the second Canon of the Synod of Celcyth held under Archbishop Wulfred in the year 816. directs that Vbi Ecclesia aediâ—icatur à propriae Diocesis Episcopo sanctificetur The Capitular of Charles the Great made at Salz in the year 804. decreeth cap. 3. Quicunque voluerit in suâ proprietate Ecclesiam aedificare uná cum consensu voluntate Episcopi in cujus Parochiâ fuerit licentiam habeat And in this case they were so tender of encroaching upon the Jurisdiction of the Bishop that Princes did not exempt themselves from the same Obligation For so I find in another Capitular Placuit nobis ut nec Capellae in Palatio nostro vel aliubi sine permissu vel jussu Episcopi in cujus est parochiâ fiant To these agree the Constitutions of later Provincial Councils in our Nation as of the Council of London in the year 1102. in which was decreed Can. 15. Ne nova Capella â—iat sine consensu Episcopi and of the Council of Westminster held in the year 1138 in the 12th Canon of which it is ordred Ne quis absque licentiâ Episcopi sui in possessione suâ Ecclesiam vel Oratorium constituat The Bishops approbation was no less necessary in the choice of the Priest who was to officiate in such a private Oratory or Parochial Church and as he could not be admitted without the Bishops consent so neither could he be expelled or dismissed but by him Thus among the Constitutions of Egbert Archbishop of York made about the year 750 the 23th is Vt sine auctoritate vel consensu Episcoporum Presbyteri in quibuslibet Ecclesiis net constituantur nec expellantur Agreeable to which is the Capitular of the Emperour Ludovicus Pius in the year 816. Cap. 9. Sine auctoritate vel consensâ— Episcoporum Presbyteri in quibuslibet Ecclesiis nec constituantur nec expellantur The Bishops power and propriety in these new Foundations extended yet much farther namely to the revenues tithes and oblations wherewith they were endowed For the sole power of receiving and disposing the Ecclesiastical Revenues of the whole Diocess being originally lodged in the Bishops they would not for some time diminish it in favour of any particular foundation but reserved to themselves all the profits and possessions of it of which they allowed to the Priest there officiating as much as they thought fit And when some Great Laymen would have appropriated these particular Revenues to the sole use of the Churches founded by them the joynt authority of Church and State interposed and remitted them to the disposition of the Bishop For so one of the ancient Capitulars directs Multi contra Canonum instituta fiâ— Eccleâ—ias quas aediâ—icaverint postulant consecrari ut dotem quam ejus Eccleâ—iae contulerint ceâ—seant ad Episcopi ordinationem non pertinere Quod factum in praeterito displicet in futuro prohibetur Sed omnia secundum constitutionem antiquam ad Episcopi ordinationem potestatem pertineant Afterwards in some places the Bishops condescended to satisfie themselves with a fourth part of the revenues of these Rural Churches permitting the rest to the Parish-Priest but still directing to what uses it should be imployed by him This appears from another Capitular Instruendi sunt Presbyteri pariterque admonendi quatenus noverint decimas oblationes quas á fidelibus accipiunt non quasi suis sed quasi commendatis uti debere Qualiter verò dispensari debeant Canones sacri instituunt scilicet ut quatuor partes ex omnibus fiant una ad fabricam Ecclesiae relevandam altera pauperibus distribuenda tertia Presbytero cum suis Clericis habenda quarta Episcopo reservanda Et quicquid exinde Pontifex jusserit prudenti consilio est faciendum None of these Private Oratories were allowed to be erected before they were sufficiently endowed for the maintenance of a Priest who might attend the service of them So the 16th Canon of the Council of London in the year 1102 decreeth Ne Ecclesia sacretur donec provideantur necessaria Presbytero Ecclesiae If without such necessary provision a Church were any where erected the Capitular of King Lotharius directs that it be endowed out of the possessions of the Free-men of the place Vt secundum jussionem Domini ac Genitoris nostri unus mansus cum 12 bunuariis de terrâ arabili ibi detur mancipia duo à liberis hominibus qui in eâdem Ecclesia officium debent audire ut Sacerdos ibi posset esse divinus cultus fieri The endowments of those times consisted generally in Glebe or a certain portion of land in Slaves to till that land and in the Oblations of all the Tenants dependants and inhabitants living within the Territories of the Founder As for Tithes they for some while belonged to the common Treasure of the Diocess and seem to have been paid to the Bishop the Christian Converts being taught to pay them as due by divine right and the Priests directed to receive them and account for them to the Bishop as may be gathered out of the fourth and fifth Constitutions of Egbert Archbishop of York So that they being antecedently due to the Cathedral Church the Founders