The Old Chapter was the body in effective control of the Roman Catholic Church in England from 1623 until an episcopal hierarchy was restored in 1850 .
33-502: The origin of the body known as the Old Chapter, dates from 1623, when after a period of more than half a century during which there was no episcopal government in England, William Bishop was at length created vicar apostolic . He survived less than a year, but during this period he organized a form of Catholic ecclesiastical government, by means of archdeacons and rural deans , throughout
66-447: A Vicar Apostolic and demanding an Ordinary." In practice, they submitted, and ceased to exercise any acts of jurisdiction; but they continued their existence. The vicars Apostolic themselves were usually members. When the hierarchy was reestablished in 1850, a chapter was erected in each diocese, and whatever claims to jurisdiction the Old Chapter had, from that time ceased. Not wishing to dissolve, however, they reconstituted themselves as
99-434: A communal charter, but he, on his return, purchased from the king of France the revocation of this document, and recommenced his oppressions. The consequence was a revolt, in which the episcopal palace was burnt and the bishop and several of his partisans were put to death on 25 April 1112. The fire spread to Laon Cathedral , and reduced it to ashes. Uneasy at the result of their victory, the rioters went into hiding outside
132-555: A date anterior to the cathedral. The church of St Martin dates from the middle of the 12th century. The old abbey buildings of the same foundation are now used as the hospital. The museum of Laon had collections of sculpture and painting. In its garden there is a chapel of the Templars belonging to the 12th century. One of the oldest churches in the city is St John the Baptist, in the nearby neighbourhood of Vaux-sous-Laon, which dates from
165-549: A publication now in the public domain : " Bishop, William ". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. Laon, France Laon ( French: [lɑ̃] ) is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France . The Ancient Diocese of Laon , which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In
198-537: The Holy See accepted their action choosing the first name, Richard Smith . Three years later he had to leave the country, and spent the rest of his life in Paris. After his death the chapter assumed the right to rule the country in the vacancy of the episcopal office, and for thirty years all faculties were issued by the dean who claimed the verbal approval of Pope Alexander VII . John Leyburn , Smith's former secretary, became
231-553: The San Francisco cable car system is manually operated, and most other automated cable car systems have restricted operations within airports and hospitals, though another automated cable car called the Minimetrò may be found in the city of Perugia in Italy. The town's transport company TUL (Transports Urbains Laonnois) operates the local bus routes. Laon is twinned with: Laon was
264-402: The cathedral Notre-Dame of Laon , dating mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries. The chapter-house and the cloister contain specimens of early 13th-century architecture. The old episcopal palace , contiguous to the cathedral, is now used as a court-house. The front, flanked by turrets, is pierced by large pointed windows. There is also a Gothic cloister and an old chapel of two storeys, of
297-525: The "Old Brotherhood of the English Secular Clergy", the dean of the chapter becoming president of the brotherhood. William Bishop (bishop) William Bishop (c. 1553 – 13 April 1624) was an English Catholic prelate who served as the first Catholic bishop in England after the Reformation , serving as Vicar Apostolic of England . Catholicism had been banned in England in 1559. Bishop
330-485: The 11th through 13th centuries and is built in a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles. Laon railway station offers connections to Reims, Soissons and Paris. Until August 2016, the town had the only fully automated municipal cable car system in the world, called the Poma 2000 . It linked the upper town (the historical centre, located on a plateau) with the lower town, had three stations and ran on rubber tyres. In contrast,
363-564: The Bald, and was appointed head of the palace school. Eriugena spent the rest of his days in France, probably at Paris and Laon. Laon was the principal city of the late Carolingian kings of France, beginning with Louis IV . After the fall of the Carolingians , Laon took the part of Charles of Lorraine , their heir, and Hugh Capet only succeeded in making himself master of the town by the connivance of
