FISHES AND FISHING. 145 



of that religious house, as stated to Henry the 

 Eighth. 



Nigel, in his charter, stigmatises the conduct of his 

 predecessor very strongly : he commences by saying 

 he is the "first consecrated' 1 Bishop of Ely, thereby 

 leading to the inference that there was no former 

 bishop authorised to exercise the episcopal functions. 

 Now, there was "Hervey," who was Bishop of 

 Bangor, from which see he was ejected by the Welch, 

 and was then appointed by the King to take upon 

 himself the government of the Abbey during the 

 vacancy. The last abbot, who was of royal parentage, 

 had obtained a license from the King (Henry First), 

 and the consent of the Pope, to convert the abbey 

 into a bishopric, but died before the change was 

 effected; this man, Hervey, revived the proposed 

 idea of the change, and induced the king to make 

 him the first Bishop of Ely ; he having been Bishop 

 of Bangor, had been as a matter of necessity conse 

 crated, and did not require any repetition of that 

 ceremony, therefore the assumption by Nigel of being 

 first consecrated Bishop of Ely was priestly arrogant 

 impertinence. 



By the charter of Nigel he gave the monks one 

 measure of land with fire acres of woodland, and 

 eight acres of meadow, whereon the oxen may feed, 

 which draw the wood, and their vineyard in Ely, 



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