The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight Ely (, rhyming with "freely" is a Cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England. In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. The Province of Canterbury, also called the Southern Province, is one of two Ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England.
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 see in the City of Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity. History Cambridgeshire is noted as the site of some of the earliest known Neolithic permanent settlement in the United Kingdom, along with sites at Fengate The Soke of Peterborough is an historic area of England that is traditionally associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. An episcopal see is the ecclesiastical domain of authority of a Bishop. Ely (, rhyming with "freely" is a Cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England. Ely Cathedral (in full The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely) is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely
The current bishop is the Right Reverend Dr Anthony John Russell, BA, DPhil, the 68th Lord Bishop of Ely, who signs +Anthony Elien:. Dr Anthony John Russell (born January 25, 1943) is the current Bishop of Ely in the Church of England. The Bishops of Ely now reside in the Bishop's House, Ely, the former Cathedral Deanery.
History
- See also: List of bishops of Ely
The earliest historical notice of Ely is given by the Venerable Bede who writes (Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, IV, xix):
- "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. The roots of the Diocese of Ely are ancient and the area of Ely was part of the patrimony of Saint Etheldreda. Bede (ˈbiːd (also Saint Bede, the Venerable Bede, or (from Latin Beda (beda (c The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (in English: Ecclesiastical History of the English People) is a work in Latin by the The Kingdom of the East Angles or Kingdom of East Anglia was one of the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. "
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. Æthelthryth, or Æðelþryð, (c 636 - June 23 679) is the proper name for the popular Anglo-Saxon Saint almost universally Anna was a mid-7th century King of East Anglia. He was the nephew of Raedwald of East Anglia, and probably the second of the sons of Eni, Raedwald's brother 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. Ecgfrith (c 645– May 20, 685) was the King of Northumbria from 670 until his death 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, Saints Æthelthryth, her sister Seaxburgh, the latter's daughter Ermenilda, and Ermenilda's daughter Werburgh. Saint Seaxburh or Saint Sexburga of Ely (died c 699 was an Anglo-Saxon king's daughter an Abbess and Saint of the Christian Church Saint Ermenilda (or Eormenhild, Ermenildis, Ermengild) (d700 or 703 was the daughter of king Eorcenberht of Kent and saint Seaxburh of Werburgh (also known as Werburga) (d February 3 699 at Trentham) is an English Saint and the Patron saint of 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 Bishop 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 Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. 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. Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Events 539 BC - King Cyrus The Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost Henry I (c 1068/1069 – 1 December 1135) was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror, the first King of England after the Norman Hervey le Breton (also known as Hervé le Breton) (died 30 August 1131 was a Breton cleric who became Bishop of Bangor and later Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Bangor is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese 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. Ely Cathedral (in full The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely) is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely They also had a London residence called Ely Place. Ely Place Dublin Ely Place is a gated road at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden in London, England.
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. Bishop John Alcock (1486-1500) was the founder of Jesus College, Cambridge. Jesus College in the University of Cambridge was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely. Bishop Goodrich wqas 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. Lancelot Andrewes (1555 – 25 September 1626) was an English clergyman and scholar who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns Matthew Wren ( December 3, 1585 &ndash April 24, 1667) was an influential English clergyman and scholar Peter Gunning (1614&ndash July 6, 1684) was an English Royalist church leader Bishop of Chichester and later of Ely. Simon Patrick (1626-1707 English divine, was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, on the 8th of September 1626 and attended Boston Grammar
Sources
- Haydn's Book of Dignities (1894) Joseph Haydn/Horace Ockerby, reprinted 1969
- Whitaker's Almanack 1883 to 2004, Joseph Whitaker and Sons Ltd/A&C Black, London
- Catholic Encyclopaedia, 1908
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