ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



metropolitical jurisdiction of York. It is this which makes the early 

 history of the church of Carlisle so unique. For almost the whole of 

 his episcopate Adelulf was an English bishop beneficed in the kingdom 

 of Scotland. After his death in 1156, though the district reverted in 

 the following year to English sovereignty, 1 no successor was appointed 

 for almost half a century. During this long vacancy the diocese was 

 reckoned a unit of the northern province administered by an archdeacon, 

 with the assistance of a suffragan of York for the performance of ponti- 

 fical offices. 2 While Adelulf lived he must have resided at his cathedral 

 church, of which he was the head and in which he had his ' stool ' or 

 ' cathedra.' Owing to the peculiar vicissitudes of the see at this time, 

 the early growth of the capitular institution at Carlisle is involved in no 

 little obscurity. But there can be no question, as we shall learn from 

 subsequent proceedings, that throughout the first episcopate the endow- 

 ments of the bishopric and the priory were held to be indivisible, and 

 that the bishop had no real property distinct from his cathedral church. 3 

 The King of England was fortunate in his choice of the first bishop 

 of Carlisle. Of all the prelates who have ruled the northern diocese Adelulf 

 is pre-eminent, not only as a great churchman gifted with the will and 

 the power to organize the new foundation, but also as a wise statesman 

 and diplomatist capable of reconciling the many conflicting interests 

 arising from his political position. Before he was raised to the see he 

 was a personage of considerable influence at the English and Scottish 

 courts. It is said by Eadmer that Henry I would not put an English- 

 man even at the head of a monastery ; but if it be true that Adelulf was 

 not a Norman, as we may fairly infer from his name, the historian's rule 

 may be regarded as affording the usual exception. In any case it must 

 be confessed that his qualifications eminently fitted him to fill with dis- 

 tinction the difficult post to which he had been nominated. Though 

 his diocese had been incorporated with the kingdom of Scotland, he was 

 often employed on English affairs, and attended the English court on its 

 peregrinations in various parts of England and on the continent. It is, 

 however, a matter of doubt whether Adelulf was able to take up the 

 administration of his diocese immediately after his consecration. The 

 retirement of John, bishop of Glasgow, to the monastery of Tyron as 



Roger de Wendover (Rolls Series), i. 16. 



2 Though there was no bishop of Carlisle, the district retained a separate existence as a diocese, 

 and did not become an archdeaconry of Carlisle within the archdiocese of York. When Uctred, son 

 of Fergus, conferred the church of Torpenhow on the abbey of Holyrood, the canons of that place 

 were empowered to hold it as freely ' sicut aliqua ecclesia in toto episcopatu Karloliensi ' (Liber Cartarum 

 Sancte Cruets [Bannatyne Club], pp. 19, 20). Christian, bishop of Candida Casa, often ministered in the 

 diocese of Carlisle, while it was vacant, as suffragan of York. He was present at the foundation of the 

 priory of Lanercost about the year 1169 (Reg. of Lanercost, MS. i. i). In 1159 and 1160 the sheriff 

 of Cumberland allowed him 14*. Sd. in each year, no doubt as a reward for his services (Pipe Rolls 

 [Cumberland], 5 and 6 Hen. II.). Bishop Christian died at Holmcultram in 1186 (Chron. de Mailros 

 [Bannatyne Club], 95). 



3 There were of course endowments of a spiritual nature which belonged to the bishop alone. 

 For example, Archbishop Thurstin gave him the prebend of St. Peter's, York (Cal. of Papal Letters, i. 91). 

 The Pipe Roll of 1188 gives an account of the episcopal revenues apart from those of the priory at that 

 date. 



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