of Rural Churches were not at liberty to make them any part of the endowment until Cathedral Churches being abundantly endowed in Lands and Mannors by the Munificence of pious Princes the Bishops neglected to claim the Tithes of their Diocess to the use of the common treasure of it or remitted them to the several Parochial Churches to encourage the erection of them After which they were always made part of the endowment of such Churches And all these endowments both of Cathedral and Parochial Churches were made in puram perpetuam eleemosynam as the phrase then was not in the nature of Alms in the ordinary and modern sense of that word as some ignorant persons have pretended but in free and irrevocable tenure if I may so speak without any tye burden claim of service or reserved rent upon them whereby they were distinguished from all grants made to Laymen either by the King or by any Great Lords For to these they never granted any Lands or Possessions without reserving some service military or base to be performed for ever by the Tenants or possessors in lieu of them or at least some mark and acknowledgment of their dependance on them â—nd subjection to them from all which the Lands and Revenues of the Clergy were exempted As Christianity prevailed very fast so these Foundations of private Oratories became very numerous almost every Great Man as soon as he was converted to the Christian Religion building one for the convenience of himself his tenants and dependants Before the year 800 they seem to have founded in all parts of the Nation not indeed in the same number as now obtains for of their Subdivision we shall speak
proceeding in such new foundations the Bishops found it necessary to bestow parochial right on many of these Chappels already founded or afterwards to be founded which they did by conferring on them the right of burial and hallowing Cemiteries near to them for that purpose By this means they were made distinct Parishes and freed from any dependance upon the Churches of the first foundation Yet that the latter might not suffer any great diminution of their former Revenues no more than a third part of the Tithes were allowed to the Incumbents of any Churches of the new foundation But if the Bishop did not grant the right of burial to them they still continued in their former condition and paid their whole Tithe to the Incumbent of the Mother-Church So the Laws of King Edgar made in the year 967. appoint That if any Lord would build a Church in his own Lands within the limits of any Parish he might pay a third part of his Tithes to it Quisque Decimas suas Ecclesiae primariae seu matrici persolvat Si quis autem Thanus Ecclesiam in terrâ propriâ intra Parachiae praedictae limites fundare velit ei Decimarum suarum trientem persolvere possit This Law is confirmed and explained in the Ecclesiastical Laws of King Canutus made about the year 1032. in these words Thanus si in solo suo Templum habuerit cui locus adjaceat Sepulturae destinatus Decimaâ—um suarum trientem in id conferre ei potestas esto Sin circa Templum nullus fuerit designatas humationi locus tum qui est fundi Dominus dato Sacerdoti novem partium reliquarum quantulum ei visum fuerit paying his whole Tithe to the Mother-Church The same method of making any new Church to be Parochial and independent by conferring on it the right of burial was observed before this time in Wales as appears from the Laws of Howel Dha of which the 35th is Si regiâ dante licentiâ in rusticanâ Villâ Ecclesia construatur in eâ Missae celebrentur in atrio illius corpora sepelientur ex tunc libera erit illa villa By this encouragement new Churches and chappels began to be erected so fast as in many places to become inconvenient by impoverishing too much the ancient Revenue of the Churches of the first foundation So that it was found necessary to dissolve or demolish some of them and the execution of this was left to the discretion of the Bishops Before this no new Church could be erected without the Bishops leave much less the right of baptism and burial be given to it by any other than by him So the 7th Canon of the Synod of Veru in the year 755. Publicum baptisterium in nulla Parochiâ esse debet nisi ubi Episcopus constituerit cujus Parochia est Yet the Bishops either through negligence or to gratifie the importunity of Lay-Patrons or encrease their own Revenue by multiplying the number of Synodals and Procurations had in some places permitted too many Churches to be erected and the ancient Parishes to be subdivided too farr Against this the third Capitular of Charles the Great made in the year 803. provides cap. 1. that such unnecessary Churches should be demolished De Ecclesiis emendandis ubi uno in loco plures fuerint quà m necesse sit ut destruantur quae necessariae non sunt The Capitular of King Lothaire directs the same to be done altho the Church should be necessary in case it be not endowed Si in uno loco plures Ecclesiae sint quà m necesse