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 BATH

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BATH

Borneo, again taken from the territory of the vi- cariate. There still remains of its territory: the island of Sumatra, 181,250 sq. m.; Java, 50,715 sq. m.; the small islands of the Sunda group (Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, and Timor) aggregating 36.507 sq. m.; and Celebes, 73,270 sq. m. The Moluccas have been attached to the Prefecture of Dutch New Guinea. The Vicariate of Batavia, there- fore, now comprises an area of more than 340,000 sq. m., or more than the combined areas of the Ger- man Empire and Great Britain and Ireland. The principal stations are: in Sumatra, Medan, in the north-east and Padang, in the west; in Java, Batavia (residence of the vicar Apostolic), Simerang, and Surabaya; in Timor, Fialarang; in Flores, Maumeri and Larantuk; in Celebes, Macassar and Menado. The natives speak their own dialects, but in the coast towns Dutch and Malay are the languages current. The Ursulines, established at Batavia and Surabaya, furnish the largest contingent of religious women in the Wcariate, amounting to 170.

Analecta ord. min. capuc. for .September. 1905: Streit, Atlas des missions; Afissiones Catholicre (Propaganda, Rome, 1907). 263.

Albert B.^tt-Vkdier. Bath Abbey. — The first religious house in Bath was a monastery of nuns founded by King Osric, .V. D. 676. This was followed by a community of Benedictine monks, who were visited and reformed by St. Dunstan. King Edgar was solemnly crowned

in the abbey church of St. Peter in 973, and a few years later the abbot was St. Elpliege, afterwards Bishop of Winchester and .\rchbishop of Canterburj-, who was killed by the Danes in 1012. ^Elfsige, who died in 1087. was the last ,\bbot of Bath; for in 1088 William Rufus granted the abbey and its lands to John de Villula, Bishop of Wells, and the resident superior was henceforth a cathedral prior instead of an abbot. This bishop later restored its lands to the monastery, which was endowed also by other benefactors. A great fire, in 1137, destroyed nearly the whole city, greatly damaging the abbey buildings, which were promptly rebuilt. In the following century there was a warm dispute between the monks of Bath and the canons of Wells as to their

respective rights in electing the bishop. Innocent IV decreed, in 1245, that the election should be held alternately in either city, that the bishop should have a throne in both churches and should be styled Bishop "of Bath and Wells". This arrangement continued until the Reformation, and the subsequent occupants of the see have retained the double title. Henrj' VIII's Commission visited Bath in .\ugust. 1535, and a report of the usual type followed. In 1539 Prior HoUewell surrendered the house and revenues (valued at £617) to the king, and the monastic life of the abbey came to an end.

The present church of St. Peter, occupying only the nave of the great Norman fabric, was begun by Prior Birde, about 1500, to replace John de \illula's church, which had fallen into decay. The new church was not finished until 1572, and is thus one of the latest specimens of Perpendicular work in England. The latest so-called restoration took place in 1874. No trace remains of the monastery, of which the last portion (probably the prior's lodgings) disap- peared in 1755. Since 1679 the Catholic mission of Bath has been served by the English Benedictines.

Hunt (ed.), Chartularies of the Priory of St. Peter at Bath (1893); Fowler, The Benedictines in Bath (IS95); Britton. ed. Peach. Bath Abbey Church (1887); Somerset Record Society, VII; Carter. Account of the Abbey of Bath (1798); Morris (ed.), British Association Handbook to Bath (1888).

D. O. Hunter-Blair. Bath and Wells (B.\doniensis et Wellensis) Ancient Diocese of (Bath, Aqua: Solis, Bathonia, Bathensis, Bathoniensis: Wells, Theoradunum, Vellirc, Ecclesia Fontanensis. Vellenxis, Wellensis), coexten- sive mth the County of Somerset, England. The first Bishop of Bath and Wells, properly so described, was appointed by the pope in 1244, but the diocese has a much longer history, though its bishops used different titles; Somcr.^et, Wells, Bath, or Bath and Glastonbury, being at different times employed, ^.thelhelm (909-914), afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, first exercised episcopal jurisdiction there, choosing the secular church of Wells as his cathedral. Henceforth, there was a certain rivalry between the secular canons of Wells and the monks of the two great abbeys, Glastonbury and Bath. The advantage, however, lay with the latter and the cathedral church at Wells maintained but a struggling existence. During the time of Edward the Confessor (1042^06), the energetic Bishop Gisa (1060-88), who on his appointment found the church small and poor, and the few canons who served it forced to beg their bread, succeeded in putting matters on a firmer foundation. He not only erected buildings in which they could live a community life, but obtained grants of lands for their support from St. Edward the Con- fessor, Harold, and William the Conqueror. This good work was partly undone by his successor, John de Villula (1088-1122), who removed the see to Bath, using the abbey there as his cathedral. It was not until the appointment of Bishop Robert of Lewes (1136-66), who rebuilt the cathedral at Wells and in other ways proved himself a wise and liberal admin- istrator, that an arrangement was made by which Bath should take precedence of Wells, but that future bishops should have a throne in both churches and should be elected by the two chapters conjointly. This arrangement lasted through the administrations of Reginald de Bohun (1174-91), who brought St. Hugh of Lincoln to England; the turbulent Savaric (1192-1205), who annexed Glastonbury by force, and lastly Jocelin Troteman de Welles (1206-42), who though a native of Wells was knowii as Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury until 1219, when he gave up all claim to Glastonbury and styled himself Bishop of Bath. But though he omitted Wells from iiis title, he did more than any other bishop for the town, for he restored and enlarged the catiiedral, adding the beautiful west front, increased the number of