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#1732868729423396-755: The English College there out of the hands of the Jesuits. On being again set at liberty he went to Paris and joined the small community of controversial writers which had been formed in Arras College . According to the Catholic view, the episcopal hierarchy in England had come to an end when Thomas Goldwell died. The Holy See had been frequently importuned to appoint a bishop for England. William Bishop became vicar-apostolic and bishop-elect of Chalcedon in February 1623. In
429-498: The Scots objected that given the history between the two countries, that Pope Alexander III had declared that no Englishman should have authority in Scotland, not Scotsman in England. Pope Gregory then ordered that the new bishop should abstain from supervision over Catholics in Scotland. Bishop instituted a dean and a chapter as a standing council for his own assistance, with power, during
462-511: The age of 92, he was born at Brailes in Warwickshire in or about 1554. He was sent to Gloucester Hall , Oxford aged 16 around 1570. After remaining there three or four years he settled his paternal estate, which was considerable, on his younger brother, and went over to the English College at Rheims , where he began his theological studies; he then spent time at Rome. He returned to Rheims,
495-511: The bishop, who, in return for this service, was made second ecclesiastical peer of the kingdom. Early in the twelfth century the communes of France set about emancipating themselves, and the history of the commune of Laon is one of the richest and most varied. Anselm of Laon 's school for theology and exegesis rapidly became the most famous in Europe. The citizens had profited by a temporary absence of Bishop Gaudry to secure from his representatives
528-497: The citadel at the moment when the German troops were entering the town. Many people died; and the cathedral and the old episcopal palace were damaged. It surrendered to a German force on 9 September 1870. In the fall of 1914, during World War I , German forces captured the town and held it until the Allied offensive in the summer of 1918. Located in the middle of Aisne, Laon borders (from
561-421: The country. It continued in force with little change down to the re-establishment of the hierarchy. An integral part of his scheme was the creation of a chapter consisting of twenty-four canons with John Colleton as dean. The ecclesiastical status of the chapter has been disputed. A chapter without a diocese is an anomaly, unknown in canon law , and Rome always refrained from any positive act of recognition. On
594-537: The following month a papal bull was issued for his consecration, followed almost immediately by a brief, conferring on him episcopal jurisdiction over the Catholics of England and Scotland. Thus Bishop had ordinary jurisdiction over the Catholics of England and Scotland, but it was revocable at the pleasure of the pope; in the language of the Papal Curia he was vicar-apostolic with ordinary jurisdiction. Almost immediately,
627-639: The mission, 15 May 1591; after about two years he returned to Paris to complete the degree of D.D., and then came back to England. Bishop was drawn into the Archpriest Controversy between the secular and regular clergy. When a dispute arose between George Blackwell , the archpriest, and a number of his clergy, who appealed against him for maladministration and exceeding his commission, Bishop and John Charnock were sent to Rome by their brethren to remonstrate against him. On their arrival they were both taken into custody by order of Cardinal Henry Cajetan ,
660-466: The north, clockwise) with the municipalities of Aulnois-sous-Laon , Barenton-Bugny , Chambry , Athies-sous-Laon , Bruyères-et-Montbérault , Vorges , Presles-et-Thierny , Chivy-lès-Étouvelles , Clacy-et-Thierret , Molinchart , Cerny-lès-Bucy , and Besny-et-Loizy . It is 55 km (34 mi) from Reims , 131 km (81 mi) from Amiens , and 138 km (86 mi) from Paris . The city contains numerous medieval buildings, including
693-427: The other hand, she equally refrained from any censure, although it was known that the chapter was claiming and exercising large functions. They therefore argued that the chapter existed sciente et tacente sede apostolica (with the knowledge and silent consent of the pope) and that this was sufficient to give it a canonical status. When Bishop died they sent a list of names from which his successor might be chosen, and
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#1732868729423726-472: The protector of the English nation, who had been informed that they were turbulent persons and the head of a factious party. They were confined in the English College, Rome under the inspection of Robert Parsons , a Jesuit. After a time they regained their liberty and returned to England. English Catholics in the new King James's reign were faced by a novel oath of allegiance . In the subsequent troubles Bishop