sit destruantur Quòd si forte in aliquo loco sit Ecclesia constituta quae tamen necessaria sit nihil dotis habuerit volumus ut à liberis hominibus ibi detur c. Quòd si hoc populus facere noluerit destruatur The Capitular of Charles the Bald made at Tholouse in the year 844. restrains the further multiplication of Parish Churches unless upon evident necessity cap. 7. Episcopi Parochias Presbyterorum propter inhonestum periculosum lucrum non divident Sed si necessitas populi exegerit ut plures fiant Ecclesiae aut statuantur Altaria cum ratione hoc faciant sc ut si longitudo aut periculum aquae aut silvae aut alicujus certae rationis vel necessitatis causa poposcerit ut populus ad Ecclesiam principalem non possit occurrere statuatur Altare c. In England as the first foundation of Parochial Churches and Cures was much later than in France so also the subdivision of them and all the benefits or inconveniencies of it The first complaint which I find to have been made in our Nation of the too great multiplication of Churches of the new foundation is in the Additaments of the Laws of Edward the Confessor wherein it is said that there were now three or four Churches in many places where anciently was but one to the great diminution of the Revenues of the ancient Clergy Multis in locis modò sunt tres vel quatuor Ecclesiae ubi tunc temporis una tantum erat sic decimae singulorum Sacerdotum coeperant minui Long before the time of the Confessor the Parochial division of England was brought to so great perâ—ection that it was known and fixed to which Parish every man did belong So the Ecclesiastical Canons published in the time of King Edgar require that every Priest should present to the Synod the names of such in his Parish as were contumacious or guilty of any heinous sin that he should admonish every one of his Parish quosque per Paraeciam suam to bring their Children to be baptized that no Priest intermeddle in the business of another Priest nec in suâ Ecclesiâ nec in suâ Parochiâ And the Laws of King Canutus command that if any one be buried out of the limits of his Parish extra suae Parochiae fines yet that the fees of his burial should be paid to that Church to which he did of right belong But before the time of the Confessor that very division of Parishes was generally fixed which now obtains in England as appears from Dooms-day Book in which the Towns and Parishes do very near agree to the present division Some Churches indeed were erected and obtained Parochial right after the Conquest but the number of them was not great Before or about the time of the same King most of the Churches of the second foundation seem to have become wholly independent of the Churches of the first foundation and to have received not only a third part but the whole of the Tithe of their several districts whether that happened through the negligence of the Incumbents of the Mother-Churches or by the appointment of the Bishops to settle at last a sufficient maintenance on the Priests of these new Churches or by publick Law is uncertain In France it was first began by the Constitution
the Cathedral Church This was not only done by the Roman Bishops and their Disciples and Converts in England according to the direction of Pope Gregory but also by the Scotch Clergy and their disciples in England particularly by Aidan Bishop of the Northumbers as Bede often relates whose Disciples converted the larger part of England 2. That there were at this time several Churches erected in divers parts of the Diocesses which the Converts remote from the Cathedral Church frequented and made their Oblations in them For both the Roman and Scotch Clergy applied themselves with great assiduity to propagate the Faith and finding great zeal and devotion in their Converts were soon enabled by them to erect auxiliary Churches in several parts of the Diocesses Thus Bede relates of Birinus first Bishop of the West Saxons who came into England about thirty years after Augustin that having built and dedicated several Churches in his Diocess of Dorchester and converted much People he made a pious end 3. That as well the Oblations made in these auxiliary Churches as the other Revenues of the Church belonged entirely to the disposition of the Bishop who set apart a certain portion of it to the inferiour Clergy and divided that among them in such proportion as himself pleased the Clergy being obliged to bring with them all the Oblations made in the auxiliary Churches at their return to the Cathedral Church and College after their finishing their course of preaching and serving in these Churches For as yet there were no other than Itinerant Preachers or Priests sent by the Bishop from the Cathedral Church at certain times to celebrate and preach in the Rural Churches of such a division which being done they returned to the Bishop who sent others again to perform the same duty when himself thought convenient That this was the constant received discipline