DINOOTH
798
DIOCESAN
martyrdom. Stow gives 10 July, the Gray Friars'
"Chronicle" and Wriothesley, 9 July. For the story
of the suppression of tlie Knights of St. John in Eng-
land, see Stow, "Chronicle", pp. 579, 580. The gate-
way tower and the crj'pt of the church of tlieir great
priory at Clerkenwell are still standing.
Bede Camm.
Dinooth, Saint (Dinothus, DnN.\WD, Dunod), founder and first Abbot of Bangor Iscoed (Flintsliire); flourished between 500 and 542. He was originally a North British chieftain driven by reverses of fortune into Wales. In conjunction with his three sons, Deiniol, Cynwyl, and Gwarthan, and under the pa- tronage of Cyngen, Prince of Powj's, he founded the monastery of Bangor on the Dee, which must not be confounded with Bangor in Carnarvonshire, founded by St. Deiniol in 514, and afterwards a cathedral city. The community at Bangor was very numerous, and the laus perennis was established there. The Triads say there were 2400 monks, who in turn, 100 each hour, sang the Divine Service day and night. More is known of this famous monastery than of its founder. He is mentioned by Bede (Hist. Ecel., ii. 2) in con- nexion with the second conference at Augustine's Oak, but no authority is given for the statement, and there are arguments against its correctness. The Conference was probably held in 602 or 603, at which time St. Dinooth would have been far advanced in years, and the journey from North Wales to the Lower Severn would have been a difficult one for an aged man. It is true that delegates from Bangor attended the confer- ence which was convened by St. Augustine to raise the moral and spiritual condition of the British clergy, to wean them from their old method of computing Easter, to which they clung with great tenacity, and to induce them to co-operate with him in converting the Anglo-Saxons. The document purporting to be St. Dinooth's "Answer" (printed in Ilaildan and Stubbs, Councils of Gt. Britain and Ireland, i, 122) is the sole ground for connecting his name with this con- ference; but it is extremely doubtful whether the "Answer" has anything to do with this conference at all. St. Augustine's name is not mentioned in it, neither is there any allusion to the evangelization of the English. It contains merely a firm repudiation of papal authority and an assertion of the supremacy of "the Bishop of Caerlcon upon U.sk" over the British Church. Some time before the supposed tlate of the document St. David had transferred the priinatial See of Wales to Menevia. What is more authentic, how- ever, is the fact that in consequence of the British delegates' refusal to agree to St. Augustine's proposals he prophesied their destruction by the English. In 613, when the monks of Bangor were praying for the success of their countrymen in battle against the army of Ethelfrid of Northumbria, twelve hundred of them were slain, being mistaken for combatants. The monastery itself was probably biu'nt about sixty years later (Haddan and Stubb.><, i, 125), and extensive ruins remained for several centuries, which are described by William of Malmesbury, ('amden, and Lelaiid.
Rees, Lives of Cambro-British Saints (Llandovery, 1S53): Hole in Diet, of Christ. Biog., s. v.
G. Cyprian Alston.
Diocaesarea (1), a titular see in Paliestina Secunda. Diocipsarea is a later name of the town known to the Rabbis as Sippori, "the bird", also called Scp|ihoris (Gr. 2^ff0upi5). Though not mentioned in the Bible, it w;us in its time one of the largest towns of Galilee. Gabinius established there (56 b. c.) one of the five provincial sanhedrins (.Josephus, Ant. Jud., XIV, v, 4). Herod the Great easily retook it from Antigoiuis, 39 B. c. (Ant. Jud., XIV, XV, 4). In a. d. 3, it was captured by a rebel, Judas, and his banditti, but was retaken by Aretas, the Arab King of Pctra and ally of
the Romans. He destroyed it completely, and sold
the inhabitants as slaves. In the following year
Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee, rebuilt the town
and dedicated it to the emperor (Ant. Jud., XVIII, ii,
1), at which time it must have been called Diocfrsarea.
When, in A. d. 66, the great Jewish revolt broke out,
the inhabitants would have no share in it, sent away
their governor, the celebrated historian Flavins
Josephus, and invited Cestius Gallus, Prefect of Syria,
to occupy their town with his troops. About ISO the
Great Sanhedrin left the neighbouring village of
Shefr Amar and resided at SepphorLs till it was re-
moved to Tiberias. When Count Joseph, a con-
verted Jew, built a church at Sepphoris (323-37) it
was not yet an episcopal see (St. Epiph., Adversus
haeres., in Migne, P. G., XLI, 409). In 353 the Jews
rebelled again, and the town was destroyed by Em-
peror Galius (Socrates, HLst. eccl., II, xxxiii; Sozomeii,
Hist, eccl., IV, vii). It was soon rebuilt (Theodoret,
Hist, eccl., IV, xxii). It served as a place of exile for
many bishops and monks during the persecution of
Valens. When Sepphoris became an episcopal see
and suffragan of Scythopolis, is unknown. Only two
bishops are known, Marcellinus m 518 and Cyriacus
in 536 (Lequien, Or. christ.. Ill, 713). During the
Crusades Sepphoris played an important role, though
only the necropolis was occupied by a Prankish garri-
son. The springs, at half an hour's distance south-
west of the town, were naturally the site where the
Christian armies awaited the coming of the Saracens
from beyond the Jordan; thus Iving Guy of Lusignan
encamped there before the battle of Hattin, which
caused the loss of Palestine (July, 1187). There also
in April, 1799, Ivleber and Junot rested their troops
before the battle of Mount Thabor. To-day Sefou-
rieh, as it is now called, is inhabited by 3000 fanatic
Mu,ssuhnans; there are preserved the ruins of the
former acropolis, a high tower, two synagogues, the
beautifid chvu'ch of Sts. Joachim and Anna, who,
according to a medieval tradition, were born at Sef)-
phoris. This church, which has been jiartly demol-
ished, has three naves and is 115 by 65 feet m dimen-
sions. It belongs to the Franciscans, who say Mass
there from time to time. (See Guerin, "Description
de la Palestine: Galilee", Paris, 1880, I, 369-79.)
(2) Another Diocaesarea, the native name of which was Prakana, site unknown (Ramsay, Asia Minor, 364 and 454), was situated in Cilicia and a suiTragan of Seleucia. Five Greek bishojis are known from 381 to 787 (Letiuien, II, 1019); for Succensus, about 4.33, see Vailhe, in "Echos d'Orient" (IX, 221). Three Latin titular bishops are known in the fifteenth century (Lequien, III, 12.39; Eubel, II, 160).
(3) Finally, in the fourth century, Nazianzus was also called Diocaesarea (Lequien, I, 409).
S. Vailhe.
Diocesan Chancery, that branch of administration which handles :dl written documents used in the offi- cial government of a diocese. It is in the diocesan chancery that, under the direction of the bishop or his representative, all docimients which concern the dit)- cese are drawn up, copieil, forwarded, and a record kept of all official writings expedited or received. The official charged with the execution of these duties is known as the diocesan chancellor. In many dioceses the chancellor exercises some of the faculties which in other dioceses are exclusively reserved to the vicar- general. This happens more frequently in smaller dioceses, administered directly by the bishop himself, and in which the vicar-general (often not resident in the episcopal city) is called on only when the liishop is absent or hindered. In such casi\s the chancellor is also the confidential secretary of tlie bishop. .\ simi- lar system obtains even in many extensive dioceses which are adniinistered by the bishop with the aid of one or more vicars-general and the diocesan chancery.
