment for the vicars-choral, started a grammar school in addition to the choristers' school, and enclosed the bishop's park. But most of all is he famous for having rebuilt the church which Savaric's vagaries had let fall into dilapidation, and for having added to it the n.o.ble west front. So extensive were his repairs that in 1239 a reconsecration was necessary; and three years later he died, "G.o.d," says old Fuller, "to square his great undertakings, giving him a long life to his large heart." He was buried in the midst of the choir as a founder of the church; and as this interment marked out Wells as the chief church in the diocese, the monks of Bath were not told of his death till after he had been buried.

ROGER, _first Bishop of Bath and Wells_ (1244-1247). On Jocelin's death in 1242, the monks of Bath made a last effort to recover the supremacy which had drifted from them. Contrary to the agreement which had been made, they pushed through their own candidate, Roger, without consulting with the Wells chapter, and s.n.a.t.c.hed the regal sanction and papal confirmation for their nominee before the chapter of Wells could make a move. At last, the Pope, after much litigation, decreed that, in order to avoid any further vacancy, Roger's election should be confirmed, but that henceforth the chapter of Wells should have an equal voice in the election of the bishop, who was to use the t.i.tle of Bath and Wells. Roger was buried in his old abbey of Bath; he was, however, the last bishop to be there interred. The words of Peter Heylin are henceforward true of the see:--"The diocese of Bath and Wells, though it hath a double name, is one single bishopric. The bishop's seat was originally at Wells, where it still continues. The style of Bath came in but upon the bye."

WILLIAM b.u.t.tON or BYTTON (1248-1264).

WALTER GIFFARD (1265-1266), a statesman-bishop, took the king's side, and, after the victory of Evesham, was rewarded with the chancellorship and the archbishopric of York.

WILLIAM BYTTON (THE SAINT) (1267-1274). When Robert of Kilwardy, provincial of the Dominicans, was made archbishop, he chose Bytton, on account of his saintliness, to consecrate him; and so great was the impression made by his holy life that he became the object of popular canonisation at his death. Miracles were worked at his tomb, and crowds flocked to it with offerings, especially such as were afflicted with toothache.

ROBERT BURNELL (1275-1292), the greatest lawyer of his day, chancellor of Edward I.; built the hall of the episcopal palace.

WILLIAM OF MARCH OR DE MARCHIA (1293-1302), had been treasurer in 1290. Two unsuccessful efforts were made to obtain his canonisation.

WALTER DE HASELSHAW (1302-1308), successively canon, dean, and bishop.

Under JOHN OF DROKENSFORD (1309-1329) the chapter obtained a strong confirmation of their rights as the result of a violent quarrel with the bishop, who had claimed the power of visiting the churches under capitular jurisdiction.

RALPH OF SHREWSBURY (1329-1363), Chancellor of Oxford, put the finishing stroke to the const.i.tution of the cathedral by founding the College of Vicars. He was a great supporter of the friars, and left them a third of his property. Among his good deeds he disafforested the royal hunting ground of Mendip, and thus did great service to the people, "beef," as Fuller has it, "being better pleasing to the husbandman's palate than venison." At his death he was buried in the place of honour before the high altar, for it was under him that the last great building operations in the church of Wells were completed.

JOHN BARNET (1363-66), translated from Worcester, was soon again moved to Ely. After JOHN HAREWELL (1367-86), who helped to build the south-west tower, and WALTER SKIRLAW (1386-88), RALPH ERGHUM (1388-1400) was translated from Salisbury, and founded at Wells the much-needed college for the fourteen chantry priests, which was destroyed under Edward VI., and of which the memory is preserved in "College Lane." There were now, therefore, three distinct corporations at Wells--the Chapter, the College of Vicars, and the College of Chantry Priests. HENRY BOWETT (1401-1407) was promoted to York.

NICHOLAS BUBWITH (1407-1424) is remembered by the almshouses at Wells which he endowed, by his provision for building the north-west tower, and by his chantry chapel. There was at this time another hospital called the Priory, which has now disappeared. He was one of the English envoys at the Council of Constance. Mandates were sent him by the archbishop for the prosecution of the Lollards, but there is no record of any proceedings having been taken, till JOHN STAFFORD (1425-43) had succeeded him, when one William Curayn was compelled to abjure and receive absolution for some very reasonable heresies.

Stafford was translated to Canterbury.

THOMAS BECKINGTON, or Bekynton (1443-65), was first tutor, then private secretary to Henry VI., and Keeper of the Privy Seal. His many works at Wells are noticed in our other chapters; in his will he states that he spent 6000 marks in repairing and adorning his palaces.