of the English Church about the year 664 Bede expresly witnesseth in these words Si quis Sacerdotum in vicum fortè devenerit mox congregati in unum Vicani Verbum Vitae ab illo expetere curabant Nam neque alia ipsis Sacerdotibus aut Clericis vicos adeundi quà m praedicandi baptizandi infirmos visitandi ut breviter dicam animas curandi causa fuit Vbicunque Clericus aliquis aut Monachus adveniret gaudenter ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus exciperetur Etiamsi in itinere pergens inveniretur accurrebant verbis horum exhortatoriis diligenter auditum praebebant And to the same purpose in another place Erat quippe moris eo tempore populis Anglorum ut veniente in Villam Clerico vel Presbytero cuncti ad ejus imperium verbum audituri confluerent libenter ea quae dicerentur audirent libentiùs quae andire intelligere poterant operando sequerentur And that the same method was generally practiced at least in the Northern Diocesses of England when Bede finished his History in the year 731. is evident from several places So that at that time there were no other than Pluralist Clergy-men if they may be so called who had not the care of any particular Parish or Parishes committed to them but executed their Office in this or that or all the Churches of the Diocess as the Bishop should direct them It must not be imagined that those Rural Churches which were so early erected had any certain bounds yet assigned to them or were made Parochial properly so called but only served to receive as many of the neighbouring Converts from whatever distance as pleased to frequent them that so they might with convenience receive the benefit of the holy Offices and Sacraments without being obliged to come to the Cathedral Church So that these Rural Churches were in a strict and proper sense no other than Chappels of ease to the Mother or Cathedral Church It is indeed a common errour among our Historians that the division of Diocesses into Parishes in England was made in the time of Archbishop Honorius who presided about thirty years after the death of Augustin For this they are wont to alledge Archbishop Parker in the Life of Honorius where he saith Neque solùm Episcopos super imposuit sed etiam Provinciam suam primus in Parâ—chias dividens inferiores Ministros ordinavit This that learned Archbishop seems to have transcribed from some more ancient Historian who did not so aptly express what he intended to relate The truth is that in the time of Honorius there was made a second division of the Province of Canterbury into Diocesses and Bishops setled in these new Diocesses For in his time the Episcopal Sees of Dorchester and Dunwich were founded which were the only Sees founded since the time of Augustin This division gave occasion to those words of the Historian But as for the division of Diocesses into Parishes that was not yet thought of In this manner then Cathedral Churches were founded and endowed by the Kings of the several parts of the Saxon Heptarchy for the general good of the several Diocesses that is of their several Kingdoms For it is to be observed that in the first foundation of Bishopricks among the Saxons the Diocesses had the same limits with the Kingdoms and so continue at this day as many of them as have not been yet subdivided The first subdivision was made in the Diocess of York by Archbishop Theodore Now as Kings first founded Cathedrals for the good of their whole Kingdoms so great men first founded Parochial Churches for the particular good of themselves their families and Tenants For at that time the great men possessed ample Territories within themselves wherein all the Inhabitants were no other than their Servants tilling their lands and doing other services to them When therefore Christianity began to prevail apace many Laymen of great Estates would desire the constant residence of some Priest among them who might be always ready to instruct themselves their families and adjoyning Tenants either incited by their own devotion or because it was not easie without it to keep their Tenants together Oratories and Churches were for this end erected by them which being consecrated by the Bishop were by the Founders or Patrons endowed with peculiar Maintenance for the Incumbent which should there reside and execute the holy Function within the limits appointed by the Patron which were no other than the bounds or territory of his own demesnes tenancies or neighbouring possessions Some foundations of this kind are mentioned by Bede made about the year 700. as of Puch a Saxon Count who invited John Bishop of Hexham ad dedicandam Ecclesiam in villâ suâ and of Addiâ Saxon Count whoat another time invited the same holy Bishop to perform the like Office for him Not only the Bishops Consecration was necessary to prepare these Rural Churches for the Celebration of Divine Offices therein but his consent also and approbation was necessary to their erection and to the determination of their limits Thus