The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.
The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The bishop's seat (cathedra) is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the city of Lincoln. The cathedral was originally a minster church founded around 653 and refounded as a cathedral in 1072. Until the 1530s the bishops were in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
The medieval Bishop's Palace lies immediately to the south of the cathedral in Palace Yard; managed by English Heritage, it is open to visitors. A later residence (first used by Bishop Edward King in 1885) on the same site was converted from office accommodation to reopen in 2009 as a 16-bedroom conference centre and wedding venue. It is now known as Edward King House and provides offices for the bishops, archdeacons and diocesan staff. A 14-bedroom house (Bishop's House) on Eastgate was the official residence in use from 1948 until 2011, when the bishop's office staff and home were separated, allowing the incoming bishop, Christopher Lowson, to live in a modern five-bedroom house. A further residence of the mediaeval Bishops of Lincoln was Banbury Castle, built in 1135 by Alexander of Lincoln, Bishop of Lincoln and retained by the see until 1547.
History
The Anglo-Saxon dioceses of Lindsey and Leicester were established when the large Diocese of Mercia was divided in the late 7th century into the bishoprics of Lichfield and Leicester (for Mercia itself), Worcester (for the Hwicce), Hereford (for the Magonsæte) and Lindsey (for the Lindisfaras). The historic Bishop of Dorchester was a prelate who administered the Diocese of Dorchester in the Anglo-Saxon period. The bishop's seat, or cathedra, was at the cathedral in Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.
In the 660s the seat at Dorchester-on-Thames was abandoned, but briefly in the late 670s it was once more a bishop's seat under Ætla, under Mercian control.Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 48-49 The town of Dorchester again became the seat of a bishop in around 875, when the Mercian Bishop of Leicester transferred his seat there. The diocese merged with that of Lindsey in 971; the bishop's seat was moved to Lincoln in 1072 and thus the Mercian Bishops of Dorchester were succeeded by the Bishops of Lincoln.
The first bishops of Leicester were originally prelates who administered an Anglo-Saxon diocese between the 7th and 9th centuries. The bishopric fell victim to the invasion by the Danes and the episcopal see was transferred to Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.
The dioceses of Lindsey and Leicester continued until the Danish Viking invasions and establishment of the Danelaw in the 9th century. The see of Leicester was transferred to Dorchester, now in Oxfordshire, sometime between 869 and 888. After an interruption, the see of Lindsey was resumed until it was united with the bishopric of Dorchester in the early 11th century. The diocese was the largest in England, extending from the River Thames to the Humber Estuary.
In 1072, Remigius de Fécamp moved the see of Dorchester to Lincoln, but the bishops of Lincoln retained significant landholdings within Oxfordshire. Because of this historic link, for a long time Banbury remained a "peculiar" of the Bishop of Lincoln.
Until the 1530s the bishops were in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. During the English Reformation they changed their allegiance back and forth between the crown and the papacy. Under Henry VIII and Edward VI, the bishops conformed to the Church of England, but under Mary I they adhered to the Roman Catholic Church. Since the English Reformation, the bishops and diocese of Lincoln have been part of the reformed Church of England, and the Anglican Communion.
The dioceses of Oxford and Peterborough were created in 1541, out of parts of the Diocese of Lincoln. The county of Leicestershire was transferred from Lincoln to Peterborough in 1837.
List of bishops of Lincoln
Pre-Reformation bishops Bishops of LeicesterFromUntilIncumbentNotes679 c.691 Cuthwine 692 705 Wilfrid Translated from York; later transferred to Hexham709 c.716/727 Headda also Bishop of Lichfieldc.716/727 737 Aldwine also Bishop of Lichfield737 764 Torhthelm 764 c.781/785 Eadbeorht c.781/785 c.801/803 Unwona c.801/803 c.814/816 Wernbeorht c.814/816 839 or 840 Hræthhun 839 or 840 c.840/844 Ealdred c.840/844 c.869/888 Ceolred In the late 9th century, the episcopal see of Leicester was moved to Dorchester. Source(s):Leicester Cathedral: History . Retrieved on 22 November 2008., Handbook of British Chronology, p. 238.The Saxon Bishops of Leicester, Lindsey (Syddensis), and Dorchester. By D. P. Kirby. Retrieved on 22 November 2008. Bishops of DorchesterFromUntilIncumbentNotes betw. 869 x 888 betw. 893 x 896 Harlardus Also recorded as Alhheard; Eahlheard. betw. 893 x 900 betw. 903 x 909 Wigmund or Wilferth 909 betw. 909 x 925 Coenwulf Also recorded as Kenulphus betw. 909 x 925 betw. 934 x 945 Wynsige betw. 934 x 945 betw. 949 x 950 Æthelwold 949 or 950 971 Oscytel Also Archbishop of York (956–971). 971 betw. 971 x 975 Leofwine Bishop of Lindsey; united the sees of Dorchester and of Lindsey in 971, bishops of the united diocese known as Bishop of Dorchester betw. 971 x 975 betw. 975 x 979 Alnothus Also recorded as Alfnoth betw. 975 x 979 23 April 1002 Æscwig Also recorded as Œswy; Ascwinus. 1002 betw. 1007 x 1009 Ælfhelm Also recorded as Alfhelmus. betw. 1007 x 1009 18 October 1016 Eadnoth (I.) Also recorded as Eadnothus. Abbot of Ramsey; killed at the battle of Assandun. 1016 8 December 1034 Æthelric Also recorded as Eadhericus; Brihtmær. 1034 18/19 September 1049 Eadnoth (II.) Also recorded as Eadnothus. Bishop of Dorchester, Leicester, and Lindey. 1049 14 September 1052 Ulfus Normanus Also recorded as Ulf. Royal priest; suspended at the Council of Vercelli 1050; expelled 1053 1067 Wulfwig Also recorded as Wulfinus. Royal priest. 1067 1072 Remigius de Fécamp Also recorded as Remigius de Feschamp. Moved the see to Lincoln Source(s):