After his death, the mayor and corporation showed their grat.i.tude by going annually to his tomb (p. 125) to pray for his soul.

ROBERT STILLINGTON (1466-91) was a minister of Edward IV., and one of Richard III.'s supporters. Accused in 1487 of helping Lambert Simnel, he was imprisoned at Windsor for the rest of his life. RICHARD FOX (1492-94), Keeper of the Privy Seal, translated to Durham. OLIVER KING (1495-1503), Chief Secretary of Henry VII. A dream moved Bishop Oliver in 1500, to rebuild Bath abbey in the debased Perpendicular style with which we are now familiar.

The celebrated ADRIAN DE CASTELLO (1504-1518) obtained first Hereford and then Wells, as a reward for political services. As he never visited his diocese, his affairs were managed by another famous man, Polydore Vergil, who was archdeacon, and furnished the choir of Wells with hangings, "flourished," says Fuller, "with the laurel tree," and bearing an inscription, _Sunt Polydori munera Vergilii_. Adrian, who was born of humble parents at Cornuto in Tuscany, had been made a cardinal in 1503 by the infamous Pope Alexander VI., and both his archdeacon and himself are prominent figures in Italian history of the period.

CARDINAL WOLSEY (1518-23) was appointed to the see, which he held together with the archbishopric of York; he was therefore Bishop of Bath and Wells only in name, and was soon put in the enjoyment of the richer sees successively of Durham and Winchester. He was followed by JOHN CLERK (1523-41) and WILLIAM KNIGHT (1541-47). The abbey of Bath was now suppressed, so that the bishop's seat was now at Wells alone, and (excepting that the style "Bath and Wells" remained) the see was restored to its original condition before John de Villula migrated to Bath.

WILLIAM BARLOW (1549-54) was translated from St. David's without even the form of a _conge d'elire_. In return for this and certain money payments he made over a large portion of the episcopal property to the greedy Duke of Somerset; he also secured the episcopal manor of Wookey for his own family. The other cathedral estates were similarly treated. Barlow fled at the accession of Mary, but was caught and imprisoned in 1554. He had in Henry's time recanted some Lollard tracts which he had written, and now under Mary he recanted once more.

On the accession of Elizabeth, he (p. 81) accepted the poorer see of Chichester.

GILBERT BOURNE (1554-59) had been Bonner's chaplain. At Elizabeth's accession he was deprived and imprisoned in the Tower. After 1562 he was kept in nominal custody, and died in 1569.

GILBERT BERKELEY (1560-1581) succeeded him. THOMAS G.o.dWIN (1584-90), the historian of Wells, succeeded Berkeley.

Another three years' vacancy was followed by the appointment of JOHN STILL (1593-1607). He and his successors, JAMES MONTAGUE (1608-16), translated to Winchester, ARTHUR LAKE (1616-26), a wise man and "most blessed saint," were mostly occupied in the fight with Puritanism.

William Laud was bishop here for two years (1626-28), but his history belongs to London and Canterbury, whither he was translated. LEONARD MAWE (1628-29), WALTER CURLL (1629-32), translated to Winchester, and WILLIAM PIERS (1632-70) followed. The latter, who put down the Puritan "lectures," and ordered all the altars in his diocese to be set against the east wall and railed in, lived to see all his work undone and then restored again at the accession of Charles II. ROBERT CREYGHTON (1670-72), who had been dean, succeeded him. He was a great musician (p. 113), and his gifts of ornaments to the cathedral have been already mentioned. PETER MEWS (1673-1684) was translated to Winchester.

THOMAS KEN (1685-90), the best and most famous of all the Somerset bishops, has left so great a name in the see, and figured in so many stirring events, that one can hardly believe that he was only given five years in which to use his influence upon history. Before he was made bishop, however, he had already given proof of that quiet courage which was more than once to thwart the will of princes. In 1679 he went to the Hague as chaplain to Mary, the wife of William of Orange.

Here he expressed himself "horribly unsatisfied" with William's unkindness to his wife, and he incurred the Prince's anger by persuading Count Zulestein to marry a lady whom he had seduced. Soon after, when he was living at Winchester, he refused to allow the royal harbinger to use his prebendal house for the lodging of Nell Gwynn, on the occasion of Charles II.'s visit there in 1683. Charles, with characteristic generosity, thought all the more highly of him, and when he was told of the vacant bishopric, said no one should have the see but "the little black fellow who refused his lodging to poor Nelly." Before the year was over, Charles was on his death-bed, and summoned Ken to his side. The bishop persuaded the king to send the d.u.c.h.ess of Portsmouth from the room and to call in the Queen. He then absolved him, although Charles would not receive the communion.