759-573: The secretary for the Old Chapter. When James II of England ascended the throne, and England was divided into four districts or vicariates, the position of the chapter became still more anomalous. Leyburn, the first vicar Apostolic of that reign, was required to take an oath not to recognize the chapter, and a decree was issued in general terms suspending all jurisdiction of chapters of regulars and seculars so long as there were vicars Apostolic in England. According to Bernard Ward , "The Chapter had, it appears, offended Rome by constantly refusing to receive
792-650: The time of Julius Caesar there was a Gallic village named Bibrax where the Remis (inhabitants of the country round Reims ) had to meet the onset of the confederated Belgae . Whatever may have been the precise locality of that battlefield, Laon was fortified by the Romans, and successively checked the invasions of the Franks , Burgundians , Vandals , Alans and Huns . At that time it was known as Alaudanum or Lugdunum Clavatum . Archbishop Remigius of Reims , who baptised Clovis ,
825-673: The town as a base during the French Wars of Religion ; it was retaken by the former Huguenot Henry IV in August 1594. At the Revolution (1789) Laon permanently lost its rank as a bishopric. During the campaign of 1814, Napoleon tried in vain to dislodge Blücher and Bülow from it in the Battle of Laon . In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War , an engineer blew up the powder magazine of
858-513: The town, which was anew pillaged by the people of the neighbourhood, eager to avenge the death of their bishop. Thereafter, French monarchs intervened as needed to settle disputes between the bishop and the townspeople until 1331, when the commune was abolished. In the latter stages of the 1337–1453 Hundred Years' War , Laon was captured by Philip, Duke of Burgundy ; he relinquished control to his English allies, who held it until 1429 when it fell to Charles VII of France . The Catholic League used
891-482: The vacancy of the see, to exercise episcopal ordinary jurisdiction. The appointment of this chapter, in time known as the Old Chapter , was a controversial matter, dividing the secular priests from the regular clergy . Bishop was consecrated at Paris on 4 June 1623. He landed at Dover around midnight on 31 July, and walked thirteen miles to the house of William Roper at St. Dunstan's Manor, outside Canterbury. Then he
924-550: Was appointed as vicar apostolic in 1623. As Catholicism was officially illegal in England at the time, he was given the Titular See of Chalcedon in Asia Minor. He arrived in England secretly on 31 July 1623 at age 70 and had to walk 12 miles to find refuge. He identified and selected 20 archdeacons to take charge over geographical districts. He one of several recorded bishops named Bishop . The son of John Bishop, who died in 1601 at
957-560: Was born in the Laonnais, and it was he who, at the end of the fifth century, instituted the bishopric of Laon . Thenceforward Laon was one of the principal towns of the kingdom of the Franks, and the possession of it was often disputed. Charles the Bald had enriched its church with the gift of very numerous domains. In about 847 the Irish philosopher John Scotus Eriugena appeared at the court of Charles
990-509: Was committed to the Gatehouse Prison ; he and twelve other priests had declared civil allegiance, published by them in the last year of Queen Elizabeth's reign. He was examined on 4 May 1611, when he said he was opposed to the Jesuits , but declined to take the oath of allegiance, as Blackwell and others had done, because he wished to uphold the credit of the secular priests at Rome, and to get
1023-586: Was filled by Father Richard Smith . His works are: In the second part of Thomas Scott 's ‘Vox Populi, or Newes from Spayne’ (1624), there is an illustration of Bishop presiding at a meeting of the ‘Iesuits and prists: as they vse to sitt at Counsell in England to further ye Catholicke Cause.’ [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "William Bishop". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
Old Chapter - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-488: Was guest of Lady Dormer , administering the sacrament of confirmation to the Catholics in and near London. He next joined her nephew, Viscount Montague in Sussex. Returning to London, he passed most of the winter in retirement, and used all precautions to conceal himself and to avoid irritating the government. Falling sick at the residence of Sir Basil Brook , at Bishop's-court near London, he died on 13 April 1624. His post
1089-555: Was ordained priest at Laon in May 1583, and was sent on the English mission. Arrested on his landing, he was taken before secretary Francis Walsingham and was imprisoned in the Marshalsea with other priests. Towards the close of the year 1584 he was released, and went to Paris, where he studied for several years at the Sorbonne , and was made a licentiate of divinity. He returned to England on
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