ELY
396
ELY
insula. The exact year in which it was held is a mat-
ter of controversy upon which much has been written.
Some copies of its Acts contain a date which corre-
sponds with the year 324 of our reckoning; by some
writers the council has accordingly been assigned to
that year. Hardouin suggests 313, Mansi 309, and
Hefele 305 or 306. Recent opinion (Duchesne, see
Ijelow) would put the date considerably earlier, from
300 to 303, consequently previous to the persecution
of Diocletian. The principal bishop attending the
council was the famous Hosius of Cordova. Twenty-
six priests are also recorded as sit ting with the bishops.
Its eighty-one canons were, however, subscribed
only by the bishops. These canons, all disciplinary,
throw much light on the religious and ecclesiastical
life of Spanish Christians on the eve of the triumph of
Christianity. They deal with marriage, baptism,
idolatry, fasting, excommunication, the cemeteries,
usury, vigils, frequentation of Mass, the relations of
Christians with pagans, Jews, heretics, etc. In canon
xxxiii we have, says Hefele (op. cit. below), the oldest
positive ecclesiastical ordinance concerning the celi-
bacy of the clergy. Canon xiii exhibits the institution
of nuns {virgines Deo sacratcv) as long familiar to
Spain. Canon xxxvi (placuit picturas in ecclesia esse
non debere ne quod colitur et adoratur in parietibus
tlepingatur) has often been urged against the venera-
tion of images as practised in the Catholic Church.
Binterim, De Rossi, and Hefele interpret this prohibi-
tion as directed against the use of images in over-
ground churches only, lest the pagans should carica-
ture sacred scenes and ideas; Von Funk, Turmel, and
Dom Leclercq opine that the council did not pro-
nounce as to the hceity or non-liceity of the use of
images, but as an administrative measure simply for-
bade them, lest new and weak converts from paganism
should incur thereby any danger of relapse into idola-
try, or be scandalized by certain superstitious excesses
in no way approved by the ecclesiastical authority.
(See Von Funk in "Tubingen Quartalschrift", 1SS3,
270-78; Xolte in "Rev. des Sciences eccl^siastiques",
1877, 482-84; Turmel in "Rev. du clerge fran^ais",
1906, XLV, 508.) Several other canons of this council
offer much interest to students of Christian archeology.
(See text and commentary in Hefele-Leclercq,
"Hist, des Conciles," I, 212 sqq.)
Mansi, Coll. Cone., II, 1 sqq.; Baro.^jius, Annales, ad an. 305; RouTH. Retiquice Sacra:, III, 253; Dale, The Synod of Elvira and Christian Life in the Fourth Century (London, 1SS2); Leclercq, L'Espaffne chretienne {Paris, 1907); Hahnack, Chronologic der altchr. Lift., II, 450; Duchesne, Le concile d'Elvire et les flamines chrHima in Melanges Renier (Paris, 1SS6); Hefele-Leclehcq, Hist, des Conciles, new French tr. (Paris, 1907), 212-64.
Arthur S. Baknes.
Ely (Elia or Elts), Ancient Diocese of (Eli- ENSis), in England. The earliest historical notice of Ely is given by Venerable Bede who writes (Hist. Eccl., IV, xix): "Ely is in the province of the East- Angles, a country of about six hundred families, in the nature of an island, enclosed either with marshes or waters, and therefore it lias its name from the great abundance of eels which are taken in those marshes." This district was assigned in 649 to Etheldreda, or Audrey, daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, as a dowry on her marriage with Tonbert- of the South Girv'ii. After her seoond marriage to Egfrid, King of Northumbria, she became a nun, and in 673 returned to Ely and founded a monastery on the site of the present cathedral. As endowment she gave it her entire principality of the isle, from which subsequent Bishops of Ely derived their temporal power. St. Kt hclilroda died in 679, and her shrine became a place of pilgrimage. In 870 the monasterj- was destroyed by the Danes, having already given to the Church four sainted abbesses, Sts. Etlicldreda, Sexburga, Er- menilda, and Werburga. I'robalily under their rule there was a community of monks as well as a convent
of nuns, but when in 970 the monastery was restored
by King Edgar and Bishop Ethelwold it was a founda-
tion for monks only. For more than a century the
monastery flourished, till about the year 1105 Abbot
Richard suggested the creation of the See of Ely, to
relieve the enormous Diocese of Lincoln. The pope's
brief erecting the new bishopric w'as issued 21 Nov.,
1108, and in Oct., 1109, the king granted his charter,
the first bishop being Harvey, formerly Bishop of
Bangor. The monastery church thus became one of
the "conventual" cathedrals. Of this building the
transepts and two bays of the nave already existed,
and in 1170 the nave as it stands to-day (a complete
and perfect specimen of late Norman work) was fin-
ished. .\s the bishops succeeded to the principality
of St. Etheldreda they enjoyed palatine power and
great resources.
Much of their
wealth they spent
on their cathedral,
with the result
that Ely can show
beautiful e x a m -
pies of Gothic ar-
chitecture of every
period, including
two unique fea-
tures, the un-
rivalled Galilee
porch (1198-1215)
and the central oc-
tagon (1.322-1328)
which rises from
the whole breadth
of the buiUling and
towers up until its
roof forms the only
Gothic dome in ex-
istence. The west-
ern tower (215
feet) was built be-
tween 1174 and
1197, and the octa-
gon was added to
it in 1400. Of the cathedral as a whole it is true
that "a more vast, magnificent and beautiful display
of ecclesiastical architecture and especially of the
different periods of the pointed style can scarcely
be conceived" (Winkles, English Cathedrals, 11,46).
It is fortunate in having perfect specimens of each of
the successive styles of Gothic architecture: the
Early English Galilee porch, the Decorated lady-
chapel (1321-1349), and the Perpendicular chantry of
Bishop Alcock (c. 1500).
The original Catholic diocese was much smaller than the present Anglican see and consisted of Cambridge- shire alone, while even of this county a small part belonged to Norwich diocese. The bishops of Ely usually held high office in the State and the roll includes many names of famous statesmen, includ- ing eight lord chancellors (marked *) and six lord treasurers (marked t)- Two bishops — John de Fon- tibus and Hugh Belsham — were reputed as saints, but never received formal cultus; the former was commemorated on 19 June. The following is the list of bishops:
Interior of Ely CATHEnR\L, Loo
ING West from Choir Siiowing famous octagon and lante
Harvey, 1109
Nigel, "11.331
Geoffrey Riddell, 1174
William Longchamp,
1189* Eustace, 1198* John de Fontibus, 1220t Geoffrey de Burgh, 1225 Hugh Norwold, 1229 William de Kilkenny,
1255*
Hugh Belsham, 1257
John Kirkby, 1286t
William de Louth, 1290
Ralph Walpole, 1299
Robert Orford, 1.302
John Keeton, 1310
John Hotham, 1316*t
Simon Montacute, 1337
Thomas de Lisle, 1345
Simon Langham, 1.362*
John Barnet, 1366t
