Conclave

Summary. Linking Lichfield Cathedral with the Priory church in Coventry, later a cathedral, caused the problem of who selected the bishop. For two centuries the disagreement was intense and never resolved until the Dissolution of the Priory, 1539.

Four years after the Conquest,1066, Leofwin, Bishop of Lichfield, was summarily dismissed. It was backed by papal legates at the behest of Normans brought in to purge the English church. Leofwin had been too political and had maintained too close an association with the dissentient Earls of Mercia; he might have been related to them. He was never going to be compliant with the new Norman hegemony. They now appointed their bishops who then moved away from Lichfield. First to Chester, c.1072-3, and then to Coventry, c. 1095, the status of the Church of St Chad became very secondary to the associated cathedral in Coventry. Bishop Roger Clinton, 1129-1148, styled himself Bishop of Coventry and also of Chester, but he began to switch the focus of the diocese back to Lichfield; indeed, he quite possibly intended returning the bishopric. This meant the diocese had two cathedrals (initially three with Chester) and two chapters in play. The Benedictine monks of the Priory Church of St Mary, formed in 1102 and later becoming a cathedral, looked to the pope whereas Clinton and on occasions the canons of Lichfield favoured direction from the king.

The tradition for appointing bishops was with the crown and then obtaining confirmation by the pope. This changed with King Steven, 1135-54, who made it the responsibility of the Chapter of the cathedral to find a new bishop. That meant the chapter of the primary Coventry cathedral. This gave rise to a conflict on Lichfield’s right to a say in the election of the bishop. The canons wanted an equal voice with Coventry, but the monks of Coventry denied they had any right to any representation.

When Clinton died, Archbishop Theobald called on the monks of Coventry to elect a bishop and they chose Walter Durdent, the prior at Christ Church, Coventry. According to an account written about 1220 by Prior Geoffrey of Coventry, Theobald had summoned the monks of Coventry to Leicester, where they alone elected Walter bishop. The Canons of Lichfield objected to his selection and when Durdent tried to visit the cathedral the gates around The Close were closed.

 In 1183, the Lichfield Chapter refused to recognise the enthronement of Bishop Gerard La Pucelle. He died at Coventry 3 months later in circumstances that led some to suspect that he had been poisoned, and was buried in Coventry Cathedral.

In 1198, the canons were evicted from Canterbury at the consecration of Geoffrey de Muschamp. He became accepted at Lichfield and died in 1208. He was probably buried at Lichfield but the monks of Coventry vainly protested against the burial.   

 In 1210, the monks appointed a new bishop, but King John stopped it. Lichfield Chapter appointed their own candidate Walter de Gray, a chancellor of England and later Archbishop of York, but the Pope stopped this and instead William de Cornhill became bishop. Disagreement marked the appointment of the next bishop and again the pope intervened and consecrated Alexander de Stavensby. In 1224, Stavensby intervened to prevent the removal from Lichfield of the body of his predecessor, William de Cornhill, which was presumably being claimed by Coventry. In 1236, the monks made it one of their complaints against Stavensby that he called himself Bishop of Lichfield and not, as earlier bishops had done, of Coventry only; de Stavensby claimed that the change had been sanctioned by papal ordinance.

AI rendition of a conclave at Coventry in dispute.

Disagreements continued until 1228 when Pope Gregory IX then decreed that all future elections should be made jointly by Lichfield and Coventry — the first to take place at Coventry with both chapters sitting together, the next at Lichfield, and so on alternately. The Prior of Coventry was to have the first vote in each election. This sharing occurred during the episcopy of Alexander de Stavensby, and when he died, 1238, it is thought he was buried in the cathedral. The concordat continued for the next 100 years, but there was still much conflict on who best to appoint. A further refinement was added in 1255 when it was agreed at future elections the two chapters should be reckoned equal in number, even though one might in fact be more numerous than the other. This agreement with Coventry made it necessary for Lichfield to have a chapterhouse large enough to accommodate both chapters.

Chapterhouse conclave with the bishop in the middle, Benedictine monks from Coventry on the right and Canons of the cathedral on the left.

In the 13th-century, the relationship between Lichfield and Coventry much depended on the personality of the bishop, With Bishop Langton, 1296- 1321, relationships were very good. After his death the quarrel over the right of election flared up once more. The election took place at Coventry, and when the two sides failed to reach agreement, the monks denied that both chapters should be counted as equal in numbers and elected their prior. Lichfield canons appealed to the Pope, Eugenius III, favouring Roger Northburgh to the see. The case dragged on for at least twelve years before finally confirming Northburgh, who then went on to upset the Chapter on many issues.  Northburgh died in 1358 and from 1360 for a hundred years bishops were usually selected by the pope and the king. Their nominations were sent by letter to the chapters to say whom each would accept if elected as bishop.  Apparently, all parties felt they had a share in the elections, and none had the spirit to protest against the other.

Popes were not involved after Reformation, 1534. The Priory Cathedral-Church of St Mary was demolished in 1539. In 1836, Coventry left the diocese of Lichfield and joined Worcester. In 1918, it became its own diocese of Coventry.

References

M. W. Greenslade and R. B. Pugh (eds.) 'House of secular canons - Lichfield cathedral: To the Reformation', in A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3, (London, 1970). 

E. U. Crosby, Bishop and Chapter in the twelfth century England, A study of the Mensa Episcopalis. (Cambridge: 1994). 

H. E. Savage, The Chapter House, St Chad’s Day address, (1919), 14-17. Unpub. article held in Cathedral Library.

W. Beresford, Diocesan Histories. Lichfield (London: 1883).

C. P. Lewis, Communities conflict and episcopal policy in the diocese of Lichfield 1050-1150. (Cambridge: 2012), 75